Enhanced Earthquake Activity in Haiti

The Technical Unit of Seismology of the Bureau of Mines and Energy in Haiti has revealed that throughout the month of February, 54 earthquakes of magnitudes between 1.3 and 4.5 were recorded by several seismic networks.

According to reports, five of the earthquakes with magnitudes between 3.3 and 4.2 were felt by residents in the department of Nippes.

In addition, 29 earthquakes occurred in the sea—these tremors could have presented a tsunami risk if the conditions had been met.

Overall, the number of earthquakes recorded last month increased by 35.19 percent when compared to the month of January.

Based on this latest update, the Technical Seismology Unit reminded Haitians that the population is exposed to a major seismic hazard resulting from the presence of active faults including the Septentrional fault and the Enriquillo Plantain Garden fault, two faults with a more or less East-West direction cross respectively to the north and south of the national territory.

The unit says that the seismic hazard, associated with the high level of vulnerability of the population, gives rise to a high, unpredictable risk of an earthquake that is capable of causing disasters such as that linked to the earthquake of January 12, 2010.

CMC