The director of the Seismology Institute at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD), Eugenio Polanco has called on the population to remain calm following widespread panic yesterday, Tuesday 13 January 2015 when there were 15 earthquakes, the biggest felt in Barahona, registering 4.7 on the Richter scale.
According to a preliminary report by the Emergency Operations Center (COE), the first earthquake was at 7:16 am, causing panic and the closure of schools throughout the provinces of Barahona, Independencia and Bahoruco, as the memory of the 10 January 2010 earthquake in Haiti was too close. Some schools, hospitals, homes and businesses experienced some cracks in their structure, especially those in the salt production area. Civil Defense director Major General Rafael Emilio De Luna Pichirilo visited the areas most affected to assess the damage.
Polanco urged people to stay calm and advised them to have an emergency plan in the case of an earthquake.
Polanco said that following the earthquake in Barahona, there were 14 aftershocks, the last at around 3pm with the epicenter located some five kilometers to the south east of Polo, also in Barahona province. The smallest one was a 2.5 magnitude quake.
There were reports of damage to the Teofilo Gautier public hospital and the Boqueron elementary school in Barahona. In Pedernales, cracks in the classrooms and administrative areas of the elementary school in La Colonia were reported. The Ministry of Eucation suspended classes in five schools in Barahona as a preventive measure.
http://www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2015/1/14/352493/Sismologia-llama-a-la-calma-luego-de-temblor-en-provincias-del-Sur