Thursday, November 8, 2012

Earthquakes: Massive 7.4m Hits Central America

More signs - this time earthquakes:




Massive Earthquake Guatemala - 71 People Presumed Killed


A massive earthquake happened approx. 20 miles (30 km) out of the Champerico coast. The preliminary depth of 33 km  and the distance to the coast will have hopefully weakened the shaking considerably.

Official toll was as follows at 00:00 local Guatemala time ;- 50 people killed- 21 missing- 150 injured- 17000 people affected who need aid in one or another way- Most affected sectors in the country : San Marcos, Quetzaltenango, Sololá and Totonicapán- People older than 40 years will certainly remember the cruel earthquake of February 4 1976, when more than 23000 people lost their lives !- 29 aftershocks in between M4.2 and M4.6 were registered in between the occurrence of the mainshock and midnight local time- What has puzzled us so far was why the damage was so huge far away from the epicenter. Local seismologists confirmed our guesses. The hardest hit areas are build on softer soil than the other areas who suffered the earthquake. Among this softer soil, a lot of  non consolidated ash from the close-by volcanoes. Waves are propagated a lot better is this kind of soil than on rocky older sediments. How to protect your house against it : following the guidelines of earthquake resistant building would do the job



Earthquake Rocks Guatemala City, Mexico




Photos: Earthquake Kills Dozens




6.3-magnitude Earthquake Strikes Near Vancouver Island



Earthquakes Around The World





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