[endulundaSauh]

You can see some of the damage with rebar coming out from the ruins in this series of pictures. They are from Carel Pedre (carelpedre) on Twitter

Carel Pedre flickr page carelp's Photostream


kj

Thanks, I stand corrected by that link. If such earthquake would happen in the DR the output would have been if not equal or really close.

[tobia]

The green line running through the mountains to the north is where the Sept 22, 2003 6.4 magnitude quake occurred. (centered near Pto Plata)

The purple fault line off the north coast hasn't had a recent significant quake that I'm aware of.

There are 2 faults in the north of DR, the North Hispaniola fault (offshore) & the Septentrional fault. I always thought the 2003 EQ was situated on the offshore fault?? 'The large north-south extent of the aftershock zone, the mainshock focal mechanism, and geologic evidence for an active fold-thrust belt offshore of Hispaniola indicate that the 2003 earthquake occurred on the south-dipping thrust fault mapped offshore of and beneath Puerto Plata.'

See Tectonic and Seismologic Setting of the 22 September 2003, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic Earthquake: Implications for Earthquake Hazard in Northern Hispaniola, J Dolan & D. Bowman

[Erawise]

Lambada, I was in error. It appears it was the offshore fault.

When you reach my age, you'll understand how confusion sets in
thanks for the correction

[Lvnufcdc]

I had not even been to the DR yet when the 2003 eq happened near POP. However, I can tell you that in my husband's home town, Montellano, I have seen the damage that the 2003 quake caused. One of our friend's homes has a two inch crack from floor to ceiling on one wall caused during the quake (a cement block home with rebar). My husband's grandmother's home (a wood siding home with a poured cement floor) was completely destabalized by the quake. The family had to re-secure all the supporting beams before anyone could return to live in the house.

With the news of the earthquake in Haiti, my husband recounts the earthquake of 2003 saying he thought his cousins were shaking his bed to wake him up when in fact it was the earthquake and everyone ran into the streets to safety.

We have yet to build a home on our property in POP and this is a good lesson of structural precautions that we have to make sure are taken!!!

[iuopyra]

My school on the North Coast had teachers and students running evacuation drills all day in case of another earthquake.

I have heard from ppl that have family in Europe there have been TV programs stating that they believe there will be a quake just as strong as in Haiti if not stronger along the North Coast of the DR....it could be in hours....or years.

That's the thing with earthquakes, they are no where near as easy to predict, track and prepare for as hurricanes for example.

I read the following online, however I was unable to find a source to back up this comment/prediction that is apparently causing panic in Europe for ppl with family down here....

Another question arising from Tuesday's earthquake is whether it presages more damage in Haiti and elsewhere along the fault line in the Dominican Republic or Jamaica .

"It could increase the chances," said Dr. Paul Mann , senior research scientist for the Institute for Geophysics at the Jackson School of Geosciences , University of Texas , and co-author of the study presented at the 2008 earthquake conference. "The rupture in the fault line was only 50 miles long," he said. "The areas to the east and west that did not rupture are under greater loading, greater stress accumulation."

But he, too, can't predict a time — even within 30 or 50 years. Geologists: Haiti earthquake was matter of when, not if - Yahoo! News

[Gosxjqum]

This should become a STICKY, and filed away for reference. Some really good information.
Now, that said, let's do some "adjusting"

Un hecho crucial para el surgimiento de Brasil como estado nación fue el traslado, a raíz de las Guerras Napoleónicas, de la capital desde Lisboa a Río de Janeiro implicándose con ello la asignación de la categoría de reino al Brasil, un reino dentro del Reino Unido de Portugal, Brasil y Algarve (1807 – 1821), al disolverse pacíficamente tal reino surgió el Imperio de Brasil.

What this says is that the capital of Portugal was NOT moved to Brazil as a result of the 1755 earthquake, bur rather as a result of the Napoleonic invasion of the Iberian Peninsula.

Please try to get a grip on tectonics. the Caribbean Plate is between the N.American Plate and the S. American Plate and is pushing against the Cocos Plate to the west.

There are probably three different types of friction going on: subduction, and lateral are the two most important ones for us. The fault lines to the north seem to be lateral movements, those to the south and west subduction.

Big deal.

Now, according to Orlando Franco, a civil engineer and geologist, a "big" one did hit perhaps 800 years ago. Will another one come? Perhaps not in our lifetimes, because of all these lesser quakes, as mentioned. the 6.3, the 7.0 despite the destruction, did release energy. The hundreds of small shakes we get all year long continue the process.

End game: If you build, build to code, it is more expensive, but you will be safer.

You know, there might be rhyme and reason why the Tainos built with sticks....any shaking and they could play "Pick up Sticks!!" but no loss of life. In Guatemala, maybe 30 years ago, 25000 lost their lives, in minutes, when the adobe houses they lived in caved in during a 7+ quake.

Good thread. Don't know if this contributes anything to it....must be depresssed today...long week behind and a longer one ahead.

HB

[DurryVony]

I haven't seen it mentioned here but in 1946 the DR had a earthquake..
1946 Dominican Republic earthquake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[XiWm9O9S]

There are 2 faults in the north of DR, the North Hispaniola fault (offshore) & the Septentrional fault. I always thought the 2003 EQ was situated on the offshore fault?? 'The large north-south extent of the aftershock zone, the mainshock focal mechanism, and geologic evidence for an active fold-thrust belt offshore of Hispaniola indicate that the 2003 earthquake occurred on the south-dipping thrust fault mapped offshore of and beneath Puerto Plata.'

You seem to understand this TEMBLOR stuff. How about the short version on faults, stress points and other major points on temblors for us neophytes?

[ImapFidaarram]

It seems the Puerto Rican Trench north of the DR could also be a source of angst for us East coasters...

the landmass on the left is the eastern part of the DR

YouTube - Computer Model of the 1918 Puerto Rico Tsunami

Earthquake History of Puerto Rico

There is no mention of that tsunami's effect on the DR, but for sure it caused damage.

Re Tsunamis: I would like to know just how much time one would have, in the above scenario, from seeing the water withdraw from the beach/bay to the arrival of the first wave?

[Unwiseevove]

End game: If you build, build to code, it is more expensive, but you will be safer.

Good advice. Might also be worth investigating california (quakes) as well as Miami-Dade (hurricanes) codes, which exceed the international building code. Of course, this also requires a great deal of trust in the designer and builder, not always easy to find in the DR.

You know, there might be rhyme and reason why the Tainos built with sticks....any shaking and they could play "Pick up Sticks!!" but no loss of life. In Guatemala, maybe 30 years ago, 25000 lost their lives, in minutes, when the adobe houses they lived in caved in during a 7+ quake. I think you're right on this. Certainly they had other alternatives available.

As far as the rebar discussion, it all has to be tied in for it to work as designed. I watched a house being built in the campo once. All of the block and rebar was purchased in advance. Floor is poured, support columns poured over rebar. Block is laid with rebar tie-ins to columns, looks good. Until they ran out of rebar. The entire rear wall was built without it. But then, once painted nobody would know. At least, not until The Big One.

Chris