The Civil Defence Commission (CDC) will be collaborating with the Ministry of Natural Resources for analysis of Region Nine’s vulnerability to seismic activities.
The natural disaster response agency said yesterday it is also continuing to assess Sunday’s earthquake in the South Rupununi.
In a statement, the CDC said that should the need arise for further technical support they will be engaging the Seismic Research Centre of the University of the West Indies and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency.
According to the CDC, from the assessment it will be able to determine future actions which will equip the agency with the knowledge and data to “conduct earthquake preparedness and response planning and training, evacuation drills and exploring the possibility of developing earthquake-resilient infrastructure codes for that Region and by extension Guyana.”
Furthermore, the CDC said that the Regional Democratic Council has communicated that it will assist in the rehabilitation of the homes that are damaged. As of yesterday, construction materials were being deployed to the communities, Regional Executive Officer, Karl Singh, told the CDC.
Meanwhile, it was related that while the Regional Disaster Response System was conducting assessments in Katoonarib and Sawariwau, loud rumbling sounds were heard about three times from different directions around the communities. The communities in close proximity to the epicentre continued to experience mild tremors as of Monday.
The CDC’s assessment confirmed that two houses were destroyed as a result of Sunday’s 5.7 magnitude earthquake. As a result seven persons had to be relocated.
At approximately 3.05 pm on Sunday, the earthquake was felt in most of southern Guyana and neighbouring Brazil and Venezuela.
The quake was likely the strongest to have been registered in Guyana in many years and was felt all the way to the coast in the capital city.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) rated the earthquake as 5.7 on the Richter scale and located the epicentre at 83 km south east of Lethem.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre also listed the earthquake at 5.7 and registered eight aftershocks.
The earthquake recorded a shallow depth of 9.7 km and lasted for several minutes and was felt in Regions, 4,6,7,9 and 10.
Kid James of the South Rupununi District Council reported that apart from the two homes being destroyed, many of the homes suffered from cracked walls as a result of the heavy vibrations.
During a visit by his team on Sunday after the earthquake, he said that the walls of homes were completely torn apart and the sections that remained standing bore severe cracks.
