Now Shenzhen | February 13, 2023
Two earthquakes hit Guangdong in the past week. At 11:38 on February 5, a 3.2-magnitude earthquake at a shallow depth of 8 kilometers was reported in Sanshui District, Foshan City. 7 days later, a 4.3-magnitude earthquake was recorded in Yuancheng District, Heyuan City at around 10:41 on February 11, which hit about 11 kilometers underground.
Are there any links between the two earthquakes? Wang Liwei, deputy director of Guangdong Seismic Station gave his answer on February 11.
No direct connection between the two earthquakes
As for residents’ concern that whether the earth has entered an active seismic period, Wang’s answer is “No”. Wang said, there have been an average of 133 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater, 20 earthquakes of magnitude 7 or greater, and 1 earthquake of magnitude 8 or greater per year globally since 1900.
“Recent years show a relatively low level of global seismic activity since 2019.” For example, 2022 across the globe has reported 112 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater, 7 earthquakes of magnitude 7 or greater, and no earthquakes of magnitude 8 or greater. While in 2021, 115 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater, 7 earthquakes of magnitude 7 or greater, and 1 earthquakes of magnitude 8 or greater, have been recorded.
Then why have earthquakes successively occurred in Guangdong? Wang said that there is no direct connection between the two earthquakes in Foshan and Heyuan. Also, from Guangdong Province and even South China, the current seismic activity is within the normal range.
Little possibility of an earthquake of magnitude 5 or higher in Guangdong
According to Wang, the provincial earthquake administration has activated the emergency response and conducted an investigation immediately after the earthquake hit the city of Heyuan. Based on comprehensive analysis of tectonic features, historical seismic activity, earthquake sequence types, and geophysical anomalies in the vicinity of the epicenter, it is considered that there is little possibility of an earthquake of magnitude 5 or higher to occur in the original epicenter in the near future.
The human perception of earthquakes and the degree of earthquake impact and damage to the ground and buildings on the ground can be expressed in terms of seismic intensity, which can generally be classified as 12 degrees.
“Generally speaking, earthquakes are likely to be somewhat destructive only at magnitude 5 or above. The seismic requirements for buildings in Guangdong are to be able to reach 6-8 degrees. Theoretically, the intensity of a magnitude 3 earthquake is basically at 3-5 degrees, which does not have much effect on buildings,” Wang explained.
How to stay safe during an earthquake?
Wang Liwei reminded that once an earthquake occurs, one should remain calm and take shelter in the vicinity of the earthquake. In houses with seismic capacity, you should take shelter nearby while in houses without seismic capacity, if you can run outside immediately, you should flee to an open space and be careful of falling objects.
ARTICLE FROM: NewsGD.com