Another 'Ring of Fire' Quake... Massive Disaster Despite 110km Depth

[Anchor]

The site of this recent earthquake is the so-called "Ring of Fire," a region known for concentrated seismic and volcanic activity worldwide.

In particular, coming about a month after a major earthquake caused over 6,000 deaths in neighboring Venezuela, Gwak Sang-eun examines whether there is any connection between these consecutive powerful quakes.

[Reporter]

The epicenter of this earthquake was located at a depth of 110 kilometers beneath the Choco Department along the western coast of Colombia.

It belongs to the Circum-Pacific Seismic Belt, the so-called "Ring of Fire," where 90 percent of the world's earthquakes and volcanic activities are concentrated.

Experts explain that because this is a boundary where the Nazca Plate, an oceanic plate at the bottom of the Pacific, subducts beneath the South American Plate, accumulated energy is released all at once to generate powerful seismic waves.

[Rodrigo Alejandro Leon Roya / Seismologist, University of the Andes: Colombia is full of active faults, and the phenomenon of one tectonic plate subducting beneath another continues.]

Although the hypocenter was deep at 110 kilometers underground, the destructive power of the magnitude 7-plus strong earthquake was equivalent to hundreds of atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima in the past, transmitting massive shockwaves to the surface.

[Susan Hough / Seismologist, U.S. Geological Survey: About 1.5 million people experienced estimated shaking of intensity 7, which is strong enough to cause damage.]

Just a month and a half ago, consecutive strong earthquakes of magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 hit neighboring Venezuela, killing more than 6,000 people. General analysis suggests that the direct connection between the two earthquakes is not significant, as their epicenters are 1,060 kilometers apart and they occurred at different plate boundaries.

However, it is difficult to completely rule out the possibility that the force at the plate boundary accumulated by the Venezuela earthquake stimulated other nearby faults, leading to this quake.

Amid the successive strong earthquake damages, Latin American countries including Chile, Mexico, and El Salvador, along with the United States, have promised rescue and medical support, while Venezuela, which has yet to recover from its own earthquake damage, also expressed its willingness to provide aid.

(Video Editing: Cho Moo-hwan, Design: Kang Yoon-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.