Unprecedented Quake Activity In Argentina
From Scott Corrales
The Meteorological Institute of the province of San Juan reported today that in San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca, in the country's northwestern corner, the phenomenon reached an intensity of 6 degrees on the Richter scale while San Juan, also along the Andean Range, shook to 3 degrees on the same scale.
The epicenter was located some 500 km SW of Catamarca province, with extensions into Chilean territory. .
The Seismographic Institute of the French city of Strasbourgh also picked up the earthquake and placed it at 6.3 Richter.
Within a three hour time span there were at least three sudden movements, causing buildings in Catamarca to crack and masonry to crumble off a local school.
Several children were lightly injured but "everything is under control and we have vacated offices and asked people to go home" said a local security official to television crews.
In the city of Corrientes it was necessary to evacuate the Court House, and similar measures were taken in Salta, Tucumán, Mendoza, San Juan, La Rioja, Santiago del Estero, San Luis, Santa Fe and Córdoba.
It was also necessary to evacuate tall buildings in Buenos Aires, including the city center, where perceiving such phenomena is rare. There was alarm and surprise, and some people in tall buildings claimed feeling dizzy, but nothing worse.
In Mar del Plata, 400 km to the south, authorities caused the Court House--an 11 storey building--to be vacated in view of the panic among the structure's occupants.
The quake's epicenter was located at -28.88 degrees latitude and -65.60 degrees longitude at 11:53 GMT.
Translation (c) 2004. Scott Corrales, Institute of Hispanic Ufology. Special thanks to Liliana Núñez
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