Week 3: Earthquakes and Mitigation in Panama

 

Week 3: Earthquakes and Mitigation

In Panama, it is common for earthquakes to occur. This seismicity map shows that Panama doesn't get a lot of big earthquakes often, but however, they still have earthquakes hitting their country. Most of these earthquakes haven't caused any major damage throughout the country but there were some that caused great destruction and travesty through Panama. For example, the Panama Viejo earthquake took place on May 2, 1961 and was recorded as the first major earthquake on the Isthmus of Panama. This earthquake caused destruction to the old town in Panama, Panama la Vieja, and many of the buildings in the town were destroyed. Another earthquake was The 1991 Limon earthquake on April 22, 1991 where the epicenter was actually in Costa Rica, but was strong to the point that most fatalities happened in Panama. There were 127 fatalities in this natural disaster and 79 of them were people from Bocas del Toro Province in Panama. Adding on, there were also 454 people injured, 866 buildings destroyed, and around 2,400 people that lost their homes.
Seismic Hazard - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

When an earthquakes occurs in Panama, their ability to handle these earthquakes improves over time since the amount of earthquakes they receive is high. The government takes care of part of the damage if some of their property is destroyed. They also give out tips to help people stay safe such as how to design their house to reduce the risk of injuries and increase safety for the population.

USDA Accepting Applications for Panama Agribusiness Trade Mission | USDA Foreign Agricultural Service

References:

“Earthquakes in Panamas.” Earthquakes in Central America, 2 Oct. 2018, www.satcaweb.org/panama/#damage-and-deaths. 

“Panama.” Think Hazard - Panama - Earthquake, thinkhazard.org/en/report/191-panama/EQ. Accessed 8 Sept. 2023. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 10: Extreme Weather Events in Panama

Image
Week 10: Extreme Weather Events   In Panama, there are many extreme weather events that occur in the country such as intense and protracted rainfalls, windstorms, floods, droughts, wildfires, earthquakes, landslides, tropical cyclones, and tsunamis. The most common extreme weather event that occurs in Panama would be rainfalls which causes floods and landslides. In Panama, this is called the hurricane/rainy season which happens from June to November. Panama isn't usually directly impacted by hurricanes, but these hurricanes cause heavy rainfall and other hazards to inhabit the country. The people and country of Panama deal with many extreme weather events as Panama ranks 14th among countries most exposed to multiple hazards based on land area. One of the extreme weather events Panama goes through are floods because of the common occurrence of heavy rainfall. On November 21, 2021, there was a deadly flash flood warning in Panama which took the lives of two people with one gone missi
Read more

Week 4: Volcanic History in Panama

Image
Week 4: Volcanoes In Panama, there are a total of four volcanoes which isn't as many compared to other countries. Two of these volcanoes are Holocene while the other two are considered as Pleistocene volcanoes. Going more into detail, Holocene volcanoes are volcanoes that were active in the past 11,700 years while Pleistocene volcanoes are volcanoes that were active from 11,700 to 2.5 million years ago. The Tisingal and La Yeguada volcanoes are the two Pleistocene volcanoes that are located in Panama which aren't active. However, the Baru and El Valle volcanoes are the two Holocene volcanoes that are located in Panama which are active. The El Valle volcano is considered to be a still active volcano, but there hasn't been any recorded evidence of when it last erupted. However, the Baru volcano is the youngest major volcano located in Panama and the most recently active which it last erupted around 500 years ago in 1550. In 770 AD, the Baru volcano largely erupted which destr
Read more

Week 13: Coastal Erosion in Panama

Image
  Week 13: Coastal Erosion In Panama, there are some parts of the country where coastal erosion occurs. According to the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit, coastal erosion is when "local sea level rise, strong wave action, and coastal flooding wear down or carry away rocks, soil, and/or sands along the coast. Coastal erosion occurs when there are strong currents and high waves which erodes the coast by breaking off sediment particles or moving rocks. Since Panama gets a good amount of extreme weather events including storms and flooding, this causes the country to have coastal erosions. Furthermore, climate change and human activities plays a role in the creation of coastal erosion as well. Gardi Sugdub, also known as Crab Island, is a tiny island off Panama's coast and has been a home to Guna Indigenous people for over 100 years. They have faced many problems and coastal erosion is one of them with floods and storms causing a rise in sea levels. Not only are floods and storms c
Read more