Among other places, the alert is for Colombia, Haiti, Aruba, Belize, Costa Rica, Las Bahamas, the Caimán, Cuba, Panama, Dominican Republic and Honduras.
A Tsunami alert in the Caribbean Sea this Saturday after a strong earthquake of magnitude 8.0 on the Richter scale, Registered by the USGS, the United States Seismological Center. The epicenter was detected at 6:23 p.m. 202 kilometers southwest of Georgetown, from the Cayman Islands.
After knowing the trigger of the earthquake, The National Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, acronym in English) of the United States issued a tsunami alert that can affect more than a dozen countries and territories of the Caribbean Sea.
Among other places, alert is for Colombia, Haiti, Aruba, Belize, Costa Rica, Las Bahamas, the Caimán, Cuba, Panama, Dominican Republic and Honduras.
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The National Puerto Rican Meteorology Service gave details about the earthquake detected and the risks. “Based on the analysis of all available data, there is a danger of Tsunami for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands due to sea level fluctuations and strong marine currents that could present danger along the coasts, beaches, ports and coastal waters”, He reported.
Then he added: “The time of arrival earlier from which the most dangerous fluctuations of sea level and strong ocean currents could begin with are the 9:48 pm on Saturday, February 8”
What is a tsunami
Tsunamis are caused by submarine earthquakes that essentially affect the areas of important tectonic activity, such as some regions of the Pacific and Asia.
The tsunami wave, that is born from the seismic clash of the ocean mass that goes from top to bottom, It has a thickness of several hundred meters and is gaining energy every time the underwater background impacts.
The speed of propagation in the sea of a tsunami or tidal is about 800 km/h. Giant water masses are rolling through the marine relief, unlike the ordinary waves that only affect the surface of the water.
A wave that spreads through the sea loses very little of its energy. Therefore, It can reach considerable distances and destroy coasts located thousands of kilometers from the place where it began.
Source: Ambito
