A strong earthquake Of magnitude 5.7 hit the south of Guatemala At 15:41 yesterday 8 July (local time, 23:41 in Italy). According to what reported by the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (Ingv), the depth of the hypocenter is only 9 kmwhile theepicenter it was recorded at approximately 3 km north-west of the Municipality of San Vicente Pacayawhich is part of the Escuintla department.
After the first earthquake, others were recorded two shocksas confirmed by the USGS data (the US geological monitoring service): the first magnitude 4.8recorded at 11:54 pm, and the second of magnitude 3.9detected at 02:06. The earthquake was warned throughout the country and also in the neighbor El Salvador.
The earthquake, unfortunately, caused victims: local authorities confirm at least two dead, After one landslide of debris overwhelmed a vehicle aboard which they were Two menone of 53 years and the other of 20, traveling on a road in the southwest of the capital city of Guatemala. According to the Coordinadora Para La Reduccion de Desastres (Conred), the earthquake also caused different damage to some buildings, of which at least 10 are at risk of collapse.
In an X post, the president Bernardo Arévalo announced the suspension of school lessons and work activities in the Department of Città del Guatemala, Escuintla and in the southwestern one of Sacatepéquez.
Guatemala, however, is an area particularly seismic (especially along the western coast) due to the clash between the two plates in the area. Specifically, what occurs is the subduction of the Cocos plate below the Caribbean (i.e. the one above which Guatemala is present). It is precisely this subduction that gives life to the so -called “Mesoamerican Fossa”, the main responsible for these seisms.
