NewsWhore
01-15-2010, 06:00 PM
University of Texas scientist Paul Mann had forecast during a presentation at the 18th Caribbean Geological Conference that took place in March 2008 in Santo Domingo that a 7 magnitude earthquake was imminent for Haiti. The forecast was based on the known accumulated strains along a boundary between tectonic plates, a region including Haiti, Jamaica and the DR, the so-called Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone.
In response to his prediction having come true so soon, Mann says that one of the lessons neighboring countries should learn from the Haiti quake is the need for prevention in population centers such as Kingston, Jamaica and Santiago, Dominican Republic that are close to a fault. "People must be educated for the dangers even though they might have never experienced a large shock in their lifetime," he advises. He says regions can prepare with what he describes as the three parts of a triangle: geologic research on faults (mapping, trenching, GPS, modeling), engineering for safer buildings, and outreach and educating the public. Cities in the north and northeast of the Dominican Republic are adjacent to the Septentrional strike-slip fault zone that has not ruptured in 800 years. It primarily poses a major seismic hazard to the people living in the Cibao Valley.
For background information, see
http://dr1.com/news/2010/Demets_2007.pdf
http://dr1.com/news/2010/image002.gif
http://dr1.com/news/2010/Manaker_etal_GJI_2008_opt.pdf
http://dr1.com/news/2010/Mann_1995.pdf
http://dr1.com/news/2010/Mann_2002.pdf
http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/FM/neic_rja6_wmt.html
http://www.ig.utexas.edu/outreach/dr_earthquake/index.htm
http://www.jsg.utexas.edu/news/rels/011310.html
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#13)
In response to his prediction having come true so soon, Mann says that one of the lessons neighboring countries should learn from the Haiti quake is the need for prevention in population centers such as Kingston, Jamaica and Santiago, Dominican Republic that are close to a fault. "People must be educated for the dangers even though they might have never experienced a large shock in their lifetime," he advises. He says regions can prepare with what he describes as the three parts of a triangle: geologic research on faults (mapping, trenching, GPS, modeling), engineering for safer buildings, and outreach and educating the public. Cities in the north and northeast of the Dominican Republic are adjacent to the Septentrional strike-slip fault zone that has not ruptured in 800 years. It primarily poses a major seismic hazard to the people living in the Cibao Valley.
For background information, see
http://dr1.com/news/2010/Demets_2007.pdf
http://dr1.com/news/2010/image002.gif
http://dr1.com/news/2010/Manaker_etal_GJI_2008_opt.pdf
http://dr1.com/news/2010/Mann_1995.pdf
http://dr1.com/news/2010/Mann_2002.pdf
http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/FM/neic_rja6_wmt.html
http://www.ig.utexas.edu/outreach/dr_earthquake/index.htm
http://www.jsg.utexas.edu/news/rels/011310.html
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#13)