The South Zone of Costa Rica reported episodes of major earthquakes in recent years, generally followed by others and of high intensity. This past Friday, for example, 5 tremors were registered in less than 2 hours, whose intensities reached 5.7 degrees. In all cases, the epicenter was located around Punta Burica, shared with Panama.
It is an area where the Coco plate interacts, but also the Nazca plate and the Panama plate, which increases its geological intensity of the strong earthquakes. “We are interpreting this activity as a product of the thrust from the Coconut Plate on the Nazca Plate,” explained seismologist Marino Protti, director of Ovsicori.
Sequence of earthquakes
Along the Central Pacific, Punta Burica was configured in recent years as the point with the most earthquakes in the country. In 2020, a record year for tremors, the region was one of the most active, especially in continuous activities such as the one on Friday.
Strong earthquakes that exceed 5.0 degrees and their continuous aftershocks generate an increase in records. According to the measurement of the National Seismological Network, for January 29 the movements of the region were:
4.7 at 5:23 am
4.9 at 6:41 am
3.9 at 7:12 am
5.7 at 7:14 am
5.0 at 7:23 am
Although those were the most intense earthquakes, the experts counted at least 50 movements.
