Do several small tremors prevent a strong earthquake from occurring?

In less than 24 hours, up to 13 earthquakes have been recorded in Ica according to reports from the Geophysical Institute of Peru (IGP). These telluric movements have oscillated between magnitudes 4.0 and 5.9.

The high seismicity of our country is due to the fact that we are in the Ring of Fire, a geographical area where tectonic plates are sinking over others in a process known as subduction. The earthquakes we experience occur when the Nazca plate subducts into the South American plate, on which our country and others in the region are located.

Now, there is a popular belief that the more minor earthquakes happen, the less risk there is of a major earthquake. But is this true? No, you are facing a myth.

Although low-magnitude telluric movements release part of the accumulated stress, even if several of them occur, it would not be compared to the energy of a larger magnitude earthquake, since the scale of moment magnitude it is logarithmic, point out experts from the Seismology Laboratory of the University of California at Berkeley, United States.

In other words, around 32 earthquakes of magnitude 5, 1,000 of magnitude 4 or 32,000 of magnitude 3 would be needed to equal the amount of energy produced by a magnitude 6 tremor.

“You have to remember that each degree on the magnitude scale is 30 times more energy than the previous one,” Hernando Tavera, executive president of the IGP, told El Popular.

“If you look at earthquake statistics in most regions of the world, you will find that for every magnitude 5 earthquake, there are about 10 that are magnitude 4, and for every magnitude 4, there are 10 that are magnitude 3″ , notes the University of Berkeley in a section of frequently asked questions about earthquakes.

According to the Seismic Coupling Map of the Geophysical Institute of Peru (IGP), Lima is located as the area of ​​the country where the greatest seismic energy has been accumulated and which, if released, could generate an earthquake greater than 8 degrees on the Richter scale.

Although the frequency of minor earthquakes precedes an event of greater magnitude, this does not mean an absolute relationship either.

It is worth remembering that it is impossible to predict when a large earthquake will occur, although it is possible to know which areas are accumulating more tectonic stress from statistics.

Source-larepublica.pe