Last update: April 13, 2012 at 9:41 am by By Ashish Khanal
M 4.7 2012/04/13 06:21 Depth 26.8 km SICILY, ITALY
08:21:36 AM at epicenter – –
Moderate earthquake very close to Palermo, Sicily. The depth of the hypocenter will weaken the shaking a little bit and no damage has to be expected in or near Palermo.
12 km (8 miles) NNW (337°) from Palermo, Sicily, Italy
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 6.3
UTC Time : Monday, April 02, 2012 at 17:36:43 UTC
Local time at epicenter : Monday, April 02, 2012 at 12:36:43 PM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 12 km
Geo-location(s) :
27 km (17 miles) SSE (148°) from Ometepec, Guerrero, Mexico
Update 20:28 UTC : The authorities in Puebla, one of the major Mexican cities and approx. 250 km from the epicenter, have reported NO injures or damage. Good news which we expected at this distance.
Earthquake-report.com calls an area with a radius of about 35 km around the epicenter at high risk for additional damage (to the already damaged houses during the March 20 mainshock).
Update 19:44 UTC : USGS has increased his intensity mapping prediction. The new estimate mention 17,000 people having felt a severe MMI VIII shaking (damaging environment), 180,000 people a VII MMI very strong shaking.
The new values are bad news and will make this aftershock almost certain a damaging one.
Until now we have No details yet on damage and injuries. As said earlier it will take another 2 to 6 hours to have see first serious assessments of the epicenter area
Update 19:42 UTC : Intensity report in the most important cities in the greater epicenter area :
VII Cuajinicuilapa 9,000 people
VII San Juan Cacahuatepec 4,000 people
VII Ometepec 18,000 people
VII San Pedro Amuzgos 4,000 people
VI San Pedro Jicayan 4,000 people
VI Santiago Pinotepa Nacional 26,000 people
MMI VII : very strong shaking
MMI VI : strong shaking
Update 19:16 UTC : Mexican authorities are reporting the strongest shaking in the Costa Chica region. Until now, we have no reports of damage, but we are almost sure that they will appear in 4 to 8 hours.
Update 18:38 UTC : Helicopters were dispatched 5 MINUTES after the earthquake. The only damage seen was a billboard that fall causing NO injuries. (we are confirming the very swift reaction of the authorities in DF)
Update : The Mexican seismological agency has increased his initial Magnitude to 6.0. Since the mainshock today, 2 aftershocks of resp. 4.6 and 4.7 have been listed (normal)
Update : Read also the many felt reports at the bottom of this page
Update 18:29 UTC : Last time, damage was only reported after several hours or even a couple of days in the epicenter area (one of the poorest areas in Mexico). Most houses are made from brick or in adobe in the greater epicenter area.
Update:
– Security secretary of Mexico City reports that there is NO damage.
– Communications are still working.
– Subway is still working.
Such reports are mostly based on the capital Mexico City or DF.
Update : Intermediate report from Carlos Robles : Servicio Sismologico Nacional is upgrading the earthquake to 6.0. Saldo blanco (no deaths) is reported. There aren’t reports of damage.
Update 18:23 UTC : There are NO Nuclear plants or Hydrodams in the greater epicenter area
Update : EMSC (Seismology Europe) reports now a magnitude of 6.1 at a depth of 10 km
Update18:18 UTC : NO tsunami danger as the epicenter of the earthquake is below the Mexican mainland
Update : Evacuation were held at Mexico city.It was felt strong in some parts of Mexico city.In Coyoacan there are only reports of scared people. (source : Carlos Robles)
I Have Felt It map courtesy USGS – blue lighter, yellow strong shaking
Update : USGS predicts a very strong shaking for 3,000 people in the epicentral area. 164,000 people will have experienced a strong MMI VI shaking and 289,000 people a moderate shaking. As this earthquake is also felt in DF, the earthquake will have been noticed by millions of people.
Update : As this is an aftershock from the March 20 M 7.4 earthquake, these aftershocks, even at the current magnitude are very normal !
Update : The president of DF is flying by helicopter over DF areas to overview the situation. He reports that so far no serious damage can be seen from the air
Update : The Mexican media including the local seismological agency are not reachable because of too many connections
Moderate earthquake at the northern coast of Venezuela
Last update: March 31, 2012 at 4:33 pm by By Ashish Khanal
M 4.9 2012/03/31 09:47 Depth 9.8 km VENEZUELA
local time 05:47 – Epicenter location see below
Shallow moderate earthquake close to the northern coast of Venezuela
26 km S Carúpano (pop 112,082) and 94 km SE Porlamar (pop 87,120)
Moderate earthquake near the East Nepal / India border
Last update: March 28, 2012 at 1:13 pm by By Ashish
M 5.0 2012/03/27 23:40 Depth 40.0 km NEPAL-INDIA BORDER REGION
05:10:14 AM at epicenter – Epicenter location see below in list
61 km (38 miles) SE (130°) from Biratnagar, Nepal
96 km (60 miles) SW (225°) from Shiliguri, West Bengal, India
Moderate earthquake at an intermediate depth (harmless) close to the Eastern Nepal / India border Update : The tremors that lasted for little over a minute was felt in Panchthar,Taplejung, Saptari, Jhapa, Sunsari, Siraha and Morang districts. Reports coming in say that strong tremors were felt in many parts of North-Eastern India also. (source : Nepalnews)
Very strong coastal earthquake in Japan (NE Honshu)
Last update: March 27, 2012 at 12:08 pm by By Ashish Khanal
M 6.0 2012/03/27 11:00 Depth 10.0 km NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
08:00:43 PM at epicenter – Epicenter location see below in list
86 km (53 miles) E (79°) from Morioka, Honshu, Japan Very strong earthquake approx. 20 km out of the Morioka coast.
JMA Japan reports a Magnitude of 6.4 at a depth of 10 km.
JMA Japan reports a max. intensity of 5- at Miyako-shi Moichi, Yamada-machi Hachimancho, Noda-mura Noda, Takizawa-mura Ukai, Hanamaki-shi Towacho
Earthquake-Report.com considers a 5+ as a minimum value to be damaging. NO tsunami advisories or warnings are in effect Update 12:06 UTC : The mainshock was followed 2 minutes later by a moderate M 5.1 aftershock.
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 7.2 (USGS) – 6.8 Richter (Universidad de Chile)
UTC Time : Sunday, March 25, 2012 at 22:37:04 UTC
Local time at epicenter : Sunday, March 25, 2012 at 06:37:04 PM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 30 km
Geo-location(s) : 27 km (16 miles) NNW of Talca, Maule, Chile
55 km (34 miles) WSW of Curico, Maule, Chile
219 km (136 miles) SSW of SANTIAGO, Region Metropolitana, Chile
Update 13:13 UTC : Miguel Ortiz, the person in charge for early alerts, made the following statement at 09:05 local time :
– An estimated 24,283 people have followed the local ONEMI advise for precautionary evacuation(between the regions of Valparaíso and Bío Bio). Of these, 14,320 people belong to the Bío Bío Region, 9360 to the Maule Region and the rest in the O’Higgins / Valparaiso Region.
– In Maule, power was lost, but has been restored now (8,000 families affected).
– 18 aftershocks have been recorded so far, luckily only 4 of them felt by the population.
– ONEMI sites worked well and were reachable at all times
Update 13:00 UTC : An earthquake during a football match. Why not simply continue the game ! The commentators are mentioning it, the camera start to wobble and even the stadium speaker announces the earthquake, but …. the game continues. The game was played in Santiago de Chile against … Palestino. The Palestinians must have thought that the war was following them (just kidding as Palestino is a Chilean football club). Palestino won with 1-0.
Update 07:38 UTC : So far, Universidad de Chile has listed 15 aftershocks ranging from M3.1 to M 4.8
Recalculated shaking map, based on a Magnitude of 7.1 and a depth of 34.8 km – image courtesy USGS
Important Update 07:38 UTC : Somevery interesting analysis on phone traffic has been given by Subtel, the chile telecommunications authority.
– only 15 to 20% of people were able to call other people during the first hours after the earthquake
– SMS (text messages) was a lot better, but due to the overheated networks, not everyone could be served neither.
– The reason : VOICE CALLS are blocking telecommunications because they are consuming far too much bandwidth vs Text messages. 1 voice call of 180 seconds uses the same bandwidth than 100 SMS’s (text messages).
Earthquake-Report.com sees this over and over again in almost every major earthquake worldwide. The simple solution : Make legislation to oblige mobile telecommunication operators to automatically shut down voice calls (except for emergency services and people who have exceptional reasons to use it), send an SMS (text message) to all clients that explains what is done and for what reason and let them know that only SMS (text) can be used until further message. Most telecommunication software is equipped with cell broadcast.
Update 07:20 UTC : The Chilean government has canceled the preventive evacuation at 23:46 local time.
Update 07:00 UTC : During the early hours after the mainshock, seismological agencies have changed the epicenter a couple of times. USGS did locate the epicenter at first in the Pacific Ocean, approx. 25 km out of the coast. After a recalculation, the epicenter was located below land at 27 km from Talca. EMSC has reported an epicenter also to the NW of Talca. GEOFON puts the epicenter also below land and closer to Constitucion than to Talca, a difference of tens of km.
Universidad de Chile, Santiago, a local trusted seismological agency has reported the the epicenter below the coastal stretch 25 km to the NNE of Constitucion.
Calculation of the epicenter is not easy at all, as can be seen here. Every agency is reporting an error margin both horizontal and vertical. Earthquake-Report.com is always searching for an agency who has multiple instruments installed in the earthquake epicentral region.
Update 03:20 UTC : In summary: 1 death (Heart Attack) and 6 injured from this earthquake. Minor damage has occurred in the epicentral region and some power outages were reported. The evacuated people are starting to return to their homes, but as a precautionary measure, the Chile government decision to evacuate was well founded.
Update 03:10 UTC : The copper mines in this part of Chile are operating fine, and there has been no stop to production. Life is returning to normal with the panic subsiding. The memories of the 27th February 2010 earthquake still lingers in the minds of the locals.
Update 03:00 UTC : The heart attack was to a 74 year old by the name of José Roberto Rebolledo. He lived 2km from the epicenter in Parral. Our condolences go out to the family. He is currently the only victim of this earthquake. No major damage has been reported to houses so it is likely this will be the only death associated with this earthquake.
Update 02:50 UTC : Given that the earthquake hypocenter was below the mainland it is unlikely that a tsunami was triggered, but the preventive evacuation has gone smoothly. 7000 to 25000 people were evacuated. No movement in the sea level has been observed and it is likely the order will be lifted in the coming hours.
1 dead and 6 injured is the current toll. Minor damage has been reported from the epicentral region.
Update : Twitter users are monitoring the Ocean level and are sharing their findings with newspapers. New reports are telling us that there are still a lot of power outages.
Update 01:17 UTC : Maule regional office decided to evacuate the region for PREVENTIVE purposes.
Official ONEMI message :
Domingo, Marzo 25, 2012 – 22:26
En un punto de prensa realizado desde las oficinas de ONEMI, el Ministro Secretario General de Gobierno, Andrés Chadwick, indicó que la Dirección Regional de ONEMI El Maule, determinó efectuar una evacuación preventiva en el borde costero de la región debido a la observación de recogimiento del mar en la zona. La autoridad recalcó que se trata de una medida preventiva en resguardo de la seguridad de la población.
Cabe destacar, que los Directores Regionales de ONEMI, tienen la facultad, de acuerdo al protocolo firmado con el SHOA el año pasado, de declarar evacuación preventiva en el borde costero al registrarse un sismo igual o superior a VII grados Mercalli, conforme a los antecedentes recopilados tanto a través de observación visual como otros reportes de organismos técnicos. Update : people are calling to the radio station saying that the sea has not retreated and they will not evacuate.
Moderate earthquake near the Chilean capital Santiago de Chile
Last update: March 24, 2012 at 2:39 pm by By Ashish Khanal
USGS I Have Felt It values – Moderate to light shaking in average (MMI IV-V)
M 5.2 2012/03/24 07:28 Depth 68.8 km REGION METROPOLITANA, CHILE We have an unusual number Chile visitors in the site at this moment.
This means an earthquake has struck Chile
Universidad de Chile is not reachable
Other agencies have no values yet
The first “experience reports” we are receiving are mentioning a strong shaking in Santiago de Chile
USGS is mentioning a preliminary Magnitude of 5.1 @ a depth of 66.7 km
If these data are confirmed, the earthquake would not be damaging The epicenter has been (preliminary) located at 50 km from Santiago de Chile (capital)
The fact that the epicenter is located so close to the Chilean capital is the reason why millions of people have felt this earthquake as very dangerous. The depth of 60 km gives almost the same shaking values in Santiago than in the epicentral area. Update 08:00 UTC : Universidad de Santiago de Chile is reporting a M 5.3 at a depth of 68.9 km. These data are confirming our earlier stated expectations that this earthquake would not lead to serious damage or injuries Update 08:51 UTC : This earthquake is a typical “subduction earthquake“. The Oceanic Nazca plate is subducting (gliding below) the continental South American plate. This gliding effect is not always smooth, and the Nazca plate sometimes hangs (stops moving). The continuous moving of the Nazca plate increases the pressure and the resistance point breaks off : earthquake. The depth of 69 km gives an approx. impression of the thickness of the South American plate at the epicenter (of course theoretically, as the breaking point maybe also deeper or shallower) Update 09:07 UTC : Onemi Chile has had (as expected) NO reports of damages or injuries MMI values as recorded by ONEMI Chile Región: Coquimbo
MMI V : Canela, Los Vilos, Salamanca Región: Valparaíso
MMI V : Casablanca, Concón, El Quisco, La Ligua, Los Andes, Quillota, San Antonio, San Felipe, Valparaíso, Villa Alemana, Viña del Mar, Zapallar
MMI IV : Quintero Región: Metropolitana de Santiago
Puente Alto, San Bernardo, Santiago, Talagante, Tiltil Región: Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins
Rancagua: IV
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 5.6 (USGS) – Ml 6.1 (Geoscience Australia)
UTC Time : Friday, March 23, 2012 at 09:25:16 UTC
Local time at epicenter : Friday, March 23, 2012 at 07:55:16 PM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 10.7 km (6.6 miles)
Geo-location(s) :
Very close to Ngarutjara (risk area)
317 km (197 miles) SSW (213°) from Alice Springs, Australia
available
Red circle area can be damaging – image courtesy Geoscience Australia
– The earthquake’s epicentre was recorded at a shallow depth near Ernabella, 415km north west of Coober Pedy and about 320km south west of Alice Springs, just before 8pm. It is about 130km SE of Uluru.
– A magnitude of Ml6.12 has been given by Geoscience Australia. Given the remoteness it is difficult to constrain the magnitude.
-It has been given a M5.6 by other agencies.
Ernabella has an airstrip, and 2 houses.
Geoscience Australia reported the quake could have been felt by people up to 500km away and damage experienced within a 40km radius of the epicentre.
“There are a number of Aboriginal communities near the epicentre and they would have felt the earthquake strongly,” he said.
“It is possible there could be some minor damage up there.”
An SA Police spokesman said there had been no reports of damage or
injuries as yet, but being nightfall probably more information will be
found tomorrow.
Earthquake overview : On 3/20/2012 at about 11:30h local time, a massive earthquake of magnitude 7.4 (Mexican sources are reporting a M 7.8 strength) occurred in the highly populated region of Oaxaca / Guerrero in Mexico. The earthquake’s epicenter was located at 162 km from Oaxaca and 322 km from Mexico City (Distrito Federal).
The March 20, 2012 earthquake occurred as a result of thrust-faulting on or near the plate boundary interface between the Cocos and North America plates. The focal mechanism and depth of the earthquake are consistent with its occurrence on the subduction zone interface between these plates, approximately 100 km northeast of the Middle America Trench, where the Cocos plate begins its descent into the mantle beneath Mexico. In the region of this earthquake, the Cocos plate moves approximately northeastwards at a rate of 60 mm/yr.
Image compiled by Earthquake-Report.com
Historically, there have been several significant earthquakes along the southern coast of Mexico. In 1932, a magnitude 8.4 thrust earthquake struck in the region of Jalisco, several hundred kilometers to the northwest of today’s event.
Seismic Hazard map shows the max. to expect ground acceleration along the coast – image courtesy USGS – Purple line : subduction trench / fault line, green line : transform fault
Magnitude 7 and Greater Earthquakes since 1900 – image courtesy USGS
On October 9, 1995 a magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck in the Colima-Jalisco region, killing at least 49 people and leaving 1,000 homeless.
The deadliest nearby earthquake occurred in the Michoacan region 470 km to the northwest of today’s event, on September 19, 1985. This magnitude 8.0 earthquake killed at least 9,500 people, injured about 30,000, and left 100,000 people homeless.
The 1985 Mexico City earthquake, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake that struck Mexico City on the early morning of 19 September 1985 at around 7:19 am (CST), caused the deaths of at least 10,000 people and serious damage to the greater Mexico City Area. The complete seismic event consisted of four quakes. A pre-event quake of magnitude 5.2 occurred on 28 May 1985. The main and most powerful shock occurred 19 September, followed by two aftershocks: one on 20 September 1985 of magnitude 7.5 and the fourth occurring seven months later on 30 April 1986 of magnitude 7.0. The quakes were located off the Mexican Pacific coast, more than 350 km away, but due to strength of the quake and the fact that Mexico City sits on an old lake-bed, Mexico City suffered major damage. The event caused between three and four billion USD in damage as 412 buildings collapsed and another 3,124 were seriously damaged in the city. While the number is in dispute, the most-often cited number of deaths is an estimated 10,000 people but experts agreed that it could be up to 40,000 (source : Wikipedia)
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 7.9 (preliminary)
UTC Time : Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at 18:02:53 UTC
Local time at epicenter : Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at 12:02:53 PM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 10 km
Geo-location(s) :
52 km (32 miles) NE (39°) from Ometepec, Guerrero, Mexico 53 km (33 miles) WSW (241°) from Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, Mexico 193 km (120 miles) E (83°) from Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico
Update: 2 buildings in the historic center of Mexico city have also been reported damaged.
– Update: No casualties have been reported from Omotopec which is good news given the damage.
– Update: We have reports from Mexican radio (from Carlos) that 500 houses have been severely damaged or destroyed in Guerrero. As expected Omotopec has had a lot of this damage.
– Update: Currently only 60 houses are still being reported destroyed in the epicentral region with an extra 400 damaged.
– From Carlos Robles – our US/Mexico Earthquake correspondent:- A wall collapsed leaving one with serious injuries in Mexico City. Damage has been reported in Ciudad de Mexico like cracked roads, damaged buildings, and the bridge that collapsed in a bus with no casaulties. Damage has been reported in Oaxaca with cracked roads and damaged buildings.
In Puebla the Palacio Municipal (Municipal palace, is a government building.) there were 2 cracked walls. Fissures in churches all over Mexico have been reported. Mobile phones were suspended due to overuse. The subway was suspended. The daughter of president Obama was in Oaxaca when the earthquake hit, she only felt the earthquake and has no injuries.
– A highway in Oaxaca has had a landslide cover a small section. It only caused slight damage in the form of a small car crash. Apart from that, other roads are all clear according to authorities.
– Earlier reports of a footbridge collapsing onto a bus in Mexico City were incorrect. In fact, it was the 10 meters of concrete guard rail of the footbridge which collapsed. No people were killed.
– Update : 1 person has been injured in Colonia Juarez – of a nervous breakdown. In addition a staircase collapsed in a police building and there are reports of minor injuries. Other than that only minor damage has been reported. Some bridges have been closed around Mexico as a precaution.
– Update : At least 60 houses have been destroyed in Guerrero. Most of these are expected to be old adobe houses. Omotopec is expected to have major damage. Damage will likely be in the tens of millions of US dollars.
2.5 million users have had outages in their electricity following the earthquake. After 90 minutes, 1.5 million users were restored to the grid. In the Eastern control area partial outages in the cities of Poza Rica and Coatzacoalcos and parts of the states of Puebla, Tlaxcala and Morelos. CFE crews will continue working to restore power as quickly as possible in the affected areas.
– Update : We notice, as expected, a lot of aftershocks, the strongest ones ranging from M 4.7 to M 5.3.
– Update : – President Calderon has just confirmed that so far NO lives have been lost.
– Power plants are working normally
– The President has also declared that NO major damage was inflicted
– The Mexican Seismological service is maintaining a Magnitud of 7.8
– Update : YouTube video of the shaking. The shaking we see on the video was more than 300 km from the epicenter! Swaying is more accentuated in high rise buildings.
I have felt it Map courtesy USGS
– Update : At 13:52 local time (1 hour 50 minutes after the earthquake), NO fatalities have been reported so far, a very good sign !
– Update : New Intensity calculations(based on the M 7.4 Magnitude) are giving the following impact :
182,000 people MMI VII (very strong shaking)
596,000 people MMI VI (strong shaking)
2,736,000 people MMI V (moderate shaking)
32 million people MMI IV (light shaking)
– Update : USGS has further decreased the Magnitude from 7.6 to 7.4, a lot weaker than the initially reported 7.9. The depth has been recalculated to 20 km. All this explains the lesser than originally expected intensity.
– Update : GOOD preliminary news : Only light damage is currently reported out of the epicenter area. Based on our own experience, we think it is far too soon to have a final estimate, but after such an earthquake, we like to hear that the damage is not general.
– Update : A concrete walkway bridge has collapsed on a microbus. No reports yet about victims. Some people have been hospitalized by a nervous breakdown.
– Update : Everybody in the country could be found on the streets after evacuating houses and buildings. The situation on the roads of the bigger cities is simply chaotic. Everybody wants to drive back home.
– Update : NOAA has released the following Tsunami bulletin : A DESTRUCTIVE WIDESPREAD TSUNAMI WAS NOT GENERATED BASED ON EARTHQUAKE AND HISTORICAL TSUNAMI DATA. HOWEVER, THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF SOME LOCAL TSUNAMI EFFECTS. THIS EARTHQUAKE IS LOCATED INLAND FROM THE COAST. GDACS another agency who calculates tsunami heights has calculated that a max. tsunami wave of 0.1 meter may have occurred, nothing to be scared of.
– Update : the closest airports to the epicenter are Pinotepa Nacional (77km) and Ta Lo De Soto (71km)
– Update : there are NO hydrodams or NO Nuclear Plants in the vicinity of the epicenter
– Update : GDACS reports that the nearest populated places are: Coyul (16km), Putla de Guerrero (18km), Cuitlapa (15km), Laguna (3km). The closest civilian airport is Pinotepa Nacional (77km).
– Update : The area has currently a lot of aftershocks as could be expected. These aftershocks will go on for many hours and even days. Gradually they will get weaker but sometimes even M 6.x can be reached. People in the epicenter area will have to spend the night on the streets out of fear for aftershocks.
– Update : This earthquake is a subduction earthquake, which means that the Oceanic plate is gliging below the North American plate and often hangs for a while. When the accumulated energy is suddenly freed a massive earthquake is generated.
Image compiled by Earthquake-Report.com
