After the earthquake of magnitude 7.7 registered on Monday afternoon with the epicenter of Coalcomán, Michoacán, it is not ruled out that an earthquake of the same magnitude will occur in the next two or three months.
The above was pointed out by Dr. Araceli Zamora Camacho, research professor at the Department of Exact Sciences of the University Center of the Coast of the University of Guadalajara.
The Mexican Central Pacific is located in a tectonic zone of great activity, hence there are at least 10 earthquakes a day, just in the Puerto Vallarta area, the vast majority of them imperceptible, however, the plates that converge here, accumulate a large amount of energy that generate earthquakes like the one that occurred on Monday, September 19.
Dr. Zamora Camacho explained that off the coast of Jalisco there are at least four plates, which are constantly moving.
“The plates that are in front of Vallarta, well, they are the Rivera plate, the De Cocos plate, and the North American plate. The North American plate is a macroplate, it is a very large plate; Rivera’s is a microplate, and Cocos’, let’s say it’s medium, so they are puzzle pieces that want to fit together and move in the same direction, but depending on their densities, they move in different ways, that’s creating friction between them,” she explained.
The doctor in Earth Sciences-Seismology and Volcanology, who graduated from UNAM, stressed that due to these movements and the density of the plates it is scientifically impossible to predict an earthquake, however, she said that there is a great possibility that an earthquake will be recorded of the same magnitude as this Monday
“In Guerrero, there have been “doubles”, events that are generated of magnitude 7.7 in periods of 2 to 3 months, “so it is not surprising that an event of these characteristics can also occur here: a large event, then many aftershocks, and after another big event, they are known as ‘seismic doublets’.
Dr. Zamora Camacho reiterated that there is no way to predict earthquakes since we are talking about the accumulation of dynamic energy, whose reaction time has not been possible to calculate.
“Predicting is very complicated, very complicated, why? because it is the equivalent of saying when I am going to get sick. I can take care of myself, I can have all the care, but my system is deteriorating. When will it deteriorate? It is the equivalent of saying when it is going to tremble. So, we don’t know, what we do know is that there is an accumulation of energy because we live on a living planet where movement is constantly being generated, but we don’t know exactly the point of release, which is where we would say that on such a day, at such times this release of energy will occur. We still don’t have that ability to do it,” she said.
According to the National Seismological Service, until 3:00 p.m. on September 20, 2022, there had been 849 aftershocks of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that occurred in Michoacán on Monday, September 19, the largest being 5.8.
After the earthquake of magnitude 7.7 registered on Monday afternoon with the epicenter of Coalcomán, Michoacán, it is not ruled out . . .
