5.2 Quake shakes Guatemala

[HURAKAN]

A 5.2 is mostly a nonevent. If it got up to the 6's then Guatemala would be in trouble.

It may not be a violent or severe earthquake, but if it's able to just shake the earth a little bit, and then copious inches of rain will fall to the same shaked terrain, it may do a difference in how many victims are claimed by Adian.

[feederband]

Most Californians wouldn't take a 5.2 too seriously, but in Guatamala it could be horrendous.

Have you ever been in a 5.2?

No, but my daughter survived the infamous 1989 San Francisco Bay quake that crippled the city (above 7.5 I think). She was in a downtown skyscraper and didn't make it home across the bay for two days. Now THAT was scary.

I was there as well....I'll take a cat 5 over what happened that day. At least I could see it coming.

[soonertwister]

There's no doubt that earthquakes can affect the stability of soils in hilly or mountainous terrain, especially during an event where the the soil is likely to be destabilized by water saturation.

I don't want to go there just yet. Right now we have a tropical storm, and I have a hunch that storms of that nature (and earthquakes at around the same time) probably aren't that uncommon.

But if Adrian turns into a hurricane, it could definitely be a factor. Even if he doesn't, the destabilization coupled with heavy rain could cause unanticipated results, but it's too early to really know what's going to happen.

[Rainband]

sad

[wxcrazytwo]

The worst quake I have been in was a 7.2 in the desert of California "Hector Miner" quake. However, that being said thee worst quake was the whittier narrows quake which the epicenter struck within 10 miles from me. Total devastation in whittier were houses looked like they were cut with a blade saw...

[Terry]

Dang. I haven't been listening to the news today.

What about aftershock duriing or after the hurricane? Might that happen? Geesh. I can't even imagine.

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

The worst quake I'v been in is a 6.2 but it was 80 miles north in Seattle. The floor starting to shack under me.

[wxcrazytwo]

The worst quake I'v been in is a 6.2 but it was 80 miles north in Seattle. The floor starting to shack under me.

wow, during the narrows quake parts of my house cracked liked the ceiling and the walls.

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

Magnitude 5.1 - GUATEMALA
2005 May 19 07:11:00 UTC
Preliminary Earthquake Report
U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center
World Data Center for Seismology, Denver

A moderate earthquake occurred at 07:11:00 (UTC) on Thursday, May 19, 2005. The magnitude 5.1 event has been located in GUATEMALA. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)





Magnitude 5.1
Date-Time Thursday, May 19, 2005 at 07:11:00 (UTC)
= Coordinated Universal Time
Thursday, May 19, 2005 at 1:11:00 AM
= local time at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location 14.697°N, 91.930°W
Depth 80 km (49.7 miles) set by location program
Region GUATEMALA
Distances
45 km (25 miles) ESE of Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico
50 km (30 miles) WSW of Quezaltenango, Guatemala
150 km (95 miles) W of GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala
930 km (580 miles) ESE of MEXICO CITY, D.F., Mexico

Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 8.2 km (5.1 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters Nst=125, Nph=125, Dmin=723.9 km, Rmss=1.02 sec, Gp=173°,
M-type=body magnitude (Mb), Version=6
Source USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Event ID usygaw

[weatherlover427]

Most Californians wouldn't take a 5.2 too seriously, but in Guatamala it could be horrendous.

Have you ever been in a 5.2?

Living in Orange County, California I've felt many an earthquake in my lifetime and they are not fun to go through, I can tell you that much right now. Especially when the epicenter is <= (less than) 20 miles from where you live, as has happened plenty of times to me before.

[msbee]

have any of you been to Guatemala?
If you had, I don't think you would be saying that a 5.2 wouldn't cause any damage.
Unfortunately, many houses in Guatemala are not strong houses as there is a lot of poverty in that country.
a 5.2 quake could do a lot of damage, perhaps not in the cities with stronger structures, but in the rural areas with sub standard housing.

In any event. they are going to have a double dose of Mother Nature unfortunately.
I would guess though that the storm will cause more problems than the earthquake, with all the rain it will bring.

[Radar]

I'm watching the weather in Guatemala very closely as I have a new found interest there. A dear friend of mine is adopting a baby from Guatemala. I'm not sure what city the baby is in or how the baby is being cared for, I imagine she is in a orphanaged. The baby girl was born on April 20th, 2005. Unfortunately do to immigration laws and government red tape my friend will not be able to bring the baby back to the United States until she is 6 months old. Thanks for keeping me posted on this site. I loved this site last year during hurricane season and I look forward to following it again this year. I have found this forum is set up and run by an extremely intelligent and compassionate group of people. Kudos to all of you, that maintain the site and that post here. Keep the little Guatemala baby in your prayers her name is Analise

[depotoo]

Analise and all of you will be in our prayers. keep us posted in teh off topic forum, would you?

[cycloneye]

My prayers go to the baby.