(As you know, the Dominican Republic shares an island with Haiti. My concern here is the possibility of another quake related to this one which could potentially affect Haiti also, if not the whole island. This is a land of great poverty and want. Even small natural disasters are magnified under such conditions, in terms of the effect on people there.)
Shallow earthquake in the southern part of the Dominican Republic
Last update: January 5, 2012 at 11:32 am by By Armand Vervaeck and James Daniell
Earthquake overview : Moderate earthquake with epicenter in the southern part of the island. The earthquake has been felt all over the island (including in Haiti)
11:28 UTC : The Dominican Republic Civil Defense has alerted all of his services minutes after the quake occurred but at the time of writing this update, NO damage or injuries have been reported. Authorities in the direct epicenter area are currently inspecting buildings and public works to assess the situation.
11:04 UTC – Rock slides have been reported along the road from Azua to San Juan. Drivers are warned to be careful in driving this road.
11:02 UTC – The epicenter has been located 17 km South-East of Ocoa. Following the local media who are referring the the Dominican seismological agency UASD, the depth of the hypocenter was at 33 km and the magnitude was measures as 5.2. Both USGS and EMSC have reported a magnitude of 5.3 at a depth of 10 km. 33 km or 10 km makes a world of difference towards damaging capability.
– As early stated in this report, the earthquake has been felt almost all over the country but will have been felt also in neighboring Haiti !
– A lot of people are downloading our QuakeSOS iPhone application, but so far people are only testing and sending SAFE alerts.
– reports from the Dominican Republic are talking about people leaving their houses in panic (normal with such a magnitude)
– Maximum recorded (reported) MMI seems to be V = moderate shaking. Moderate shaking damage can be cracks in walls at max., but we will have to wait for a few more hours to be certain that no additional damage has been inflicted.
– The area has a lot of hills (see image)
– Closest villages to the epicenter (errors are possible within a radius of 16 km) : La Palma, Calderon, Hatillo, Agua, Galeon and Bani
– EMSC reports the same values than USGS (5.3 @ 10 km)
– The earthquake occurred during the early morning hours 05:35 AM !, when almost everybody was still sleeping
– the shallow hypocenter (focal depth) makes this earthquake moderately dangerous within a radius of 20 km.
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 5.3
UTC Time : Thursday, January 05, 2012 at 09:35:29 UTC
Local time at epicenter : Thursday, January 05, 2012 at 05:35:29 AM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 10 km
Geo-location(s) :
17 km (10 miles) SSE (149°) from Ocoa, Peravia, Dominican Republic
33 km (20 miles) W (270°) from San Cristóbal, San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic
50 km (31 miles) W (260°) from SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic
for more information and updates, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2012/01/05/shallow-earthquake-in-the-southern-part-of-the-dominican-republic/