2006 Mendoza earthquake

The 2006 Mendoza earthquake was a medium-intensity seismic movement in the province of Mendoza, Argentina. It took place at 11:03 AM (UTC-3) on 5 August 2006, and had a magnitude of 5.7 in the Richter scale. Its hypocenter was located at coord|23|13|S|68|57|W|, 35 km south-southeast of Mendoza, the provincial capital, at a depth of 33 km.

The earthquake was felt in the provinces of Mendoza (V–VI in the Mercalli intensity scale), San Juan, San Luis (IV Mercalli), La Rioja, and Córdoba (III Mercalli). It produced damages in about 600 buildings in the Greater Mendoza metropolitan area (mostly either precarious or old), as well as brief interruptions in the supply of electric power and mobile phone communications. Only a few wounded people were reported; there were no fatal victims.

On the following day a new, a minor earthquake (magnitude 3.7) was recorded about 5 km from the previous location, at a depth of 90 km. It was felt as grade II–III in the Mercalli scale in the city of Mendoza.

The area is the most seismically active in Argentina. This seismic event was the largest in 20 years; the 1985 Mendoza earthquake (magnitude 6.0) caused 6 casualties and thousands of damaged houses.

References

* La Nación. 5 August 2006. [http://www.lanacion.com.ar/829226 "Un fuerte sismo sacudió a Mendoza"] . es icon
* La Nación. 6 August 2006. [http://www.lanacion.com.ar/829540 "Hubo unas 600 viviendas afectadas por el sismo"] . es icon
* Instituto Nacional de Prevención Sísmica. Seismic events: [http://www.inpres.gov.ar/telemetrica_/sisfelt/detail.sisfelt.asp?id=200608051103 2006-08-05] , [http://www.inpres.gov.ar/telemetrica_/sisfelt/detail.sisfelt.asp?id=200608060304 2006-08-06] . es icon