Environment

When we make the earth tremble

The celebration of Hirving Lozano's goal caused a shallow earth movement that shook Mexico City

When we make the earth tremble

At 11:32 am, the seismic monitoring network, SIMMSA, registered a tremor in Mexico City after Hirving Lozano's goal. The earth movement was presented by the repeated jumps of the fans who celebrated the player's score against Germany. However, it should be noted that this is not the first time that human action causes earthquakes. On this occasion, joy produced the unexpected movement. Unfortunately, there are human practices that cause tremors and tensions in the earth's crust and are a consequence of ingenuity and human industry.

Leer en español: Cuando la tierra tiembla por culpa nuestra

 

 

According to El País , "the accumulation of water in dams, the extraction of oil and gas, and the production of geothermal energy are just some of the modern activities that have been proven to cause earthquakes." In this sense, technological progress and mining to enjoy the natural resources offered by the planet have had effects that could be catastrophic. According to this same medium, fracking could generate a large earthquake if liquid is injected IGNORE INTO a fault that is stressed by other geological factors.

Research conducted by Gillian Foulger (Professor of Geophysics at the University of Durham), Jon Gluyas (Professor at the University of Durham) and Miles Wilson (doctoral student from the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Durham), whose results were disclosed for El País, reveals alarming figures that not only surprise but worry. According to this study, for January 2017, there were 577 earthquakes produced by humans. Activities such as mining, oil and gas extraction, dammed water, fracking, among others are responsible for generating seismic activity that triggers tremors and earthquakes. Moreover, according to the BBC, in the United Kingdom three earthquakes occur because of human activity.

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In this sense, tremors and earthquakes are not just disasters due to natural factors. Sometimes, they are the product of the tension to which the planet is subjected with activities of extraction of natural resources and construction of mega works. The database of earthquakes caused by human activity shows that of the total number of earthquakes induced by humans, 37% corresponds to mining, 22% concerns reservoirs of water reserves, 14% to conventional gas extraction, and oil and 8% to geothermal procedures.

Besides the extraction of resources, the construction of large structures and mega projects could generate tremors and earthquakes because they also exert pressure on the area in which they are built. El Pais states that "The 700-megaton Taipei 101 building, erected in Taiwan during the 1990s, has been blamed for the increased frequency and magnitude of earthquakes in the area."

In Latin America, according to the same database, the country with the most tremors and earthquakes caused by human activity is Brazil with 18 seismological events with magnitudes between 1 and 4 degrees on the Richter scale. The following countries in the list are Paraguay, Venezuela, and Chile with 1 registered event in each country.

Latin American Post | Marcela Peñaloza

 

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