Enriquillo–Plantain Garden fault zone
The Enriquillo–Plantain Garden fault zone (EPGFZ or EPGZ) is a system of active coaxial left lateral-moving strike slip faults which runs along the southern side of the island of Hispaniola, where Haiti and the Dominican Republic are located.[1] The EPGFZ is named for Lake Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic where the fault zone emerges, and extends across the southern portion of Hispaniola through the Caribbean to the region of the Plantain Garden River in Jamaica.
Geology
The EPGFZ shares approximately half of the relative motion between the
Earthquakes
- A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck southeastern coast of Jamaica in 1692, almost destroying Port Royal
- An earthquake struck along the southern coast of Hispaniola in 1751.[4]
- A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince in 1770.
- The 1907 Kingston earthquake damaged every building in Kingston, Jamaica.[1]
- The 2010 magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurred near Port-au-Prince along blind thrust faults associated with this fault zone.[5][6]
- The 2021 Haiti earthquake (magnitude 7.2) struck Haiti's Tiburon Peninsula.
Other historical large earthquakes in 1860, 1761, 1684, 1673, and 1618 are also likely attributed to the EPGFZ, though none of these have been confirmed in the field as associated with this fault.[7]
Monitoring
A temporary Canadian seismic sensor network of three stations has been established in Haiti along the fault, as of February 19, 2010. The network is not considered permanent, but will remain for quite some time. The stations are in secure locations, being expensive equipment, and are satellite linked to Natural Resources Canada in Ottawa. They are solar powered, so do not require grid connections. One station is at the Canadian Embassy in Port-au-Prince (in the suburb of Pétion-Ville, in the district of Juvénat), and has a permanent guard of one. Another is at the Jacmel Airport, currently run by Canadian Forces personnel. The third is at a Léogâne orphanage, considered secure, but there are problems discouraging children from playing with it. The stations are roughly 50 km apart. These are the first seismic stations ever in the country.[8][9]
References
- ^ a b Mann, Paul; Calais, Eric; Demets, Chuck; Prentice, Carol S. & Wiggins-Grandison, Margaret (March 2008). "Entiquillo-Plantain Garden Strike-Slip Fault Zone: A Major Seismic Hazard Affecting Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica". 18th Caribbean Geological Conference. Archived from the original on 2010-01-16.
- ^ Dolan & Mann 1998, p. 70
- ^ Dolan & Mann 1998, p. ix
- ISBN 978-0849300684.
- ^ Kluger, Jeffrey (January 13, 2010). "Could the Haiti Earthquake Have Been Predicted". Time. CNN. Archived from the original on January 16, 2010. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
- Wikidata Q56028244.
- ^ "Poster of the Haiti Earthquake of 12 January 2010 - Magnitude 7.0". United States Geological Survey. January 15, 2010. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
- ^ MUNRO, Margaret, ed. (19 February 2010). "Canadian seismic network monitors Haiti's turbulent underground". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
- ^ "La terre n'a pas fini de trembler en Haïti" (in French). Radio Kiskeya. 22 February 2010. Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
- Bibliography
- Dolan, James F; Mann, Paul (1998), Active Strike-slip and Collisional Tectonics of the Northern Caribbean Plate Boundary Zone, Special Paper 326, ISBN 978-0-8137-2326-6