Local seismic fault unleashed the quake, expert says
The city of Ocoa, atop a local fault.
Santo Domingo.-
The seismic fault which crosses southern San José de Ocoa province unleashed the 5.3 magnitude quake felt in nearly the entire country at 5:35am yesterday, affirmed Santo Domingo State University (UASD) Seismology Institute (ISU) director Eugenio Polanco.
He said the quake’s epicenter was southeast of Ocoa, at latitude 18.3 and longitude 70.4, 18 kilometers below the Earth’s surface.
The tremor generated 12 aftershocks, the last 9:25am, of magnitude 3.3, the expert said.
Polanco said the Ocoa fault is very active and has caused tremors as strong as 6.5, occurred in 1962.
He said the superficial earthquakes range as deep as 70 kilometers, though in the case of geologic faults rarely exceed 25 kilometers.
The seismologist added the earthquakes are natural movements, for which people should have an emergency plan that begins at home, recognizing the risks and designing escape routes.
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God Help us all here and within that fault line. The next one is predicted to be an 8 in Santiago and that is an hour's drive from my house.