Office of Disaster Management releases statement on earthquakes in the north

January 13, 2010 – The Office of Disaster Management would like to confirm that earthquakes felt in the north of the island over the weekend are associated with swarm of earthquakes which have been occurring in the north of Dominica from may last year.

The ODM would like to inform the general public, particularly residents in the north of the island, that the office continues to work closely with local partners and the Seismic Research Centre (SRC) to monitor the events.

In May of last year the ODM and local government held a series of meeting with community disaster committees to assist in organizing these groups. This exercise is expected to continue in the upcoming months.

The ODM did field work in July and September to verify ph and water temperature levels.

In July of last year a team of scientists from Portsmouth university in the UK along with geologist Miss Thessa Deroche, attached to ODM, conducted surveys on various ridges on Mourne aux Diables.

In October of 2009 Dr. Richie Robertson, Director of the SRC, visited Dominica with a view to deal with the current state of seismic monitoring on the island. As a result of this visit and discussions held with the ODM, permanent secretary, and minister a number of new stations were installed in the north of Dominica in November.

These new digital monitoring stations will increase the amount of data being received and will help scientist to better calculate the nature and source on the earthquakes. This exercise was ably assisted by Mr. Wayne Abraham of Portsmouth, LIME Dominica and the ODM team.

In December 2009 scientist of the SRC conducted field work in the north of the island to include (water samples, water temperature, gas samples, GPS monitoring etc). It is expected that the team will return to Dominica this month (January) to continue their work.
The ODM will continue its education programme with the release of audio and visual material dealing with seismic activity. The Office of Disaster Management along with the Ministry of Education have started education programmes with schools this week.

ODM is working closely with local government to host a series of town hall meetings in the affected areas i.e the north beginning next week using local and regional experts.

We would like to inform the general public that the department is doing all that is necessary to obtain relevant information and to keep the public informed.

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10 Comments

  1. M.A.Shamsudeen
    July 18, 2010

    @edmohai: How do you come to know My statement regarding earthquakes I am happy to see the comments from you that the message which I have given to the World body and it reached the people like you.Thankyou

  2. edmohai
    April 9, 2010

    Mr.M.A.shamsudeen ,is a first man in the world to stop the earthquake,tsunami and volcano.Yes .
    We proud of an indian. because ,we have the knowldege to stop earthquake.

    If it possible ,arrange the one public meeting .I feel that ,he will explain clearly.this is true.

  3. M.A.Shamsudeen,Scientist,India
    February 13, 2010

    No one on the earth till today said “I will stop the earthquake ” but I have been shouting to the world community for the last 14years that I will stop the earthquake ,nobody here to hear.Because everybody is interested in making money only by way of disaster management.And everybody sitting on the theory of plate movement. Let them sit on that and cheat the mankind.

  4. January 14, 2010

    I identify myself because I am proud of the work that I did and continue to do in support of the scientists and the ODM. I am the only non-government employee intimately involved in all the monitoring activities at Morne Aux Diables. I have a life and death stake in this volcano and take it seriously. My humble workshop in the middle of Portsmouth is the center of mind bugling amounts of data acquisition, transfer, crunching and dissemination.

    I have been involved in earthquake monitoring since 1998 when the activity in the south sparked massive panic around Dominica. I made it my duty to read as much as possible and convert my knowledge in electronics and computers into a hobby which, after 11+ years, have caught the attention of prestigious universities and scientific institutions worldwide. Over the years I have built relationships with scientists and institutions worldwide and they have been instrumental in helping us understand the working of the volcanoes and interpreting the data we receive. I understand your skepticism as my mistrust of government and its agencies drove me into doing what I do now.

    I must rise, not in defense of the ODM, but rather to serve as a guide to my fellow Dominicans to the truth. I believe that questioning the authorities keeps them active and in check. Portsmouth lies on the south-west pyroclastic flow fan of Aux Diables and I will have to evacuate if this volcano decides to erupt. I always tell my friends, “when you see me running, run too”.

    THE TRUTH
    There are 21 volcanoes in the Eastern Caribbean. Dominica is the only island with more than 1 volcano, boasting 9 young potentially active volcanoes. Settlement history is only around 200 years thus there is little record of historical volcanic and seismic activity on Dominica. It is known that the south of Dominica is the youngest part of the island and is at the highest risk for volcanic activity. This does not mean that we cannot have an eruption in the north before the next eruption in the south.

    Seismic monitoring of volcanoes require tremendous resources and man power. Monitoring of active volcanoes involve not only earthquake monitoring but monitoring of ground water, deformation, magnetism and a host of other processes. This is a very, very expensive venture costing at least 20000 US dollars per seismic station and a lot more for support equipment and personnel. In 2002 when this volcano started acting up, a network was put in place to locate the source of the tremors. Unfortunately some wicked soul living among us stole some of that equipment which is of no value to them. I have been filling in the gap from time to time ever since but with this renewed activity, resources had to be allocated to boost monitoring. Fortunately I had some donated equipment on hand which I added to equipment that the SRC had in their storeroom and we hastily built and installed a network to investigate the quakes.

    As a partner in the monitoring in this volcano, I have full access to the earthquake data and thus far there has been no indication that this volcano is getting ready to erupt. What this data is saying is that we the residents should get to be more acquainted with the activity of the volcano. It is telling us that it is not dead and is very much alive. It is telling the scientists that it should be taken seriously.

    The information that the ODM released is planned and is not in response to the situation in Haiti. I would like to take this opportunity to invite all of you who read this post to participate in the public education sessions that are being conducted by the ODM. For once in our lives let us learn to listen, understand and plan rather than respond to a situation. This effort is proactive and being Dominican I know that everything proactive is suspicious.

    In conclusion, I remember my grandmother who was from Capuchin telling me stories of the volcano growling when she was a child. This will continue until it erupts again which could me next month, next year, the next 100 years or the next 1000 years. It would be nice if we spend our time seeking facts to assist us in making intelligent rational decisions rather than responding to gut feelings, assumptions and rumours.

    It is time for us to learn about our volcano. It is time for us to learn to live with the volcano. Earthquakes will continue from time to time and neither the ODM nor the scientists can stop them from happening. Sometimes I wonder what we would be saying today if in May the ODM had said to evacuate. I look forward to seeing you in the town hall meetings.

  5. truth0
    January 14, 2010

    i went to school and did geo, even though i didnt like it too much, i know that we have a volcanic eruption in the making. this is more serious than they making us believe. They dont want to invoke panic but come on, the truth is what most time saves lives.

  6. hmmmmmmmm
    January 14, 2010

    water ph, water temp ? there is more to this……u maybe dont want to induce panic among the ppl, but these are tests done, ahead of volanic eruptions.

  7. hhmm
    January 14, 2010

    hmmmm ……all they doing is testing testing testing…and educating the people and having meetings….is there something that they are not telling us?? Dear LORD, please protect us!!

  8. Perturbed
    January 13, 2010

    This info is raising more questions than giving answers….it says nothing and that is worrying. The same thing happened in the South of the island some years ago. I trust that this is really being taken seriously with a view to avoiding casualties in the event this turns serious.

    What are the results of the samples taken etc..

    While we can’t stop nature I really pray that we are spared any natural disaster because the island
    cannot deal with one right now. However, in the last days we are told all of this will happen. May we live everyday with prepared hearts in the event we are called to meet our Maker at a time we least expect. Now we have the opportunity let us make our calling and election sure.

  9. destiny
    January 13, 2010

    all i can say is get ready it’s the end of times we are in the last day look at what happen in haiti god is letting his people know that he is still god so please repent for the time is at hand too much wickedness in the land

  10. I glad 4 allu
    January 13, 2010

    Cuz it had a major quake in Haiti yesterday allu finally decide to comment? Since over the weekend people feeling earthquakes in the northern part of the island but is now allu coming with explanation. Allu will know.

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