Earthquake updates April 3 , 2014 - Chile has strong aftershock ( 7.8 ) follow the larger 8.2 quake ( and ten aftershocks ) from April 1 , 2014 ... Panama has its own quake ( 5.8 ) ...... signs of more to come and a larger quake to boot ? .....

http://www.inquisitr.com/1197809/panama-earthquake-2014-tsunami-warning-risk-higher-after-chile-aftershock/

Panama Earthquake 2014: Tsunami Warning Risk Higher After Chile Aftershock?

An earthquake hit Panama earlier today after the South American country was already under a tsunami warning. Considering that this new tremor was only a 5.8 magnitude it’s possible it’s related to the Chilean earthquake felt further down along the South American coastline.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, the 8.2 magnitude Chile earthquake generated a tsunami warning for Peru and Ecuador, and some were worried these geological rumblings might lead to Peru’s volcanoes erupting soon; even the USGS is predicting that we have not yet seen the “big one” predicted by some scientists.

The latest Panama earthquake hit at 4:13 PM local time and was centered in the ocean about 37 miles south of David, Panama, at a depth of 17.3 miles. It’s possible the Chile earthquake triggered by the Nazca plate in turn caused the Cocos plate to shift. As of this writing new Panama tsunami warnings have not been issued but considering the lower magnitude it’s possible that this is not an issue this time.

The USGS says the largest and most seismically active of these plate tectonic boundaries is the Panama Fracture Zone:

“The Panama Fracture Zone terminates in the south at the Galapagos rift zone and in the north at the Middle America trench, where it forms part of the Cocos-Nazca-Caribbean triple junction. Earthquakes along the Panama Fracture Zone are generally shallow, low- to intermediate in magnitude (M<7.2) and are characteristically right-lateral strike-slip faulting earthquakes. Since 1900, the largest earthquake to occur along the Panama Fracture Zone was the July 26, 1962 M7.2 earthquake.”

Earlier reports about the Panama earthquake claimed it was a 6.2 magnitude but it’s since been revised downward. Arturo Alvarado, Panama’s head of emergency services, claims so far there were no reports of earthquake damage or injuries. Still, schools and homes in the area were evacuated as a precaution and a USGS tweet said it had received citizens’ reports that did not indicate anything too life-threatening:

USGS        ✔ @USGS

Follow

Magnitude 5.8 off coast of Panama. 42 responses from local citizens report shaking as mostly light & moderate: http://on.doi.gov/1pM3IZV 

12:43 PM - 2 Apr 2014

Regardless, it’s possible that these plate shift may indicate an upcoming larger event. Mark Simons, a geophysicist at Caltech in Pasadena, California, predicted that events like the Panama earthquake may be portents of things to come:

“Could be tomorrow, could be in 50 years; we do not know when it’s going to occur. But the key point here is that this magnitude-8.2 is not the large earthquake that we were expecting for this area. We’re actually still expecting potentially an even larger earthquake. This is the one remaining gap that hasn’t had an earthquake in the last 140 years. We know these two plates come together at about 6, 7 centimeters a year, and if you multiply that by 140 years then the plates should have moved about 11 meters along the fault, and you can make an estimate of the size of earthquake we expect here.”

Are you concerned the Chile and Panama earthquake may be indicating the “big one” is coming in 2014?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/03/chile-coast-strong-aftershock-earthquake

Chile's coast struck by strong aftershock a day after earthquake

Fears of local tsunami after fresh tremor measured at 7.8 strikes just south of port of Iquique

Evacuated residents sleep in the street in Iquique. Photograph: Aldo Solimano/AFP/Getty Images

A powerful 7.6-magnitude aftershock hit Chile's far-northern coast late on Wednesday night, shaking the same area where a magnitude-8.2 earthquake hit just a day before causing some damage and six deaths.

Chile's emergency office and navy issued a tsunami alert and ordered a precautionary evacuation of low-lying areas on the northern coast, meaning many people would be spending another sleepless night away from their homes.

The aftershock caused buildings to shake and people to run out into the streets in the port of Iquique, which was one of the cities that saw some damage from Tuesday night's big quake. But there were no immediate reports of new damage or injuries from the latest tremor, which was one of dozens that have followed the 8.2 quake.

"I was evacuated like all citizens. One can see that the people are prepared," tweeted Chile's president, Michelle Bachelet, who was in the nearby city of Arica to assess the damage.

Tsunami alerts were issued for northern Chile and Peru, but later cancelled.

The aftershock was centered 12 miles (19 km) south of Iquique at a depth of 25 miles, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The USGS initially reported the tremor's magnitude at 7.8, but downgraded it to 7.6.

It was felt across the border in southern Peru, where people in the cities of Tacna and Arequipa reportedly fled buildings in fear.

On Tuesday, authorities reported just six deaths from the initial quake, but said it was possible others could have been killed in older structures made of adobe in remote communities that weren't immediately accessible.