Is Costa Rica Ready
For the Big One?
Experts agree the Central Valley of Costa
Rica, the most populated area in the
country, is not ready for a big earthquake,
at beast a 6.0 to 7.0 quake could cause
major destruction, forget an 8.8 like that
in Chile.
If anything serves as an example for the
population to fear an earthquake of such
magnitude just look at Friday night's 4.4
tremor that shook the Central Valley.
Fortunately no casualties, injuries or
damages were reported in the 10:47pm quake
that had an epicentre in Sabanilla de Montes
de Oca (San Pedro) with a depth of 7.5
kilometres.
According to the Ovservatorio Vulcanológico
y Sismológico de Costa Rica (Ovsicori) - the
national observatory for volcanos and
earthquakes - the Friday earthquake came
from the Cipreses fault which has not
registered any seismic activity in the last
19 years.
Juan Segura of the Ovsicori said that the
last time the fault reported activity was in
1991 and up to Friday no other report of any
activity from the fault could be found.
However, according to Segura, Friday's quake
did not come as a surprise.
The expert assures that wherever there is a
fault an earthquake is possible and Friday's
tremor was felt intensely due to its
closeness to the surface.
The Ovsicori has not recorded any
aftershocks from the Friday quake and the
Cruz Roja (Red Cross) does not report
attending any emergencies due to the quake.
The only reports are some fallen objects in
some homes in Montes de Oca, Moravia and San
José.
If the big one were to hit, is San José
ready?
We can take comfort that, according to
Marino Protti of the Oviscori, it is
unlikely that there could be a 8.0 and
higher earthquake in Costa Rica and that the
most that has been recorded is 7.8 and that
was in Nicoya on the Pacific coast, a fair
distance from the Central Valley.
According to the emergency response system,
the Bomberos, Cruz Roja and the Comisión
Nacional de Emergencia (CNE), there is
concern that if a big one were to hit San
José they are not ready to deal with such an
emergency, as the ability to respond
adequately is limited.
Protti used the Cinchona 6.2 quake of
January 2009 as an example of such a
magnitude would completely destroy an area
like the Hatillos. Protti adds that in San
José a major number of buildings would
suffer damage as the tremor would be felt
from Alajuela to Cartago.
Collapsed bridges, buckling roads,
avalanches of mud and earth would all be
part of the disaster.
However, Roy Acuña, president of the
Comisión del Código Sísmico del Colegio de
Ingenieros y Arquitectos (CFIA), explains
that the houses and buildings in the Central
Valley will be able to withstand at least a
6.5 earthquake, though there would be
considerable damage at the degree.
Some important roads like the Ruta 32 (San
José - Limón) could be one of the roads that
could suffer major damage from avalanches of
earth, due to its geographical location.
Acuña did not comment on the new San José -
Caldera road, saying only that any road
where there is a propensity for earth
movements can suffer damage.
Both Héctor Chaves, director of the Bomberos,
and Sigifredo Pérez, chief of operations at
the CNE, agree that action has to be taken
to be ready in the event the Central Valley
experiences a big earthquake.
"I don't want to be an alarmist, there there
is much work to be done to face a tremor of
that magnitude (referring to the Nicoya
quake)", said Pérez.
Acuña added that many of the buildings in
Costa Rica comply with the Código Sísmico
(Seismic Code), although a number of
buildings built prior to 1974 must be
reinforced.
One such building, according to Acuña is the
Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS)
main building in downtown San José, while
the Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS) and
the Banco Nacional (BN) - two of San José's
tallest buildings - are in condition to
withstand an earthquake.
"A strong quake could leave downtown San
José more like the scenario in Chile, rather
Haiti, as the construction in Costa Rica
superior", said Acuña.
Friday's quake was reported to have been
felt in places on both sides of the coasts
(Limón and Puntarenas).
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