The Year of the Quake?

In the last 7 days, there have been 71 earthquakes with magnitude greater than 5, with  7 > M6 on the Richter scale. 45 of those originated in Chile. None of these include the massive 8.8 temblor that hit Chile on February 27, not the M7 that hit Haiti in January.

So is the end upon us? Short answer is no; all but the March 8 M6.1 event in Turkey, as well as its M5.5 aftershock, were along the Pacific Ring of Fire, where constant tectonic activity continue to shape and reshape the planet. Just today, a M6.6 quake rattled Tokyo, and a M6.4 affected Indonesia, but haven’t generated the types of headlines since these are routine in those countries. Remember, Jamaica’s 2nd worst earthquake recorded was the 1907 event, measuring M6.5.

Everything is relative, though, and lesser events in places may cost lives if people in those places aren’t prepared, and their authorities do not plan for such events. It’s a bit cold to just compare simple magnitudes without looking at vulnerabilities. This is the difference between simple determination of the earthquake hazard and not considering the disaster, which occurs when that hazard impacts something.

There has been a lot of focus in recent years to look at hurricanes (we got whacked by 2 hurricanes and a tropical storm since 2004, and felt the effects of a few others), tsunamis (after the Boxing Day tsunami in Asia in 2004), and climate change (no imaginary threat, this one…). We had a blip of attention in 2007 in the centenary of the 1907 earthquake in Kingston. And now we’re once again looking at earthquakes again. Just remember, hurricane season’s around the corner, and we’re still in a drought (another natural event we have little control of, but something we all have to face the consequences of).

There are a lot of things that we have to keep in mind with respect to hazards; that we have to prepare for multiple hazards, not single ones. That earthquakes have no season, nor are they affected by climate change. And that there’s no reason why an earthquake (and possible tsunami) and a hurricane (and associated storm surges) can’t occur in one year.