Magnitude 5.1 – DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
32 km (20 miles) NW (312°) from Nagua, María Trinidad Sánchez, Dominican Republic
35 km (22 miles) NNE (31°) from San Francisco de Macorís, Duarte, Dominican Republic
37 km (23 miles) ENE (63°) from Salcedo, Salcedo, Dominican Republic
123 km (76 miles) N (354°) from SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic
1246 km (774 miles) ESE of Miami, Florida
depth of 7.4 km

Happened at 4:50 pm with its epicenter near Rio San Juan in the north of Dominican Republic. Lasting about 10 to 15 seconds. It is the second tremor registered this day in this county.

The Santo Domingo State University’s Seismologic Institute said the quake’s center was in the town of Gaspar Hernandez, on the Atlantic coast.

Some fishermen who were fishing ran for fear of a tsunami. The waters of the Laguna Gri-Gri (more information about the Gri-Gri Lagoon) in Rio San Juan area turned brown and black. This is the first time they say they ever saw this happening.

Much of the Republica Dominicana felt this terremoto de tierra but with less intensity. Many people are afraid about the number of earthquakes have occurred in recent days.

The quake caused the evacuation of the 23 story high Acropolis Center, the country’s tallest office building, in Santo Domingo. It also briefly shut down the Web sites of many major newspapers.

There are reports of cracks in nine homes, three schools and a fire station. The COE said the main effects occurred in the towns of Gaspar Hernández and María Trinidad Sánchez, where schools were cracked in Matilla Villa de Mejía and La Hoja. Some houses in the town of Río San Juan, the María Trinidad Sánchez province, and a fire station and and school in Buenos Aires in Cabrera reported little damage.

An on line newspaper of this area http://www.costaverdedr.com

Magnitude 4.5, 10:33:29 AM Tuesday January 24
2.8 km (1.7 miles) (poorly constrained)
37 km (22 miles) NNE of San Francisco de Macoris, D.R.
68 km (42 miles) ENE of Santiago, Dominican Republic
125 km (77 miles) N of SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic
1246 km (774 miles) ESE of Miami, Florida

(Another update as of today January 24, 2012. We have had two smaller quakes
*Magnitude 4.6 at 05:45:23 PM 36 km (22 miles) NNE of San Francisco de Macoris, D.R.
*Magnitude 4.2 at 06:15:24 PM 34 km (21 miles) NNE of San Francisco de Macoris, D.R.)

There have been three quakes above magnitude 5 that has been recorded in Dominican Republic this month. The first was January 5th in Palmar de Ocoa, with a magnitude of 5.2. Number 2 was 5 degrees on January 22 in the Eastern. Now we had a 5.4 on the 23rd near Rio San Juan. I am not including all the after shock smaller tremors that always follow or precede an earthquake.

The Columbia University researchers told to The Associated Press that Santiago, with more than one million people and the country’s second biggest city, is at risk of having a magnitude 8 earthquake, much stronger than the magnitude 7.0 that killed more than 200,000 Haitians in January last year. “The next event of this type will probably occur on the other side of the island (Hispaniola),” said the university’s Urban Design Lab director Richard Plunz, who led the investigation. “It could generate very serious damages in the long term.”

Some people say you need to get in the “Triangle of Life” / “Triangulo de Vida” others say you need to “Drop, Cover, and Hold On.” / “Agacharse, cubrirse y agarrarse” when an earthquake happens.
What the Dominican government says to do in case of an earthquake

http://www.listindiario.com.do/la-republica/2012/1/24/219209/Estan-los-dominicanos-preparados-para-un-terremoto-de-gran-magnitud

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/

More information about Earthquakes in Dominican Republic

Listing the most recent Earthquakes

The damage is not that severe and no deaths have been reported, thank God for this. But the different damage reports are still trickling in and after shocks are still happening.

Three schools have reported damages to their structures. These structural cracks will not cause a problem for the school children when school resumes after the holidays are over. They are repairing the cracks so all will be safe for the kids return to school.

There is news also reported that there are some cracks in the roads and some landslides which are causing some travel problems. The raods are still passable but people have to take turns using the one open lane to get past the problem areas.

The road between Bani and Ocoa.(A friend sent me this picture. I do not know where it came from. if there are any problems with this picture please email me credit information and I will be happy to post it.)

It is also believed that this terremoto was the end of the world. Even though the earthquake that happened about 50 years ago was stronger this one caused much fear. Now there are more tall buildings and more people. The buildings that were 2 stories or more suffered the most damage.

We had another Temblor del Terra at 6:02PM . It registered 4.6 in the Richter Scale/ Escala de Ritcher, and was at a depth of 37.7 miles (60.7 km ).
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc0007gps.php

The The Emergency Operation Center/ Centro de Operaciones de Emergencias (COE) says that people in the area of the quakes need to keep vigilant as there will probably be more shaking coming.

I will post again in the morning unless something extraordinary happens, which I hope and pray nothing happens. I hope the earth decides to settle down and give all a rest after a very frightening and difficult day. Even though there was not much damage and people are all fine. It is very frightening when you are woken by shaking. If you ever were in an Earthquake you will know that the shaking is so unreal. After, even if you know you are safe, you still have a fear inside. I hope all those who are afraid can rest well this night.

The depth of the temblor de tierra was quite shallow at 10 kilometers.

The epicenter of the quake was located 17 kilometers from the town of San José de Ocoa (province of San José de Ocoa) and the same distance of Bani (Peravia province). 34 miles/ 50 kilometers away from the capital, Santo Domingo and 804 miles/ 1294 km SE of Miami, Florida

More info at these sites:
earthquake.usgs.gov
prsn.uprm.edu

You can also get lots of links to Earthquake information about quakes in DR, and more.

The movement of the quake was a lateral movement instead of the rolling horizontal movement that is usually noted in quakes.

There will be no tsunamis.

There have not yet been any reports of lives being lost.

There are many reports of the earth’s movement being felt at different levels of intensity throughout the country. To see a map of the different provinces for more of an idea where this happened.

San José de Ocoa is one of the areas hardest hit but the reports say no one was hurt. The temblor de tierra caused small landslides in the street Cruce de Ocoa and they are in the process of removing debris from the road now.

The newspaper Ocoa En Red reported at 9AM this morning that aftershocks were felt.

They say that people in the town are afraid and have been in the park and the streets since it happened. There is even people praying and holding church services.

Picture – Baron Hotel one or the more affected buildings in Ocoa.
More pictures of the damage in Ocoa.

http://ocoaenred.com

Also reported by Ocoa En Red.com of damages in Ocoa are the buildings of:
-Banco Cooperativa with cracked walls.
-Templo evangélico asamblea de dios/ Evangelical Temple Assembly of God with crackes in walls
-Junta para el desarrollo de san José de Ocoa/ Development Board of -St. Joseph of Ocoa has several cracks and damage to columns.
-Hotel el Balcón reports the main staircase has serious cracks

Interesting stuff about the quake:
Time: 5:35
Force: 5.3
Day: Jan. 5
Adding: 2+0+1+2 (2012) = 5
It is within days of the Haitian Quake 2 years ago.

I will report more information as I learn it.

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