Sunday 15 January 2017

Magnitude 5.2 Earthquake off the west coast of Colombia.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.2 Earthquake at a depth of 6 km approximately 60 km off the west coast of Colombia, at slightly after 4.05 -m local time (slightly after 11.05 am GMT) on Thursday 12 January 2017. There are no reports of any damage or casualties associated with this event, but people reported feeling the event in parts of Panama.

The approximate location of the 12 January 2016 Colombia Earthquake. USGS.

Colombia is on the west coast of South America and the western margin of the South American Plate, close to where the Nazca Plate, which underlies part of the east Pacific, is being subducted along the Peru-Chile Trench. The Nazca Plate passes under the South American Plate as it sinks into the Earth, this is not a smooth process and the plates repeatedly stick together then break apart as the pressure builds up, causing Earthquakes. As the Nazca Plate sinks further it is partially melted by the friction and the heat of the Earth's interior. Some of this melted material then rises through the overlying South American Plate, fuelling the volcanoes of Colombia and neighbouring countries.
 

The subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate, and how it causes Earthquakes and volcanoes. SIO SEARCH.

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit organisation Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.

 See also...

http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/landslide-kills-at-least-six-in-valle.html
http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/monitoring-incidence-of-microcephaly.html


http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/magnitude-54-earthquake-in-santander.html
http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/landslide-kills-seven-in-antioquia.html
http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/eruptions-on-nevado-del-ruiz.htmlhttp://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/landslide-kills-at-least-78-people-in.html
Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.