Eleven years after the seismic catastrophe that caused nine deaths and 324 injuries, geologists continue their tests to prevent damage
Specialists from the Department of Geodynamics, Stratigraphy and Paleontology of the Complutense University of Madrid continue to study on the ground the behavior of the Alhama de Murcia fault, which on this day eleven years ago caused a 5.1-magnitude earthquake in the Richter scale that destroyed the city causing nine deaths, more than 300 injuries and damages for more than one billion euros.
The Madrid university team is made up of 24 people, but in this phase of the field study there are eight experts who work on simulating small earthquakes on the fault to study the behavior of the ground, explains Héctor Perea, one of THE TRUTH. of the researchers. Geologists have dug trenches in the ground into which they have inserted very sensitive measuring devices, and over them they pass a vehicle that works as an earthquake simulator reproducing a controlled vibration similar to a seismic movement, in order to study how « it is geology in depth” doing a kind of “ultrasonography of the terrain”. Knowing how the fault works will not prevent future tremors, “but it will allow us to better understand its characteristics and that will make it possible to build better and better prepare the population” for these possible seismic events.
The current study campaign began on April 4 and will last until May 24 and the analysis of the terrain with the simulator will be carried out following the course of the fault between the districts of Torrecilla and La Hoya, although it will be extended to the town of Alhama de Murcia, which gives it its name, and also to the closest fault, which is Carrascoy.
The team made up of 24 technicians is confident that the analysis will serve to “better mitigate the effects of future earthquakes”
The set of data obtained from this study will be the subject of scientific analysis and conclusive results are not expected for another year, added Perea, who acknowledged advances in understanding how quickly the fault moves. It moves at a speed of one millimeter a year, compared to other active faults such as the one in Chile, where the displacement is 80 times higher. «The failures of California, Chile and Japan move very fast, like a formula one car, Italy’s like a high-performance car and Lorca’s like a utility. The faster, the more danger. The expert trusts that this study on the behavior of the fault, which is unprecedented, will serve to “better mitigate the effects” of future earthquakes and complete the analysis of the Alhama fault that has been monitored by geologists since the 1990s. Lorca commemorates the anniversary of the earthquakes with an act in memory of the victims in the park on May 11 at 1:00 p.m. At 6:47 p.m. the bells of San Francisco and Santo Domingo will ring for the deceased.
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