Every day there are dozens of micro-earthquakes in the state of Querétaro, which are part of the natural vibrations that are identified throughout the state territory, reported Juan Pablo Bernal Uruchurtu, director of the Institute of Geosciences of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) Campus Juriquilla.
“I cannot give a number as to those that are recorded daily, but there are several dozen earthquakes in Querétaro. And although they are not felt as much in the state as in Mexico City, Guerrero or Michoacán, they are detected, and there are; for example, in the Sierra Gorda area there are important tectonic movements,” he explained.
The specialist added that the studies allow for obtaining basic information and supporting the government to make the appropriate decisions in terms of civil protection, which, he said, is done through the support of the Council of Science and Technology of the State of Querétaro (Concyteq).
“Suddenly, you hear that there is an earthquake in Cadereyta, for example. That allows us to advise the government, to tell it if what is happening is normal or if it could suddenly be a series of abnormal movements or not,” he commented.
The director of the Institute of Geosciences indicated that in this way the earth’s crust can also be studied. And in the case of earthquakes, he pointed out that these occur due to plate tectonics; that is, due to the processes that form the collision of the Cocos Plate and the North American Plate, which are what generate the so-called tremors.
“There are earthquakes every day in Querétaro that can be imperceptible, like in Mexico City. There are daily earthquakes, although they are not perceived, but they are there every day. There are a series of natural vibrations, but we have a whole network throughout the state of Querétaro that allows us to identify and know how the state is breathing and vibrating,” said the specialist.
Bernal Uruchurtu clarified that those that are perceived are those that could be the most important, but he clarified that this does not mean that the tectonic plates suddenly stop moving, since the movements occur continuously.
Regarding the intensity they have, he mentioned that on the Richter Scale they are around 2 or 3 degrees that are felt, although he argued that there are many more with less intensity and that they occur in various parts of the state such as in the Sierra de Querétaro.
“We have very important faults such as the 5 de Febrero fault that for a time had the sign of a geological fault, because although it does not make a sudden movement it is moving; it is a fault that is within the city itself,” explained the director of the Institute of Geosciences of the UNAM Campus Juriquilla.
He ruled out that this could cause damage to the road structure, since by having knowledge from geological and seismological studies, the engineering teams can plan what they are going to do when building around, on top of or near that area.
“There have always been earthquakes; perhaps what can be said now is that we are more aware of them, but it is not that they have increased. Querétaro has been affected by major tremors throughout its history; so, we also studied how all those tremors have been in the past. Because it is not the Guerrero faults that are activated, they are faults within the continent that can be activated, and this has happened in the recent past, which is not 10 or 15 years, but approximately 100 years ago,” he said.
Source: oem
