Seismologists Leonardo Reyes Madera, president of the Dominican Seismology Institute (Sodosismica) and Ernesto Perez Modesto, coordinator of the National Office for Seismic Evaluation and Vulnerability again are alerting that Santiago, in the central area of the country, should expect an earthquake of 7.5 magnitude “today, tomorrow or within 100 years”. They say that a strong earthquake has not occurred in 800 years and there is more than enough energy accumulated within the Cibao fault. The last big earthquake occurred in 1561. There were severe earthquakes in the northwest of the country in 1842 and 1946.
The earthquake experts say that the country, and especially the Cibao region, needs to prepare for the earthquake and reinforce its buildings. They indicate that there have been earthquakes stronger than 7.5 in Mexico, Chile, Japan, US and New Zealand that have not caused cracks in buildings nor deaths.