Earthquake in Costa Rica on Friday 13th!

I was just getting home last Friday, a big storm was exploding outside, and it seemed that the thunder was hitting the ground all around the house. I was looking forward to see my dogs. The first thing I always do is to open the glass doors at the back to let them in; something was wrong! I could not open the doors and the glass was rattling. The sounds became deafening! The doors seemed to be stuck and the whole house was shaking, still, I did not feel anything, I just heard, I thought it was thunder. When I finally opened the doors one of my dogs started to cry and run out in the garden instead of getting in. But that time, I was beginning to wander about the noise, the noise had been deafening!

It was only when I checked my computer a few minutes later that I realized that it had been an earthquake! My Facebook was full of various comments! The earth had shaken hard and I had not felt it!

The US Geological Survey announced a 6.2 quake in the region of Tilaran, near Arenal. Soon after that however the OVISCORI (Observatorio Vulcanologico y Sismologico de Costa Rica), which is the Costa Rica Geological Survey, announced that the magnitude of the quake had been 5.9 and that the epicenter had been in Santiago de Puriscal, 28 kms west of San Jose and nowhere near Tilaran.

The movements seemed to last for a long time, the noise for me, however Oviscorio registered a 5 seconds quake. There were no reports of any victims or serious damage; however there was a fair amount of reaction amongst the population. Indeed, it had been an unusual kind of quake! If it had not been 70kms deep, it would have cause quite a lot of injury and loss.

Many earthquakes in Costa Rica are caused by a deformation on the Coco Plate. It was responsible of the earthquake tremor that shook the country 21 years ago.

The Coco plate sliding under the Caribbean plate is what causes deformation; when there are distortions, there is a tremor and the earth shakes; this is what happened last Friday, May 13^th at 4,47pm. People felt that the earth shook twice, first mildly and the second time with much more force, the truth is that two waves reached the surface, the second one being much more powerful.

In case of an Earth Quake it is important to stay calm and to use common sense. Remember, the Earthquake does not hurt or kill anyone, falling objects do!

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