People in Caracas seated on a sidewalk while looking for cover from earthquakes reported on Wednesday, September 24. Photo: Getty.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has reported that 10 earthquakes and 21 aftershocks have occurred over a seven-hour period, an event known as a seismic swarm resulting from tectonic fault activity in the country’s western region. No human casualties have been reported.
The seismic activity, which began before Rodríguez’s 1:06 a.m. address this Thursday, September 25, continued through the day. International earthquake services recorded additional events until 7:20 p.m. Thursday, including 24 low-intensity aftershocks (less than 4.0 magnitude) and three higher-intensity ones. The stronger following events were a 4.6-magnitude quake at 2:42 a.m., a 5.8-magnitude quake at 2:55 a.m., and a 4.5-magnitude quake at 7:28 a.m., all with epicenters in Zulia state.
Government response and national drill
Rodríguez confirmed on national television that President Nicolás Maduro is actively in contact with governors and mayors of the affected areas. The government has deployed the Protection, Risk Management, and Citizen Security System, in coordination with the Bolivarian National Armed Force, to address any contingencies.
Later, President Maduro announced a national civil protection drill scheduled for Saturday. The exercise is intended to prepare the public for natural disasters and “any armed conflict.” The president made the announcement during a meeting with commune leaders in Miranda state.
“I want to announce and call upon all our people in perfect Popular Military-Police Unity for next Saturday,” said President Maduro, “to participate in a national drill of civil protection and preparation of the people for natural disasters or any armed conflict that may arise,” amid the intensification of US imperial military and rhetoric threats against Venezuela.
“I have already given instructions to Vice President, to the Vice President of Security and Civil Protection, Diosdado Cabello, and to the high command of the Bolivarian National Armed Force,” the head of state continued, “so that this Saturday’s exercise, from nine in the morning onward, involving all the country’s schools and high schools, as well as the entire hospital and health system, will allow us to prepare for any circumstance.”
Understanding a seismic swarm
The earthquakes had their epicenters in western Venezuela, mostly in Zulia state, with a small fraction in Lara, Trujillo, and Falcón states.
According to a report by Últimas Noticias, Oniel Castellanos, head of the natural and man-made event monitoring section of the Maracaibo Civil Protection Risk Management Department, explained that a seismic swarm is “a series of similar, small- and medium-magnitude earthquakes that occur in the same area over a short period of time, without a clearly identified main earthquake.”
“The phenomenon is characterized by multiple small tremors—sometimes dozens, even hundreds—that are often concentrated over hours, days, or weeks,” he explained. “Unlike a classic seismic sequence, in which a high-magnitude earthquake occurs and is followed by smaller aftershocks, in a seismic swarm, there is no single main event that stands out; instead, they all have similar magnitudes.”
Castellanos furthet noted that swarms can be caused by movements of geological faults, the infiltration of fluids like water or magma into rocks, or volcanic activity. In short, a seismic swarm is like a “rain” of small tremors without a major leading earthquake.
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Geologist María Alejandra Molero, a professor in the National Training Program in Geosciences at the Territorial Polytechnic University of Maracaibo, described the seismic swarm as a “non-periodic, rhythmic series of earthquakes of varying intensities, caused by the shifting of two tectonic blocks or plates.”
Molero added that there is no way to predict their appearance or end, as they do not follow a specific pattern. “The best thing to do is heed the recommendations of security and protection authorities to minimize vulnerability,” she explained. “The threat exists because, as I said before, they are unpredictable.”
According to the National Park Service of the US empire, the relationship between earthquake swarms and larger earthquakes is a complex and active area of study. While swarms can sometimes precede significant seismic events, they most often do not, and there is currently no reliable method to predict a large earthquake based on a swarm alone.
While most swarms consist only of small quakes, the potential for a larger event, though low, cannot be ruled out. Therefore, the best course of action during any period of increased seismic activity is to be as prepared as possible.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/AU
