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 | Erdogan wants “realistic road map” for relations with Armenia Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for a “new realistic road map” for relations with Armenia. Armenia-Azerbaijan: Experts launch work on determining coordinates Expert groups from the countries started the process of determining the coordinates based on geodetic measurements. Yerevan says did not expect CSTO in peacekeeping role Pashinyan has declared that the CSTO would be expected to come to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border as an ally of Armenia Henrikh Mkhitaryan wins Serie A title with Inter Inter Milan midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan admits that the team have long been imagining clinching Serie A against AC Milan. |