The magnitude 5.3 earthquake that struck west of Sines this morning has already had three aftershocks, according to the National Emergency Management and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC).
“As of today, three more tremors have been felt. The first was a magnitude of 1.2, the second was 1.1 and the third was 0.9. If there is further justification, we will issue new warnings and announcements,” said André Fernández, civil commander of the National Emergency and Protection Service, at a briefing at 08:00.
According to André Fernandes, there has been a sharp increase in calls from the public to the national command, regional and sub-regional commands and fire brigades, and recommendations have been given.
The National Commander also added that this earthquake does not meet the criteria for activating special plans for this kind of event.
“The plans are only activated starting from 6.1, the earthquake was 5.3,” he said.
Andre Fernandez explained that although the earthquake’s epicentre was at sea, “there was no fear” of a tsunami.
“There is only a tsunami warning from 6.0. [de intensidade] “on the Richter scale,” he explained, adding that since the earthquake measured 5.3 on the Richter scale, “there was no need for that.”
Confronted by reporters about the lack of information on the ANEPC website and the organization’s social media, ANEPC President Duarte Costa said that at 6:00 a.m. “the first post was published on social media with references” to ANEPC.
“From six in the morning we have been informing everyone not only about what happened, but also about the attitude,” Duarte Costa said.
“Then we thought it would be good to repeat this situation in a separate post, just for self-defense purposes, and then from six to six thirty in the morning,” he added.
According to the official, it was a “normal system” of communication so that in a situation like today, the population “remains calm,” adding that the Civil Defense decided to prioritize the dissemination of information through the social network Facebook, because that is where “the largest number of people appear.”
Present at the press conference, Secretary of State for Civil Protection Paulo Simões Ribeiro confirmed that the government is monitoring the situation “with calm and serenity” and called for general calm and for the population to follow the recommendations of the authorities in this matter.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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