The plate boundary between the Caribbean and South America is ripe for a major earthquake

View of Venezuela Square in Caracas, Venezuela. Credit: George Miquelina

Faults along the central portion of the tectonic plate boundary between the Caribbean and South America are primed to trigger a powerful earthquake, posing a potentially serious hazard to northern Venezuela, an international team of scientists said.

“Most of the populated cities in this region lie on plate boundaries, so it’s important to understand seismic hazard,” said Michael Higgins, who led the research as part of his Ph.D. at Penn State. “We found that a large portion of the plate boundary between the Caribbean and South America is closed and capable of producing earthquakes of magnitude 8.”

The boundary stretches for about 550 miles as two tectonic plates slide past each other from northern Venezuela and the Caribbean Sea in the west to Trinidad and Tobago in the east. Multiple faults run along the boundary, and the region is prone to earthquakes.

“There were many devastating earthquakes on this board, especially magnitude 7 and above around the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, in 1812 and 1900,” said Higgins, who graduated in the spring of 2021. A similarly large earthquake has seismic hazard implications for Caracas and surrounding urban areas in northern Venezuela.”

The team, led by Penn State scientists, combined GPS and Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data to monitor small changes on the ground along the boundary and used that to model where stress builds up along faults, indicating where earthquakes are likely to occur.

“This is the first time this part of the Caribbean – the plate boundary in South America has been investigated, and our results show where significant strain accumulates,” said Peter Lavimina, professor of Earth sciences and Higgin’s advisor.

The faults at the eastern end of the boundary are creeping, with one exception, which means the plates slither through each other smoothly. Western defects are locked, which means they are suspended and unable to move. When this happens, the stress builds up until the plates snap off, triggering an earthquake, the scientists said.

“Typically this strain is mitigated by rupture during an earthquake or free slip, which is called creep,” Higgins said. “We found that where there have been large historical earthquakes, there is a significant amount of elastic stress build-up. Where there have been many earthquakes of small magnitude or few earthquakes, there has been virtually no elastic stress buildup.”

The Caribbean plate moves about 20 mm annually to the east relative to the South American plate, and the researchers found that one slip fault on the island of Trinidad is responsible for accommodating 70% of the relative movement.

“We knew that the central extent fault in Trinidad was crawling and accommodating approximately 70% of the relative plate movement; however, our new results show that the fault is crawling across the entire island,” said LaFemina.

This is the first study to combine GPS and InSAR technologies to study the entire length of the plate boundary. The scientists said the findings, recently published in the journal Tectonics, could help guide future seismic risk decisions in northern Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago.

“It is very difficult to assess the risks of a magnitude 8 earthquake; it includes not only loss of life, but economic damage downstream,” Higgins said. “Because this region is somewhat dependent on oil production, a major earthquake that damages infrastructure can disrupt their economies.”

GPS data reveals potential earthquake, tsunami risk in northwest Colombia Provided by Penn State University

Quote: Caribbean and South American plate boundaries primed for major earthquake (2021, October 21) Retrieved October 21, 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2021-10-car Caribbean-south-american-plate-boundary-primed. html

This document is subject to copyright. Notwithstanding any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without written permission. The content is provided for informational purposes only.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos