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EARTHQUAKE UNIT:

Quarterly Report (4th

. Quarter 2012)

Submitted January 2013

Three permanent GPS stations have been installed and are now fully functional; this is

part of the Continuously Operating Caribbean GPS Observational Network (COCONet)

funded by UNAVCO/COCONet

UNAVCO is a non-profit university governed organization promoting advancement in

understanding of the Earth (from core to atmosphere) using geodetic technologies in education

and research on a global scale. It is funded by the NSF (National Science Foundation) and

NASA) National Aeronautics and Space Administration, with headquarters in Boulder,

Colorado.

The COCONet project is the integration of 65 existing GPS stations operated by partner

organizations with 50 new continuously operating UNAVCO stations across the Caribbean

region. The EQU hosts 3 stations located at UWI, Mona campus, Pedro Cays, and Morant Cays.

All data can be freely accessed by academia, students, government agencies and the private

sector, from the UNAVCO website (unavco.org).

http://www.unavco.org/community_science/science_highlights/2011/coconet.html

UNAVCO/COCONet GPS

stations

A. Foreground -Solar power

supply, background – GPS

antenna at Morant Cays.

B. and C. Trimble GPS

antennae at Morant Cays and

Pedro Cays respectively.

A B

C

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SCHOOL VISITS

A total of 559 students visited the Earthquake Unit for the 2012 calendar year. There were 14

visits from 11 schools. Of the 11 schools 5 were from outside the Kingston Metropolitan Area.

Two visits were from children attending summer school run by the Department of Geography

and Geology, UWI.

EARTHQUAKE ACTIVITY 2012

Earthquake Events 2012

Year Month

Located

Events Total

located

Recorded Events Total

Recorded

Felt

Events Local Near Local Near Regional Distant Blasts

2012 Jan 5 1 6 5 1 9 0 1 16 0

2012 Feb 14 5 19 14 5 12 1 0 32 2

2012 Mar 3 4 7 3 4 7 1 3 18 2

2012 Apr 9 3 12 9 3 9 0 1 22 0

2012 May 9 8 17 9 8 7 0 1 25 0

2012 Jun 4 3 7 4 3 8 0 2 17 0

2012 Jul 2 3 5 2 3 8 0 3 16 0

2012 Aug 6 0 6 6 0 8 1 3 18 1

2012 Sep 9 4 13 9 4 11 0 0 24 0

2012 Oct 3 4 7 3 4 9 0 2 18 1

2012 Nov 12 3 15 12 3 11 0 2 28 0

2012 Dec 12 3 15 12 3 10 0 1 26 1

ALL Totals 88 41 129 88 41 109 3 19 260 7

Total Recorded events 260

Felt Earthquakes 2012

Date

Time

(EST)

a.m. /

p.m.

Mag.

Mt

Depth

(km)

Sub-area

name

Epicentre

location Intensity, EMS

February 5,

2012

6:01

a.m. 2.9 20.9

Montpelier-

Newmarket

Belt

Near Nain, St.

Elizabeth

Reportedly felt in

Mandeville, Manchester

February 29,

2012

1:22

p.m. 2.7 0.0 Morant Basin

Approximately

15 km South of

Port Morant, St.

Thomas

Reportedly felt in

Seven Miles, Bull Bay,

St. Andrew

3

March 9,

2012

09:33

a.m. 3.4 0.0

Yallahs-

Plantain

Garden Fault

Zone

About 2km East

of Easington,

St. Thomas or 6

km North-east

of Yallahs

Reportedly felt in

Yallahs, St. Thomas

March 10,

2012

3:34

a.m. 5.0 14.7

Southern

Cuba

SSW of

Santiago de

Cuba, Cuba

Reportedly felt in

Clarendon, St. Mary,

St. Catherine, Kingston

and St. Andrew

August 6,

2012

5:49

p.m. 3.3 0.7

Yallahs-

Plantain

Garden Fault

Zone

Near Trinity-

ville, St.

Thomas

Reportedly felt in

Trinity Ville, St.

Thomas

October 9,

2012

5:45

p.m. 2.9 11.3

Rio Minho-

Crawle River

Fault Zone,

Approximately

1km NW of

Ferry Police

Station on

Mandela

Highway

Reportedly Felt in

Kingston and St.

Andrew (Forest Hills

and Stony Hill)

December 6,

2012

9:16

p.m. 3.4 17.0

Montpelier-

Newmarket

Belt

Near Ipswich,

St. Elizabeth

Reportedly felt in

Lethe, St. James

4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Eve

nts

Local sub-area

SEISMICITY BY SUB-AREA

JANUARY - DECEMBER 2012

No. ofevents

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STATION IMPROVEMENT

Three of our 12 seismograph stations (Yallahs, Stony Hill, Montego Bay- the latest installation

during the last quarter of the year- 2012) are now equipped with broadband (BB) seismographs

in addition to short period (SP) seismographs. These BB instruments have a wider dynamic

range which allows them to record a range of short and long period earthquakes. This greatly

improves EQU’s ability to get good solutions for local earthquakes magnitude 5.0 and above as

clipping occurs with the SP equipment.

DONATIONS

ODPEM - On January 14, 2013 the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency

Management (ODPEM) at its annual Press Briefing to Launch ‘Earthquake Awareness

Week’ (January 20 to 26, 2013), presented the head of the Earthquake Unit, Dr. Lyndon

Brown with a cheque valuing 30,000USD for the purchase and installation of 4 strong

motion seismographs (accelerographs). These instruments are deployed in and around

important structures (buildings, bridges) to record ground motion for earthquakes

magnitude 5 and above. The data captured will give insights to the response of similar

structures which is useful for updating building codes and seismic hazard assessment.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35N

o. o

f E

ven

ts

Sub-areas

Jamaica Local Region Seismicity

2010 events

2011 events

2012 events

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http://www.jis.gov.jm/component/content/article/1-top-stories/32732-earthquake-unit-

gets-us30000-from-odpem

CTBTO – In 2012 the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) -

Preparatory Commission as part of its’ technical assistance to state signatories (to the

treaty) donated to the Government of Jamaica equipment and software for the capacity

building of Jamaica’s National Data Centre (NDC) housed at the Earthquake Unit (EQU),

UWI. This donation was made to facilitate active participation in the verification process

so that our NDC can receive, process and report on International Monitoring System

(IMS) data (seismic; hydroacoustic; infrasound and radionuclide) and any IDC

(International Data Centre) products which may be useful. The IDC data also has civil

and scientific such as climate change and monitoring the migratory pattern of endangered

species such as whales. Although the equipment is a permanent installation the

preparatory commission for the CTBTO may assist with its’ maintenance if needed. The

total value of this upgrade is valued at €25,000. Further details about the CTBTO and the

science and technology applications across a wider scale can be gleaned from the website

below.

http://www.ctbto.org/verification-regime/potential-civil-and-scientific-applications-of-

ctbt-verification-data-and-technologies/

RESEARCH

Microzonation of Kingston: Final data collection in November. Now there are 218

points, (approximately 500m spacing across the KMA) 5 buildings that were assessed in

this study; the final set of data were collected in November 2012. The building assessed

are: Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica, Trafalgar Rd; Ministry of Agriculture, Hope

Gardens, UDC, Office Centre Building, Ocean Boulevard, Kingston, and The Ministry of

Head, Ocean Boulevard, Kingston.

Currently there are two papers in Preparation from this work:

1. Surface Soil Effects Studies based on H/V ratios of microtremors at Kingston

Metropolitan Area, Jamaica

2. Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Assessment for Jamaica

Both of these papers should be very significant improvement in site specific

assessment (for engineering design) and also should provide update for the seismic

code in the IBC document yet to be legislated.

The Unit has also supported the research of Brynn Benford, who has just completed her PhD at

the University of Wisconsin; publication output form this research also provides an insight in

fault activity and overall tectonics of Jamaica. The citation for the research paper is listed below:

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Benford, Bryn; DeMets, Charles; Tikoff, Basil; Williams, Paul; Brown, Lyndon; Wiggins-

Grandison, Margaret; 2012: Seismic hazard along the southern boundary of the Gônave

microplate: Block modeling of GPS velocities from Jamaica and nearby islands, northern

Caribbean : Geophys. J. Int. 190, 59–74

CONFERENCES (selected)

American Geophysical Union: San Francisco Dec. 2012: Key geophysical indicators of

seismic vulnerability in Kingston, Jamaica

Jamaica Institution of Engineers Annual Conference 2012:

Seismic vulnerability of critical facilities; an assessment of Fire- Stations in Kingston

&St. Andrew

Surface Soil Effects Studies using Microtremors Observations in Kingston, Jamaica

ODPEM Symposium; Earthquake Awareness Week: Key geophysical indicators of seismic

vulnerability in Kingston, Jamaica: a critical look on Jamaica’s vulnerability to Earthquakes

highlighting discovery of new fault line in the KMA.