Strong deep earthquake close to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Last update: May 29, 2014 at 1:22 pm by By
Update May 29 13:19 UTC : Local reports are mentioning houses with cracks in Salva León de Higuey
Update 22:24 UTC : List of the most recent earthquakes closest to today’s epicenter. Interesting to see is that almost all of these earthquakes are very deep, this due to the movement of the Oceanic plate towards the south (she dives below the Caribbean plate). The tectonics of this Caribbean area are very complex with a number of sub-plates as well as dangerous transform faults, like the one who generated the cruel Haiti earthquake. Transform faults are resulting in a mainly horizontal movement which can generate a lot of damage to not properly build houses.
Update 22:24 UTC : Below the seismogram of this earthquake as recorded in Presa de Sabenta, Dominican Republic
Update 21:57 UTC : The main reason why this earthquake was felt in such a wide radius (Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic) is the depth of the hypocenter or breaking point. Although the radius is very wide, the concentrated shaking at the epicenter is luckily also a lot weaker. When this earthquake would have been shallower the risk on serious damage would have been a lot bigger.
Update 21:46 UTC : USGS has increased the Magnitude again to M5.8 at the same depth. Below the shaking intensities for the most important cities close to the epicenter.
Update 21:39 UTC : USGS has recalculated the Magnitude and has set it now to M5.7 at a depth of 91 km. USGS projects a max. Moderate shaking in the eastern part of the Dominican Republic and a weak shaking in Puerto Rico.
Update 21:35 UTC : The earthquake will surely NOT generate a tsunami.
Update 21:32 UTC : The preliminary earthquake Magnitude values are in between 5.3 and 5.8 at a depth of 100 km. This means that there is only a limited chance on serious damage. The deeper the hypocenter is, the less chance on damage.
Update : Below the Focal Mechanism or Beach Ball of this earthquake. It shows a clear compression
31km (19mi) ESE of Boca de Yuma, Dominican Republic
37km (23mi) S of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
55km (34mi) SE of Salvaleon de Higuey, Dominican Republic
68km (42mi) ESE of La Romana, Dominican Republic
175km (109mi) E of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 5.3
Local Time (conversion only below land) : Unknown
GMT/UTC Time : 2014-05-28 21:15:00
from: http://earthquake-report.com/2014/05/28/moderate-earthquake-80-miles-w-of-mayaguez-puerto-rico-on-may-28-2014/