Earthquake tremors felt in Belize

Earthquake tremors felt in Belize
Date: Friday, September 23, 2005

Most Belizeans are aware of the threat of hurricanes, but earthquakes? While they are seldom felt here, they do occur occasionally, like this morning. News Five visited the Met Office in Ladyville today to find out about this rare seismic event.

Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
The National Emergency Management Organization, NEMO, reports that people living in the southern and central parts of the country experienced the early morning tremor that was triggered by a moderate earthquake the occurred some six point two miles below the waters off Honduras or about one hundred and fourteen miles southeast of Belmopan.

Frank Tench, Forecaster
"From the reports received via the internet from the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake registered five point eight on the Richter scale and it occurred around seven forty-eight this morning and the tremor we felt was felt at approximately the same time in Belize."

While the tremor did not result in damages or injuries, the vibration did alarm those who felt it. Forecaster Frank Tench explains it was a fault line within an area referred to as the Cayman Trench that was affected.

Frank Tench
"Earthquakes are formed when plates move or rub against each other. There are fault lines which separate the different plates around the world and there is a fault line that runs roughly from across the Caribbean, across northern Honduras and into a portion just north of El Salvador and that fault line separates the plate that most of Central America sits on and the plate on which Belize and Guatemala sits on. So whenever you feel an earthquake, it’s when the plates rub against each other along that fault line and that’s what you experience when an earthquake occurs."

Some reports suggest the tremor lasted between eight to thirty seconds. Meanwhile, Tench says it is not likely that Belizeans will experience aftershocks.

Frank Tench
"I would say it is very unlikely, most likely where the centre of the earthquake occurred, it´s more likely that they will experience aftershocks and they could be stronger or they could be weaker. There was another earthquake yesterday off the coast of Nicaragua and most likely other tremors would occur somewhere along that fault line and they probably would not be felt in Belize as strongly as the one we felt this morning."

The Belize Weather Bureau says the last time a tremor was felt in the country was one to two years ago. The activity was triggered by an earthquake that occurred just off the coast of Honduras.

NEMO advises Belizeans that as a safety precaution to always move away from buildings or structures that may become unstable during a tremor and that any further development connected to this morning´s event will be reported to the public via the media.

[link to new.channel5belize.com]

Earthquake Information;

[link to earthquake.usgs.gov]