Earthquakes
An earthquake rocked Israel on Friday evening, shortly before 10:00 p.m. local time, and was felt in areas from northern Israel to central Israel.
According to a Channel 10 News report, the police in the Northern, Central and Tel Aviv Districts said they received hundreds of phone calls from citizens who felt the earthquake. Local residents reported feeling objects and buildings move for about 15 to 20 seconds. There were no reports of injuries or damages.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake measured 5.3 on the Richter scale and its epicenter was in Cyprus.
More than a 100 calls by concerned citizens were received in the northern city of Tzfat alone, the report said. The quake was felt even in Bat Yam, Kfar Saba, Ramat Hasharon, Ra'anana and other areas in central Israel.
Magen David Adom has sent reinforcements to its stations in northern Israel and is preparing for the possibility of secondary tremors, Channel 10 reported.
The magnitude 8.6 earthquake that struck in the Indian Ocean off the western coast of Sumatra on April 11was one of the 10 largest earthquakes ever recorded, and was felt as far away as Bangladesh and India. However, no quake-related fatalities were reported.
Seismologists have done preliminary studies on the earthquake and found that it had some unusual aspects, ones that could help them better understand earthquakes that happen away from the boundaries between tectonic plates and better appreciate how powerful those quakes could potentially be.
Marco Tantalean, an expert from the institution, said planning must include safe routes and refuges, plus staples like your ID cards, drinkable water, first-aid material, flashlight, non perishable food and saving phone calls for emergencies to prevent the lines from collapsing.
Other prevention measures include a May 31st tsunami simulation, marking the 1970 massive quake that killed some 70,000 people in Ancash, north Peru. Scientific evidence have proven that after "long periods of rest" big quakes may occur, like those that have especially razed Lima through history; plus, Peru is located in a seismic area, adds Hernando Tavera, director of Seismology at the Institute of Geophysics, reminding of the 66 tremors of 2012 through April, near one daily.
The 5.5-magnitude earthquake at 9:40 a.m. local time (0440 GMT) was centered about 17.5 kilometers (10.8 miles) south of Zaqatala, the capital of Zaqatala Rayon along the Tala River. It struck about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the Republican Seismic Survey Center of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), which measured the strength of the earthquake at 5.6 on the body wave magnitude (Mb) scale, estimated some 450,000 people near the epicenter may have felt moderate to strong shaking. Another 6.6 million people may have felt weak to light shaking.
A 4.0 magnitude earthquake that struck just after midnight on Tuesday morning was the eighth small quake with a magnitude between 3.8 and 4.7 to strike the region since April 22.
Pacific Geoscience Centre Seismologist Gary Rogers said the activity is focused along a 20-kilometre stretch along an area called the Raveer Delwood Fault, located about 200 kilometres offshore.
"In the very thin crust that we have out there off our west coast of Vancouver Island, it often fractures in a series of small earthquakes, usually about this size being the maximum."
Rogers said more small earthquakes are expected in the area over the next week.
"They often go on for days. There's been a lot of smaller ones, so eventually they'll wind down, but typically, what we've seen in the past is that most of these swarms last a few days to a week or so."
Tuesday, May 01, 2012 at 22:43:37 UTC
Tuesday, May 01, 2012 at 05:43:37 PM at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location:
14.466°N, 92.909°W
Depth
36.3 km (22.6 miles)
Region
OFFSHORE CHIAPAS, MEXICO
Distances
93 km (57 miles) SW of Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico
163 km (101 miles) WSW of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
189 km (117 miles) WSW of Huehuetenango, Guatemala
861 km (535 miles) SE of MEXICO CITY, D.F., Mexico
Tuesday, May 01, 2012 at 16:38:00 UTC
Tuesday, May 01, 2012 at 11:38:00 AM at epicenter Location
18.521°N, 100.886°W
Depth
77.6 km (48.2 miles)
Region
MICHOACAN, MEXICO
Distances
7 km (4 miles) S (185°) from Huetamo, Michoacán, Mexico
33 km (21 miles) NW (312°) from Altamirano,Guerrero, Mexico
70 km (44 miles) WNW (292°) from Arcelia, Guerrero, Mexico
133 km (83 miles) S (169°) from Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico
206 km (128 miles) WSW (241°) from MEXICO CITY, D.F., Mexico












