This July 17, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake was recorded in Guatemala, which was sensitive in several departments, including the capital.
Since this Friday morning, the authorities activated security protocols to protect the population. Likewise, entities such as the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred) later provided more details about the damage recorded by the earthquake and the most affected places.
However, one of the questions that Guatemalans ask is: why is this earthquake, given its magnitude, not considered an earthquake?
According to information provided by the National Institute of Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology (Insivumeh), a tremor and an earthquake, technically, are the same phenomenon.
What differentiates a tremor from an earthquake is the damage they cause. With greater structural damage and emergencies, a tremor could already be considered an earthquake.
In addition, the authorities reiterated that a tremor could become an earthquake whenever it causes large-scale damage to the Earth’s surface, in addition to other factors, such as the epicenter.
This was confirmed by the director of Insivumeh, Edwin Rojas, who explained in a recent press conference that, although tremor and earthquake are practically the same phenomenon, what differentiates them is the magnitude.
In this case, since it was an earthquake that occurred in the Pacific, its impact, according to the director, was not felt as much as it would have been if the phenomenon originated on a land surface.
It must be remembered that the earthquake occurred at 8:48 a.m. and had its epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, according to an Insivumeh bulletin.