Not really truthteller, in here periodic tremors are quite common, typically there are several reasons such as local fault lines, volcanic tremors and on top of that the tectonic subduction (sp?) which is when the tectonic plates move one against the other one, there is a point in Punta Burica where you have not two but three plaques colliding
Tremors here will always be something common whether there is a big one coming or not
Tremors here will always be something common whether there is a big one coming or not
"I have been living here for the last 6 years and never felt so many tremors like in the past 6-8 months."
The tremors are there all the time but most of the time they are felt only locally, that is, you read on the news (or I do anyway, in La Nacion) that a tremor of
'x' was felt in 'y' but it was not felt in San Jose.
Also the theory that small tremors actually prevent the big ones from happening doesn't hold, the richter scale is a logarithmic one, that is, a 5 is 10 times as strong as a 4 and so on so it would take 100 tremors magnitude 4 to actually release the energy that a "big one" of magnitude 6 would release.
There is a major one that is expected on Nicoya because the fault line has not moved in a good while and according to records it moves every 60 years, buildings made in that area try to account for this in their design so that they don't collapse when it happens
The tremors are there all the time but most of the time they are felt only locally, that is, you read on the news (or I do anyway, in La Nacion) that a tremor of
'x' was felt in 'y' but it was not felt in San Jose.
Also the theory that small tremors actually prevent the big ones from happening doesn't hold, the richter scale is a logarithmic one, that is, a 5 is 10 times as strong as a 4 and so on so it would take 100 tremors magnitude 4 to actually release the energy that a "big one" of magnitude 6 would release.
There is a major one that is expected on Nicoya because the fault line has not moved in a good while and according to records it moves every 60 years, buildings made in that area try to account for this in their design so that they don't collapse when it happens
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Maps/region/N_America.html
There are usually a few every week in Central America, some of which you may feel, others not.
There are usually a few every week in Central America, some of which you may feel, others not.
wolfie..
the last 6 months have been NUTS here with these small quakes..
I am in MALL SAN PEDRO..on the 8th floor..When this building..which I have named..The Starship Enterprise..starts to rock..No seat belt in the world is going to save us..
The ticos act casual during these quakes like its yesterdays newspaper...For me..there is nothing casual about the earth moving below my feet..To quote..Carole King..
the last 6 months have been NUTS here with these small quakes..
I am in MALL SAN PEDRO..on the 8th floor..When this building..which I have named..The Starship Enterprise..starts to rock..No seat belt in the world is going to save us..
The ticos act casual during these quakes like its yesterdays newspaper...For me..there is nothing casual about the earth moving below my feet..To quote..Carole King..
Sportsbettingtrivia, to us these SMALL tremors are as common as a hurricane warning in Florida, with the exception that there is no "hurricane season", the last 5 years have been EXTREMELY calm, the last "big one" we had was in 1999 and then we got the one in November that shook Quepos, Manuel Antonio
Wildbill, take a look at this links
http://www.amcostarica.com/111904.htm
http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2004/noviembre/20/ultima-sr.html
http://www.diarioextra.com/2004/noviembre/22/
The people that live in Damas Island should leave the place (not that they have anywhere to go because of course they are pretty poor), apparently the island got huge cracks after the earthquake
All in all, and as Costa Rican that has lived here for all my life (30 years) this is COMMON, we get big ones every now and then, the constructions are always built with this in mind, the only ones that always have a problem here are the people that built where they shouldn't to start with, places that have been identified as geologically unstable and where land slides are 100% guarranteed
Wildbill, take a look at this links
http://www.amcostarica.com/111904.htm
http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2004/noviembre/20/ultima-sr.html
http://www.diarioextra.com/2004/noviembre/22/
The people that live in Damas Island should leave the place (not that they have anywhere to go because of course they are pretty poor), apparently the island got huge cracks after the earthquake
All in all, and as Costa Rican that has lived here for all my life (30 years) this is COMMON, we get big ones every now and then, the constructions are always built with this in mind, the only ones that always have a problem here are the people that built where they shouldn't to start with, places that have been identified as geologically unstable and where land slides are 100% guarranteed
Probably just sensationalism given the recent earthquake in Quepos. I noticed a lot more tremors a few years ago (almost weekly), recently I haven't felt any. But I was on the 7th floor of a steel frame office tower, now I'm on the 3rd floor of a concrete office building. Perhaps it is just where you are sitting.
Also, earthquakes don't unnerve me at all. However my Tica wife gets completely hysterical at the slightest tremor. So YMMV.
Definitely true most damage (earthquakes and flooding both) is caused by poor construction and building in the wrong place. Almost 100% preventable.
Also, earthquakes don't unnerve me at all. However my Tica wife gets completely hysterical at the slightest tremor. So YMMV.
Definitely true most damage (earthquakes and flooding both) is caused by poor construction and building in the wrong place. Almost 100% preventable.
