ARTICLE - D.R - 2 EARTHQUAKES TODAY

TWO MODERATE QUAKES SHAKE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
(Dominican Today) -

Santo Domingo - Two earthquakes were felt in the Dominican Republic in the last few hours, one with a magnitude 5.0 and the other 3.0, according to the US Geodetic Survey.

The epicenter of the 5.0 tremor - which the State Univerity UASD Seismology Institute rated at 4.8, was located in the Mona Passage and south of Saona Island, around 47 kilometers from La Romana, but felt in the entire eastern region, while the milder quake was felt in the Northwest province of Valverde.

DETAILS FROM THE US GEODETIC SURVEY:

Magnitude 5.0

Date-Time Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 06:28:20 UTC

Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 02:28:20 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location 18.052°N, 68.762°W

Depth 82.6 km (51.3 miles)

Region DOMINICAN REPUBLIC REGION

Distances 47 km (30 miles) SSE (152°) from La Romana, La Romana, Dominican Republic

63 km (39 miles) S (185°) from Higüey, La Altagracia, Dominican Republic

74 km (46 miles) SE (128°) from San Pedro de Macorís, San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic

135 km (84 miles) ESE (111°) from SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic.

COMMENTS

From: Dominican Republic, Las Terrenas

I live in Las Terrenas and my bed started doing this odd slow shaking, swaying. At the same time I heard my jewelry rattling and two dogs started barking. I was in such a deep sleep, though it was a very cloudy passing thought, "Is this an earthquake?" I just pray I will be more alert next time. haha On a serious note, 3 small but noticeable earthquakes in the last month..............

The first great earthquake mentioned in history of the Island occurred in 1564 in what was still the Spanish colony of Española. It destroyed Concepción de la Vega and Santiago de los Caballeros.

The earthquake of November 9, 1701, destroyed countless buildings and roads. Part of the area along the north shore of the Tiburon Peninsula from Leogane to Petit Goave sank into the sea.

The severe earthquakes of November 21 and 22, 1751, destroyed the recently founded town of Port-au-Prince and overthrew buildings on the plain Cul de Sac.

The earthquake of June 3, 1770, was one of the strongest shocks recorded on the Island of Haiti, the area of greatest destruction extending from Croix des Bouquets through the plain Cul de Sac to Port-au-Prince and along the north coast of the Tiburon Peninsula as far as Miragoane. The sea rose a mile and a half up onto the island and at Grand Goave the foot of the mountain La Saline was partly submerged.

In 1783 the principal church at Santiago partly collapsed after another strong quake.

Earthquake experts are warning that the devastating quake that struck Haiti on Jan 2010 could be the first of several in the region. They say historical records suggest that not all the energy that has built up in the faults running through the Caribbean region was released in the tragedy.

Their fear is that enough energy remains in the fault system to trigger another earthquake of the same scale as Jan. 12th.

The last time Haiti was struck by an earthquakes of this scale was in 1751 and 1770, when three large earthquakes hit within the space of 20 years. They ruptured the same fault segment as the one that slipped on Tuesday, as well as segments lying further to the east, in Haiti and the neighbouring Dominican Republic.

"Last time round there was a sequence of earthquakes," says Uri ten Brink, an expert on earthquakes in the region from the US Geological Survey in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. "I'm worried, as we might expect the eastern side of the fault to rupture next."

McGuire released a report warning of this danger in 2008 (PDF). Along with the entire Caribbean, Central America, the Gulf coast of the US and the north coast of South America would be at risk from such a tsunami.

In particular, geological measurements indicate that stress is building in the section of the submarine fault between easternmost Dominican Republic and the island of Guadeloupe. Large earthquakes of magnitude 8.5 to 9.0 could rupture the entire 1000-kilometre length of the fault, McGuire and his colleagues wrote in their report.

From the amount of energy being accumulated by subduction, McGuire and his colleagues estimate that undersea thrust earthquakes could recur every 2000 years or so.

Unfortunately, high rates of natural erosion in the region have long since wiped away the geological signs of the last earthquake along this submarine fault. We know from historical records that there has not been a quake along the fault in 500 years, but the next one could be within the century, or within the next millennium.

"We don't want to scaremonger, but much larger quakes, of magnitude 8 or more, have occurred in this region and will do so again," says McGuire. "Where they are submarine they will present a major tsunami threat, especially as this is such a small area compared with the Indian Ocean."