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The whole of Bahia was taken by surprise this Sunday morning (30), after an earthquake struck several cities in the state, including Salvador. It may even seem like an isolated event, but earthquakes in the state are not “as unusual as you think,” says Carlos Uchôa, geologist and professor at the State University of Feira de Santana (Uefs). Most, however, are too faint to be noticed.
The geologist explains that earthquakes are caused by the release of stored energy. It is as if there are deep scars under the earth that, from time to time, radiate to the surface.
“The most probable cause is the reactivation of geological faults, which accumulate tension, that is, energy, which needs, at some point, to be released. It is a small displacement of land “explains Uchôa.
Major tremors can also cause minor tremors, in days or hours. In Salvador, where the earthquake was weakest, Uchôa notes, there may have been a “reflection.” “Seismic waves travel until they cool down, while they are in the field to travel, but from the moment it moves away, it loses strength,” he says. Therefore, it is not ruled out that seismographs record new seismic shocks.
As Brazil is in the middle of a tectonic plate, the South American one, the tremors are weaker. The biggest shock was registered in Mutuípe, with a magnitude of 4.6. Then came Amargosa; even so, the tremors are considered low by specialists, compared to those that occur in other countries. It is possible that, this Sunday, there will be a “seismic swarm”, when a sequence of tremors occurs in different places.
In the last century, in the Recôncavo Baiano, tremors and similar reports were recorded. The area is considered a “seismogenic region”, that is, more prone to earthquakes due to geological faults. Another example of a geological fault is the geographical division of the city of Salvador into Cidade Baixa and Cidade Alta.
“The strongest aftershocks took place about a century ago. It may be that they are a secular interval and therefore that sequence. But I am not confirming this, only raising a possibility “explains Uchôa.
However, it reinforces that there is no reason to panic, because, due to the geological characteristics, the tremors are insufficient to cause damage.
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The city of Castro Alves registered an earthquake – Photo: Blog Bahia10 – Leandro Alves / Disclosure |
Trembling inside
The tremors occurred early in the morning, around 7:30 a.m. “It was an earthquake for 1 to 2 seconds, everything in my house shook, it was a fast shaking, but at first it was a bad feeling, we in Castro Alves never saw an earthquake, we were worried. Tremors were also reported in Nazaré, Santo Antônio de Jesus, Amargosa, Sapeaçu, but we still do not know the origin of this tremor, ”said student Kaylan Anibal, 19, to the Blog Bahia10 website. in collaboration with MAIL.
In an interview with Blog Bahia10, the mayor of Amargosa, Júlio Pinheiro, affirmed that he felt the earthquake in the city from the beginning. “We felt an earthquake in Amargosa and there are reports that it happened throughout the region. We still do not know what happened, we are looking together with the State Civil Defense to see if any seismology center was registered (…) It was a strong earthquake and lasted about three seconds, it was scary. We have no reports of damage to the streets or houses, but we do have teams on the streets to review. We were informed of reports of the same situation in Santo Antônio de Jesus, Mutuípe, Laje, São Miguel, Elísio Medrado ”, he highlighted.
Rodrigo Matos, a resident of Amargosa, was having breakfast with his family when the tremor startled him. “We were together, having coffee, when it trembled. We looked at each other and asked if everyone felt the same. What a strange feeling. In the neighboring house, the statues were hitting each other after the earthquake,” he says.
In São Miguel das Matas the tremor was also intense. Resident Jadson Penine says the ground started shaking at least three times. “The first was at 7:40 am, it was very strong, it shook the house. And now, around 8:15 am, it trembled again, strong. And at 8:30 it gave a little bit. The products fell off off the market shelves. It shook everything. “
The shaking was even more intense in Santo Antônio de Jesus. A neighbor of the municipality, Manoel Souza, 53, says he was lying in bed when he felt the floor shake.
“I thought it was a tractor, a steamroller that passed by here on the street. Everything shook for about 20, 30 seconds. I looked out the window and saw that there was nothing on the street, it was very strange, there was a neighbor who was running, desperate. I never got through it, it’s a very strange feeling. I heard that it happened in Ilhéus and Itabuna as well ”, he says.
