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May 2006 in Boquete


Penny

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Having Angel Rodriguez speaking about Volcan Baru at the BCP Tuesday Talks yesterday reminded me of a scary period in Boquete history. It was May, 2006 and we started to have earthquakes almost every day in Boquete. And they weren't the gentle rumblers that originate in the ocean off the coast of Costa Rica. These were sharp, loud explosions that seemed to originate from directly under our feet. I'll tell you that the population was nervous and rumors went wild. It was said that the Panama government sent scientists to take the temperature of the local rivers and streams and that they were getting hot. Some folks decided to move away from Boquete because they were scared. Finally, to bring calm we brought in an expert from Panama City to speak to the foreign community at the Tuesday Talks which, in those days were not associated with BCP and were held at the Panamonte Hotel. The purpose of this guy was to explain that we weren't in any danger and to stay calm. The funny thing was that as he was walking to the front of the room to take the podium, we experienced one of the bigger earthquakes right at that moment. There was a lot of nervous laughter and tense grins.

Anyway, at the end of May the earthquakes ceased and everything returned to normal. An interesting time to be living in Boquete.

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I did not attend Angel's talk, but Penny told me later at lunch that he imparted the disturbing information that the seismograph station at Volcan Baru is no longer manned by the government. Thus, there will be no forewarning of any potential upcoming explosion of Volcan Baru from that station, as most of us had assumed.

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I attended Angel's talk, which was excellent.  He did, in fact, say that the government seismic monitoring stations on Baru are no longer functional and have been abandoned.  But that's not equivalent to saying that there will be no forewarning.   Angel has his own seismographic equipment monitoring Baru, and he showed how individuals can obtain their own seismic stations which are connected to the internet to provide a rich database of seismic information for analysis.  I should have asked him how many stations are currently in place, but it's at least several. 

In addition, Angel described the mechanism for another volcanic eruption at Baru.  Not only would there be many detectable earthquakes in advance, but hot water springs would appear.  Steam eruptions would appear.  Before any explosive event similar to Mt. St. Helens, there would be a swelling which would also be detectable.  In short, although the government is not actively monitoring Baru today, a catastrophic explosion with no warning is highly improbable, although every volcano is unique.  On the other hand, Angel did say that Baru is far more dangerous than Mt. St, Helens. and that we should assume that there will be more eruptions in the future.

While unrelated to Baru. Angel also pointed out that the David fault, which we cross driving from Boquete to David, is a highly dangerous major fault line, fully capable of generating earthquakes of magnitude 7 or greater.  The danger is great to the city of David, but a quake of that magnitude would likely isolate Boquete without power, cellphone service, and HORRORS, the internet.   Roads and bridges would also be impassable.  I don't think we can expect any warning for such an event.

It was a great talk and I believe everyone in attendance learned something new.

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I did say that there would be no forewarning from "that station," and I knew that Angel had his own seismographic monitoring system, but I was not aware of the rest of the facts you relate. And I thank you for them. I feel much better. I guess I'm going to have to make time in my schedule to attend more of the Tuesday morning meetings.

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Doug, thank you for your posting of Angel Rodriguez's BCP presentation on Volcan  Baru. We planned to attend, but urgent business matters got in our way and we had to miss this event.

I lived in Portland, Oregon when Mt. St. Helens exploded. Perhaps the saddest thing about this disaster was there was plenty of warning but too many people doubted the information (didn't believe such an eruption could happen). I remember one family camped at the foot of the mountain even when a Forest Ranger told them of an explosion warning. Another "oldster" refused to leave his home and perished. Many sad stories.

Again, warning but people didn't believe and took no action.

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Angel passed out a brochure at the end of the presentation about Baru, which included a map of the hazard areas in the case of an eruption. The full map, with a legend of the hazard zones depending on the volume of the eruption, can be viewed or downloaded here .

The full 2007 USGS report on Volcan Baru, its history and the hazards, is here.

There are a lot of variables, including the size of an eruption and the prevailing winds at the time.  In general, lower-lying areas near existing channels or waterways are higher risk.  Bajo Boquete is far more likely to become inundated than Alto Boquete, for example.  Volcan faces a different threat.  It's all very interesting reading.

One other interesting tidbit from the presentation:  A few years ago Angel was  able to spot active fumeroles (volcanic vents) within the crater of Baru.  Those are no longer active, and everything seems quiet.  For now.

 

Edited by Uncle Doug
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