When we watch the news or when we hear about that in some country there was a very strong earthquake strong, which left many dead, injured and homeless, we automatically ask ourselves: can they also to occur earthquakes in Brazil?
The answer is yes. But don't despair, as our geographic position does not favor the occurrence of many of them. The vast majority of those who manifest themselves are not even noticed by the population, but only by specific devices calledseismographs.
Most earthquakes in the world happen in regions where two tectonic plates, where the geological tension is more intense due to the movements that these plates perform. Brazil, luckily, is located in an area inside a tectonic plate, which also helps to explain the inexistence of large mountain ranges and volcanoes in our country.
In the case of locations such as Brazil, earthquakes only occur due to the action of geological faults, which are points of rupture between large blocks of rocks that make up our relief. Even so, these earthquakes are not usually very strong.
On the other hand, some cases have already been registered that caused some concern. In 1955, in the municipality of Porto dos Gaúchos, in the state of Mato Grosso, there was an earthquake measuring 6.2 degrees on the Richter scale (which never registered earthquakes greater than 10). At the time, the location where the phenomenon occurred was sparsely inhabited, so the consequences were little noticed and without major damage.
In 2007, in the city of Cruzeiro do Sul, in Acre, there was also a strong earthquake, with 6.1 degrees. However, its hypocenter (earthquake starting point underground) was very deep, about 600 meters below the surface, so it was barely felt and there was almost no damage.
In fact, the year 2007 marked the only time that a person died due to earthquakes in Brazil, according to official data. It happened in the city of Itacarambi, in Minas Gerais, when a 4.9-degree tremor knocked down a house that had a very fragile structure and buried a resident who was there.
Despite this, there is little cause for concern. Even though there are more than 90 earthquakes a year in Brazil, they are very weak, most of which are not felt directly by us.
Damage caused by an earthquake in Turkey. Something that will hardly happen in Brazil *
_____________________
* Image credits: Prometheus72 / Shutterstock
By Rodolfo Alves Pena
Graduated in Geography
