American Expatriate Costa Rica

Aftershocks in the South Zone continue a month after strong earthquake

The seismic activity in the South Zone, on the border between Costa Rica and Panama, continues almost a month after the strong tremor that shook the region.

This Sunday, at 11:44 am, there was a slight movement of 3.0 degrees with an epicenter five kilometers north of Puerto Armuelles in Panama. This was reported by the National Seismological Network (RSN), which confirmed that it obeyed the process of subduction of the Cocos plate.

This is the same area where there was a 6.4 magnitude tremor on June 25th. It is not the only recent event; on July 21st -in that same area- there was a 4.2 degree movement located 12 kilometers west of Puerto Armuelles. Also, on July 2nd there was an event of magnitude 3.8 degrees in the same region.

This is expected, according to projections given by the RSN since June.

The RSN emphasized that the South Zone of the country is characterized by the origin of frequent earthquakes due to the movement of the Cocos and Caribbean plates, local faults and the proximity to the Panama Fracture Zone.

The last earthquakes in the area occurred in 1983, 1941 and 1904. These earthquakes occurred in the seismogenic zone between plates, with magnitudes greater than 7.0. Additionally, there have been many earthquakes of intermediate magnitudes, between 5.0 and 6.6 in the vicinity of the political boundary between Costa Rica and Panama,

explained the RSN.

crhoy.com