Lubango - An earthquake measuring 3.4 on the Richter scale, light class, was registered, in the early hours of last Wednesday, 31 kilometers southwest of the municipality of Caluquembe, southern Huila Province.
This is the fourth earthquake in 12 months, with the most recent and, consequently, the most intense occurring in June of the current year, with a magnitude of 5.2 and the following month, which was 4.4, whose epicenter had been detected approximately 30 kilometers from the municipality of Caluquembe.
The one in June panicked the inhabitants of the municipal centers of Caconda, Chicomba and part of the municipality of Lubango, capital of the province.
According to INAMET's geophysics division, the last Wednesday incident, September 4th, occurred at 03:22 and was registered by the national network's seismic stations, without, however, causing human or material damage.
Huíla has been regularly affected by seismic shocks since January 2017, the year in which one of magnitude 4.7 happened, which shook the municipalities of Lubango, Chicomba and Caluquembe.
On October 17th of the same year, a major earthquake occurred in the commune of N'gola, 170 kilometers north of Lubango City. At the time, the province didnt have instruments capable of measuring the intensity of the phenomenon.
According to researchers from the Mandume ya Ndemufayo University, some theoretical models defined at a global level will be the basis for these seismic events, as is the case with areas of pre-existing weaknesses that were caused millions of years ago.
An earthquake also called a quake, tremor, or temblor – is the shaking of the Earth’s surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves.
Earthquakes are classified according to their magnitude as micro (less than 2.0), very small (2.0-2.9), small (3.0-3.9), slight (4.0-4.9), moderate (5.0-5.9), Strong (6.0-6.9), Major (7.0-7.9), Great (8.0-8.9), Extreme (9, 0-9.9) and High extreme (greater than 10).
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