Deathly Spanish quake “man-made,” research saysOctober 22, 2012 - 20:33 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A major earthquake in Spain that killed nine people was triggered by the groundwater extraction, research suggests, according to Belfast Telegraph. The magnitude 5.1 tremor struck the historic town of Lorca in south-east Spain in May last year. In addition to the lives lost, buildings were reduced to rubble, cars flattened and more than a hundred people injured. Now scientists say they have evidence that the disaster was man-made -- the result of water being sucked out of the ground to feed domestic supplies. Loss of the water caused stress changes in the earth's crust along a major faultline, it is believed. The disturbance was enough to trigger a rupture in the rock, leading to the earthquake. Scientists led by Dr Pablo Gonzalez, from the University of Western Ontario in Canada, used satellite data to map the ground deformation caused by the Lorca earthquake. They then carried out computer simulations of the fault slip. The researchers wrote: "We conclude that the presented data and modelling results are consistent with a groundwater crustal unloading process, providing a reasonable explanation for the observed fault slip pattern." The findings are published in the journal 'Nature Geoscience'. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Armenia PM, France envoy discuss regional matters Issues related to the consistent development of Armenia-France cooperation were discussed. Azerbaijan razes historic Armenian church to ground Azerbaijan has demolished the historic Armenian Church of St. John the Baptist (known as Kanach Zham). Armenian, Saudi Foreign Minister meet in Riyadh The two commended the positive dynamics of the development of political dialogue between Armenia and Saudi Arabia Pashinyan: Azerbaijan’s proximity shouldn’t worry border residents At the same time, he said that he “does not guarantee [the security of villagers] one hundred percent”. |