Haiti afterschock measures 6.1: Is there another earthquake yet to come?

An aftershock that measured 6.1 on the Richter Scale hit Haiti early Wednesday morning but will there be another? In the past week since the devastating 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti, at least 14 aftershocks measuring 5.0 or above have been recorded by the United States Geological Survey.

Earthquakes happen frequently, but the magnitude of some of these quakes and aftershocks are causing some real panic - especially for the people of Haiti.

In other areas of the world, there have been earthquakes that have been noted by the USGS in the past 24 hours. Cayman Islands experienced a quake that measured 5.8 on Tuesday and just this morning, a small rumbling in California measured 3.4 on the Richter Scale.

Scientist are confident that there will be more aftershocks in Haiti but a study by the Woods Hole seismologists states that there is likely to be future destruction by more earthquakes.

A report in Newsweek explained that the Haiti's location may make the country a prime target for more devastation.

Haiti and its neighbors sit above two tectonic plates that slide awkwardly past one another in an east-west direction at about an inch a year ... Last Tuesday’s rupture occurred when a segment of the plates that had been stuck together since 1751 (when the last earthquake occurred) jerked themselves free ... Not all of that tension was released by the quake.

Seismologists speculate that the tension in both places will be released by earthquakes equal to or above that of last Tuesday’s quake. There is no telling when this will happen -- it could be months, years or even hundreds of years. Scientists, however, are confident that the position of Haiti makes it a prime target at some point for more earthquakes of a high magnitude.

At this time, there have been no damage or casualty reports issued about the 6.1 aftershock that rocked Haiti on Wednesday morning.

Cheryl Phillips
HULIQ.com

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