:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/KQIEVAV44NAEBMVXCVKWIQS7AQ.png "Why is it shaking in Colombia: these are the most earthquake-prone areas in the country 1")
This Friday, March 10, Colombia woke up with a strong telluric movement felt in several regions of the country. This situation alerted the population and the authorities, who are on permanent alert for possible aftershocks. This type of natural phenomena generates doubts in the public, since many wonder about the origin of an earthquake or the possible causes of it.
GlobeLiveMedia consulted experts on the importance of these natural phenomena and the impact they can cause in the country, pointing out that the national territory is located in an area with high seismic levels, since 80% of the Colombian population lives in the area of mountain ranges, in addition to being located on two plateaus of high importance, which are the Nazca and South America.
Flover Rodriguez-Portillo, executive director of the Colombian Association of Energy Geologists and Geophysicists (ACGGP)he explained to GlobeLiveMedia the importance of the geographical situation of Colombia, in relation to the seismicity of the territory. For Rodríguez, telluric movements are part of the so-called expressions emanating from the earth, thanks to the fact that the coffee country is located on two tectonic plates of great importance.
“Colombia is a country with an interesting geological diversity, the fact that the country is located in this northwest corner of South America, means that a whole series of geological expressions have been configured, here we have the interaction of tectonic plates, we have the South American plate which is basically where the continent is, we have the Nazca plate to the west, which is, let’s say, the oceanic plate and which generates this interaction in the Pacific The collision of these two plates generates a series of very particular phenomena in our country,” he said.
When an earthquake occurs it is common for the public and the media themselves to speak out immediately and bring up terms such as magnitude and intensity and although they sound similar they are totally different.
“Ordinary people and the media use the terms magnitude and intensity, but they are totally different concepts that need to be clarified: the magnitude of an earthquake is a measure that gives us an idea of the energy that the earthquake released, but the intensity is a measure that tells us the destructive capacity that this earthquake may have,” he explained. Flover Rodriguez-Portillo.
It should be noted that the magnitude is measured on the Richter scale, while the intensity is quantified according to the Mercalli Seismic Scalewhose degrees can range from I to XII, degrees that differ from the weakest to the most catastrophic.
Currently it is something impossible to determine, since the same planet Earth presents a wide dynamics with regard to its movements, taking into account that it is not only a question of predicting when it will temper, but also to be able to determine the intensity, magnitude, depth and other important factors.
according to the doctor John Makario London BonilladDirector of Geohazards of the Colombian Geological Service (SGC)Despite the fact that Colombia has complete equipment for the detection of earthquakes, predicting them is something that cannot be done, as he pointed out:
“It is not possible to predict an earthquake for many reasons, firstly because the Earth is very dynamic, secondly because the whole planet is likely to shake, the territory where it can shake at any time is very large , so detecting the exact location in which it may be shaking is impossible with the technologies we have at the moment, and if we could detect it that way, things would still be very difficult to predict”.
Throughout the country there is a significant extension of the seismic networks, which are responsible for recording all the telluric movements of the country, of course not all of them are published on the social networks of the Colombian Geological Service, since some are imperceptible, but clearly, they are part of the institution’s annotations.
He Director of Geothreats of the Colombian Geological Service (SGC)he pointed:
“The Colombian Geological Service has monitoring networks; We have the national seismic network, the seismic stations, we have more local networks in the volcanological and seismological observatories of Manizales, Pasto and Popayán, which are responsible not only for monitoring their volcanoes, but also for the seismicity in their environment”.
Based on what has been explained above, in Colombia second by second it is shaking, however, some areas show greater activity of this nature, highlighting those found on the mountain ranges and on the coast of the Pacific, as explained by Londono Bonilla.
“From a seismic point of view, there is a hazard map based on the seismic standard that shows that the whole Pacific side, the edge of the plains, say north of Santander and Santander, has high hazard, and the center part of Colombia in the middle and also part of the Atlantic coast. Now what was the Llanos and the Amazon would be a low threat,” Londoño summarized.
The two specialists have one thing in common, since the population insists on advancing technologies for predicting earthquakes; however, a more important concept emerges, that of prevention, since it allows citizens to carry out previous dynamics, during and after the earthquake or tremor.
Flover Rodriguez-Portillo he pointed:
“Which is more important, predicting an earthquake or preparing for the potential damage that a territory may have? Predicting an earthquake, I don’t think it will help much because if I say that there will be a 7 degree earthquake in Bucaramanga in 24 hours, despair, but no, it is something that I would like to transmit to society; It is more important that we invest in the preparation of our territories , that we are prepared in terms of infrastructure, in terms of social pedagogy, that our society is ready to attend an event like this”.
For that, John Makario London Bonilla added:
“The importance lies in the preparation which we both manage personally, risk management is a social process from one person to the highest authority, so it is a question of co-responsibility and each person must have their own plan , for example, emergencies with your family where we are, what is the kit that I have prepared at home in case of an earthquake”.