Rio de la Plata Earthquake 1888
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On June 5, 1888 an earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale, shook the upper Río de la Plata floor at 3.20 UTC-3. The epicentre, depth 30 km, was located at , some 15 km southwest of Colonia del Sacramento (Uruguay) and 42 km east of Buenos Aires (Argentina).
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[edit] News articles
The Montevideo journal La Tribuna Popular on June 5, 1888 reported the earthquake and its effects: The houses' woodwork creaked, lamps swang, furniture moved and paintings fell off walls. Glassware objects broke and porcelain could be seen jolting off cupboards. Inhabitants have had a sleepless night, astonished at the strong earthquake...
Also, La Lucha a Colonia del Sacramento local journal reported a one-off event: The steamer 'Saturno' en route from the neighbouring capital (Buenos Aires) calmly navigated 20-feet-deep waters along the centre of the canal when it came to a sudden halt, as though it had run aground. The captain had soundings taken but he found that the vessel, as if moved by some hidden force, was lifted from grounding and carried on its way.
[edit] Consequences
Every settlement along the Río de la Plata shore was affected, especially the towns of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Only slight damage was produced since there were no high buildings or underground trains in those cities at the time. However, no antiseismic building measures have ever been taken in either of the two capitals.
[edit] Background, precedents and provisions
The panic caused by this earthquake among the inhabitants of both banks of Río de la Plata is evident, given the fact that, in the past, as well as now, they were unfamiliar with quakes. However, a previos event had been recorded: the 15 August 1848 earthquake which, unlike that of 1888, caused no damage and may have been seen as an isolated phenomenon or since its epicentre had been in faraway from the continent and thus distant from settlements, future quakes may have been thought to be likely to occur in those latitudes and cause no damage in the continent.
But it is worth mentioning that there are no aseismic regions in the world. Therefore, the phenomenon could happen again in the Río de la Plata and supporting this idea two events can be named: the 26 June 1988 and the 10 January 1990 earthquakes, the latter being the only one recorded in the Uruguayan mainland territory, with the exception of
aftershocks of earthquakes in the Pacific Ocean tectonic plates which can be perceived in the Argentine Atlantic coast including Buenos Aires.
These temblors are believed to be caused in a particular region, the Punta del Este basin, which is highly faulted and where tectonic plates might experience certain movement thus causing the earthquake waves, according to Alberto Benavides Sosa MGEOPHYS, agronomical enineer and former president of CERESIS (Seismology Regional Centre for South America)
[edit] Source
Translated from es:Terremoto del Río de la Plata 1888, Wikipedia in Spanish.
Taken fron the article 'Terremoto en Uruguay, quizas', published in El Pais of Montevideo, by Gabriela Vaz (27 May 2007)
[edit] External links
- CERESIS (Seismology Regional Centre for South America) http://www.ceresis.org
