He 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria has a balance of 11,200 dead until the morning of this Tuesday, to which are added thousands of injured people and destroyed buildings.
The natural disaster affected the northern syriato the south of the city of Aleppo, and part of the southeast turkeyfrom Tarsus in the west to Diyarbakir in the east, and as far north as Malatya, as shown on the Google map based on data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS for its acronym in English).
What would happen if the Turkey and Syria earthquake had affected Uruguay?
If one locates Montevideo in the epicenter of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, in the region of Kahramanmarasgood part of the entire national territory south of the Río Negro would be affectednext to part of the northeast (Cerro Largo, Tacuarembó and Rivera). In that case, Colonia would escape the event and the phenomenon would occur in the Río de la Plata and would affect part of the province of Buenos Aires.
The Observer / USGS / Google Maps
On the left, the image of the area affected by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria with the epicenter in Kahramanmaraş. On the right, the image of the affected area of Uruguay if the epicenter of the same earthquake had occurred in Montevideo.
If he epicenter of the earthquake would have been in Durazno, the phenomenon could have affected a larger part of the national territory, it would cover Montevideo, but it would not have repercussions in the eastern part of the department.
The Observer / USGS / Google Maps
On the left, the image of the area affected by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria with the epicenter in Kahramanmaraş. On the right, the image of the affected area of Uruguay if the epicenter of the same earthquake had occurred in Durazno.
The comparison was made Leda Sanchezgrade 5 seismologist at the Geophysical Observatory of Uruguay, who shared with The Observer a map in which he compares the affectation of the earthquake in Turkey with the Uruguayan territory.
Asked what the results of an earthquake of these characteristics in Uruguay would be, the seismologist replied: “Did you see what happened in Turkey? Worse. Did you see what happened in Haiti? Similar”the latter in reference to the 7.3-magnitude earthquake that affected the Caribbean island in 2010, which left more than 200,000 dead.
“We have no preparation”lamented Sánchez, who explained that although the probability of a “high seismicity” event is low, the same “exists”.
He even claimed that “Tensions are building” on the plate that makes up Uruguay, the south americanand detailed that in a probabilistic study carried out with a team from New Zealand it was indicated that “from 10 to 25 years” an earthquake of “6.3 degrees” can occur in the country. “It scares us,” she declared.
Added to this is a cultural issue: “People deny that Uruguay trembles”lamented the seismologist.
Earthquakes in Uruguay
In recent years, two larger-than-average earthquakes have been recorded in Uruguay: in 2016 there was a 3.1 magnitude earthquake in Las PiedrasCannelloni, and in 2021 it was given an earthquake of 4.6 degrees in Muelle del Timotein rural Florida.
Sánchez explained that a magnitude 3.1 earthquake in various parts of the world “it’s no big deal”due to the preparation that various countries have against disasters of this style, but in Las Piedras “it generated a fissure in the masonry and walls.”
The seismologist understands that If the 4.6 earthquake that occurred in Florida had occurred in Las Piedras or Montevideo “we would be collecting rubble.”
Sanchez understands that there are no buildings prepared to withstand events of this type in the country, which he assures lacks “culture” against earthquakes, as Chile does.
The geologist’s claim to foresee earthquakes in Uruguay
The person in charge of the Geophysical Observatory criticized that “resources needed” in order to have the necessary institutional preparation to anticipate this type of incident in Uruguay. “The State has to take charge of something”, Indian.
Sánchez met with the presidents of the previous two governments, José Mujica and Tabare Vazquezand also met with the current president Luis Lacalle Pou, to claim more funds for the Observatory. According to the seismologist, Lacalle asked her for a budget and when she answered, the president assured that was “viable”. However, so far there has been no response.
“I am the president of the Regional Seismology Center for South America, and Uruguay does not pay the quota, they have been claimed 20 times”he remarked.
For Sanchez, “if all the municipalities put a little money” the Observatory would have sufficient funds.
