Doublet earthquake in Venezuela.
The earthquakes that occurred one after another in Venezuela have caused great devastation. There are reports of collapse of buildings in many parts including the capital Caracas. In viral videos, thousands of people were seen coming out of their homes and offices. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has issued an alert saying that the death toll could exceed 10 thousand. The devastation in Venezuela has been called a double earthquake. This is a rare phenomenon that occurs in very few countries. Know what is a double earthquake, when such a situation occurs, how it gives a shock and how different it is from a normal earthquake.
The double earthquake that occurred on Wednesday has been called double earthquake. In Venezuela, two massive earthquakes occurred in the same area within a few seconds of each other. USGS has called it a double.
What is doublet earthquake?
When earthquakes occur twice consecutively at the same place, it is called a double earthquake or doublet earthquake. The special thing is that the difference between them is of very short duration, but the intensity of both is almost equal. However, these are considered two different shocks.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) says a magnitude 7.2 foreshock occurred less than a minute before the magnitude 7.5 main quake. Scientists initially identified doublet earthquakes as separate seismic events that produce nearly identical waves from the same location.
How did all this happen? now let’s understand this
The upper layer of the earth is made of tectonic plates. If we understand in simple language, these are sheets of stones which keep slipping slowly. When two plates collide, separate or overlap each other, tremendous energy is released and this is what we feel in the form of earthquakes.
Now let us understand what happened in Venezuela. If we understand in simple language, during an earthquake, when the first shock is not able to release the energy completely, then the remaining energy is released in the form of a second big earthquake. This is the reason why in a doublet earthquake, earthquakes occur one after the other and that too within a few seconds or minutes. Studies show that about 20 percent of earthquakes with magnitude above 7.5 are doublets.
How different is this from other earthquakes?
Usually, in earthquakes coming one after the other, the second shock is weaker. But in a doublet earthquake, the second shock is almost equal. Generally, the second earthquake is less dangerous than the first, but this is not the case with doublet earthquakes. It is more destructive because in a doublet earthquake, the shock is not weak but comes with equal energy.
The same happened in Venezuela also. The first shock was of 7.2 intensity and the second shock of 7.5 intensity came after 39 seconds. Both shocks in such a short period of time did not give the capital Caracas a chance to recover.
A damaged building is seen in the Los Palos Grandes area of Caracas. Many buildings have collapsed here, but the exact number of dead and injured has not been confirmed yet.
When did this happen before?
Before Venezuela, this happened in the year 2023 when there was an earthquake in Türkiye. First there was an earthquake of 7.8 magnitude and then there was an earthquake of 7.7 magnitude. It was considered a doublet. This is the reason why double earthquakes bring more devastation than normal earthquakes and do not even give a chance to recover.
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