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CUBA:
The Earth
Trembles in the Caribbean Too
Patricia
Grogg*
SANTIAGO, Cuba, (Tierramérica)
- Frequently thrashed by the
hurricanes that roar through the
Caribbean region each year, Cuba
knows something about disaster
-- including earthquakes, due to
the proximity of its
eastern-most point to the
Bartlett-Cayman fault system.
The fault is the active border
of the North American and
Caribbean tectonic plates that
make up the solid exterior crust
of the Earth. In that and nearby
areas is where Cuba's strongest
telluric movement is reported.
On average, 10 to 15 perceptible
quakes are reported annually,
but the last really intense
earthquake to cause major damage
was a long time ago: Feb. 3,
1932.
”First came the shocking noise,
then everything began to shake
and people started to scream and
run like crazy. It was as if the
world was going to end,”
Francisco López told
Tierramérica. He still remembers
the day when Santiago was
devastated by a quake that
measured 8.0 on the Richter
scale (the maximum ever recorded
has been 9.5).
Around 80 percent of the
buildings in this city, located
847 km southeast of Havana,
suffered some kind of damage as
a result of the temblor.
Not even the venerable
metropolitan cathedral withstood
the quake. Although it remained
standing, it suffered various
cracks in its roofs and walls.
At the time, the angel that
looks out over the city from the
cupola lost one of its wings.
Just a few doors down, the Venus
Hotel caved in.
In 1947, a quake of similar
magnitude once again rattled the
residents of Santiago, but was
less destructive, said Enrique
Arango, deputy science director
at CENAIS, the national
seismology research centre.
In addition to Santiago, the
Cuban provinces at greatest
seismic risk are Guantánamo,
Granma and Holguín, all at the
far eastern end of the island,
though experts warn that quakes
can occur anywhere in the
country.
However, until recently there
was little awareness about the
risk of quake disasters. ”Since
in our country earthquakes occur
only ever 80 or 100 years, we
lose the historical memory of
those events,” explained Arango.
CENAIS, created in 1992, drew up
a seismic risk map two years ago
for Santiago, which is currently
home to about half a million
people. The map is the basis for
planning investment strategies,
construction and rehabilitation,
based on each case. The
environmental permits for this
eastern region now also require
a seismic evaluation.
The city was founded in 1515 and
is second in terms of
socio-economic importance, after
Havana. But many of its
buildings were constructed in
the late 19th or early 20th
centuries, and many of those are
in ”unsatisfactory condition,”
Arango admits.
Official statistics indicate
that in Cuba's eastern
provinces, more than half of
homes are in mediocre or poor
condition.
”They should study the
technologies and materials most
appropriate for the site where
housing is to be built, but
first of all evaluate what kind
of dangers the area presents. In
the eastern zone, all
construction should heed the new
seismic regulation drafted in
1999,” said Arango.
That policy establishes
engineering parameters based on
the type of construction, the
purpose of the building, the
characteristics of the soil and
other technical aspects. Toward
that end, CENAIS provides an
evaluation of seismic
vulnerability, as it has already
done for all medical facilities
in the area of greatest risk for
earthquakes.
In the last 30 years, the
impacts of tectonic and
geological disasters have caused
more than 116,000 deaths in
Latin America and the Caribbean,
according to the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP).
Cuba is currently preparing
itself technologically to join
the early warning system for
quakes and tsunamis in the area.
”Our network records earthquakes
of magnitudes equal to or more
than 5.5 (on the Richter scale)
anywhere in the world, and we
can monitor those that occur in
the Central American Pacific,”
Arango said.
But the CENAIS expert and other
Cuban scientists say there is
very little risk that a quake on
the ocean floor would cause a
tsunami here, due to the
characteristics of seismic
activity in the region and the
type of tectonic fault that runs
along the country's coast.
CENAIS has seven ”broad band”
stations capable of detecting
quakes near or far away, located
strategically around Cuba, and
four telematic stations that
focus on local seismic activity.
The centre's staff of 110
includes 35 researchers, six
experts with doctorates and 14
with master's degrees.
(* Patricia Grogg is an IPS
correspondent. Originally
published Jul. 30 by Latin
American newspapers that are
part of the Tierramérica
network. Tierramérica is a
specialised news service
produced by IPS with the backing
of the United Nations
Development Programme and the
United Nations Environment
Programme.)
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