The National Seismological Service (SSN) recorded a 4.1 magnitude earthquake in the municipality of Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca.
According to preliminary official information, the earthquake occurred at 9:06 a.m. on July 21, 17 km north of the city, and had a depth of 32.7 km.
The exact location of the earthquake is located at the coordinates 16.011 degrees latitude and -97.042 degrees longitude.
To date, authorities have not reported any damage caused by the recorded earthquake. However, it is important to stay informed through official channels of any updates or measures taken.
The information released by the SSN is preliminary, so the reported earthquake data may be updated by authorities at a later date and change from what has already been published.
It is also important to note that earthquakes cannot be predicted. There is no current method or technology that allows us to know when an earthquake will occur, explains the SSN.
Our country is located in a tectonic context in which dozens of earthquakes occur daily; however, in the vast majority of cases, they are of low magnitude and therefore imperceptible.
20 different ways to measure the same phenomenon?
Even if they occur at the same distance from a city, not all earthquakes cause the same type of shaking, as the intensity of the movement varies depending on various factors such as the type of soil, the distance from the epicenter, seismic attenuation (i.e., how the earthquake’s energy is dissipated), and other geological variables.
To study these phenomena, Mexico has two fundamental systems: the National Seismological Service (SSN) and the National Accelerographic Network of the Engineering Institute of the country’s highest educational institution. The former is responsible for measuring the magnitude and locating the epicenter of earthquakes, while the latter specializes in recording how ground accelerations behave during large earthquakes.
Dr. Jorge Aguirre González, coordinator of Seismological Engineering at the UNAM Engineering Institute, points out that characterizing the site effect, which refers to the phenomenon of how the ground responds to an earthquake, is essential, since not all soils amplify or attenuate shaking in the same way. In fact, according to data from the academic institution itself, there are around 20 different ways to calculate the magnitude of an earthquake, allowing scientists to obtain more precise and useful measurements for engineering and civil protection.
Earthquakes in Mexico
Mexico is at constant risk of experiencing a large-magnitude earthquake, such as those that occurred in 1985 and 2017, which caused several disasters. And despite being the most memorable, they have not been the largest in the country.
The strongest earthquake recorded in Mexico’s history occurred on March 28, 1787, with its epicenter in Oaxaca and a magnitude of 8.6. This not only caused the ground to shake, but also triggered a tsunami 6 kilometers inland.
According to a 2009 study by the Center for Seismic Instrumentation and Recording (Cires), the March 28, 1787, earthquake suggests that major earthquakes with magnitudes of 8.6 or greater could occur in the coming years, with epicenters off the coasts of Mexico and Central America, due to their location in the Guerrero Gap, which accumulates a large amount of energy.
Tremors like this one bring back memories for Mexicans of 1985 and 2017, when the entire Mexico City came to a standstill due to the devastating consequences each one left behind.
The earthquake of September 19, 1985, occurred at 7:19 a.m. local time, with a magnitude of 8.2 and its epicenter in the state of Guerrero. Since that earthquake, many thought something like this would never happen again. But it happened again 32 years later.
The 2017 earthquake occurred at 1:14 p.m. local time, with its epicenter on the border between the states of Puebla and Morelos, and left 369 dead in the central part of the country.
Source: infobae
