Nicaragua earthquake in 1992
| Nicaragua earthquake (1992) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
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| date | 2nd September 1992 | ||
| Magnitude | 7.7 M W | ||
| depth | 45 km | ||
| epicenter | 11 ° 44 '31 " N , 87 ° 20' 24" W | ||
| country | Nicaragua | ||
| Tsunami | Yes | ||
| dead | at least 116 | ||
The 1992 Nicaragua earthquake on September 1 was a severe earthquake off the coast of the Central American state of Nicaragua .
At least 116 people died as a result of the quake, numerous others were injured and damage was recorded as far as Costa Rica . The earthquake reached a magnitude of 7.7 M w , and caused a tsunami that was exceptionally strong for the relatively low surface wave magnitude .
tectonics
The earthquake was the first to trigger a tsunami and was also recorded by the modern broadband seismological network. The surface wave magnitude was estimated to be 7.2 M s . It is a blind thrust earthquake that occurred in the subduction zone between the Cocos Plate and the North American Plate . This zone is actively under pressure and deformation, and because there is no sediment on the seabed off Nicaragua, the slide occurred down to the bottom of the rift, which usually creates strong tsunamis. This occurrence of subduction at a plate boundary, which is filled with soft subduced sediments, caused a slower separation than with average subduction earthquakes, while the hypocenter of the earthquake was much flatter than is usual with subduction earthquakes.
Damage and sacrifice
The first tremor occurred at 0:16 UTC and was followed by several strong aftershocks. The earthquake was felt most in the departments of Chinandega and León , but was felt elsewhere in Nicaragua, such as Crucero , Managua and San Marcos, and San José , Costa Rica. The quake was the strongest to struck the state since the 1972 Nicaragua earthquake .
At least 116 people were killed by the effects of the earthquake, most of them sleeping children, another 68 were missing and more than 13,500 residents of the country were left homeless. At least 1,300 houses and 185 fishing boats were destroyed on the west coast of Nicaragua. The total damage was at 20 to 30 million US dollars estimated.
According to the Augusto César Sandino Foundation , those most affected by the effects of the earthquake were “residents of small, poor settlements who live on various forms of subsistence farming. Their houses by the sea were almost completely destroyed. These people have lost all their belongings, poor farmers growing crops for their basic needs on poor farmland and fishermen who have lost all their fishing gear, boats, sheds and warehouses. Their already extreme poverty was deepened even further. "
Tsunami
Most of the casualties and property damage were caused by a tsunami that struck the west coast of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. It was the third tsunami to hit the area in six months. The height of the rising water was determined shortly after the earthquake. The tsunami reached a height of up to ten meters, but mostly it fluctuated between three and eight meters. Compared to the surface wave magnitude occurring, the tsunami was disproportionately strong, and the duration of the earthquake was unusually long for its size at 100 seconds. The moment magnitude was M w = 7.7 and was thus greater than the surface wave magnitude (M s ) of 7 measured over 20 seconds ; this difference between M s and M w is characteristic of so-called tsunami earthquakes. Flood levels in Corinto and Puerto Sandino showed a tsunami 61 minutes after the earthquake. In the Masachapa , the tidal wave ran about a kilometer inland; Masachapa was the major city hardest hit by the tsunami.
Disaster relief
The authorities provided basic relief measures after the disaster. President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro stated in her speech to the nation on September 2 that the country did not need international aid. While the Red Cross helped with various operations, the national armed forces carried out most of the relief efforts. The injured were taken to the Léon hospital and the Lenin-Fonseca hospital.
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://web-geofisica.ineter.gob.ni/tsunami/peligro/peligro.html Retrieved October 15, 2014.
- ↑ a b c d e f Significant Earthquakes of the World in 1992 ( Memento of the original from September 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. United States Geological Survey
- ↑ a b c d e Hiroo Kanamori, Masayuki Kikuchi: The 1992 Nicaragua earthquake: a slow tsunami earthquake associated with subducted sediments . In: Nature . No. 361, February 1993. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
- ↑ a b c The Earthquake and Tsunami of September 2, 1992 in Nicaragua ( English ) George Pararas-Carayannis. 2000-2007. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
- ↑ a b c d e f Nicaragua Earthquake / Tsunami Situation Reports 1 - 7 ( English ) Reliefweb / OCHA. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
- ^ A b Tim Folger: Waves of destruction - tsunamis - Cover Story . In: Discovery , FindArticles.com, May 1992. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
- ^ Pip Hinman: Aid for Nicaragua . In: Green Left , September 9, 1992. Retrieved June 6, 2008.
- ↑ F. Abe, S. Ide, F. Imamura, Y. Yoshida: Source characteristics of the Nicaragua Tsunami Earthquake of September 2, 1992 . In: Pure and Applied Geophysics . 144, No. 3-4, 1993. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
- ↑ a b c Kenji Satake: Linear and nonlinear computations of the 1992 Nicaragua earthquake tsunami . In: Pure and Applied Geophysics . 20, No. 863-866, 1995.
