Mexico Earthquakes Caused by Aquifer Depletion? OOSKAnews
go to original July 19, 2012

Popocatépetl Volcano (This Blog Is A Nicho)

MEXICO CITY — Recent earthquakes in the municipality of Chalco were not result of activity at Popocatépetl Volcano, but could be a side effect of water extraction from aquifers in the region, according to Arturo Vilchis, coordinator of Civil Protection for the government of the State of Mexico (Edomex).

Overexploitation of the aquifer is causing land subsidence in the Valley of Mexico, he said.

The National Center for Disaster Prevention (Cenapred) and the National Seismology institute earlier this month ruled out the possibility that the series of quakes could have been caused by volcanic activity. The earthquakes were mild, measuring from 3.5 to 3.8 on the Richter scale, and did not cause real structural damage in Chalco.

Vilchis said representatives of both of these agencies had agreed that water extraction could be causing the seismic activity.

The Edomex government has previously studied the phenomenon, which stretches beyond the municipality of Chalco, as far west as the Federal District.

State Governor Eruviel Avila said he would hire experts from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM) to carry out larger studies to determine the source of the seismic activity, predict the location of future activity, and, where appropriate, help implement precautionary measures.

He said the area is located atop the Chalco-Texcoco aquifer, the most over-exploited in the country, and land there is settling at a very fast rate.

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