Online Historical Earthquake Catalogue in Venezuela

Following some three years of painstaking documentary research and database development, Venezuela has opened its catalogue of historical earthquake information to the public. This website provides systematized information on destructive seismic events that have occurred since 1530 in both Venezuela and in the regions bordering Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago.

This project is one of 28 initiatives implemented between 2002 and 2004 by the Applied Research Program on Risk Management and Disaster Reduction, of the Venezuelan Ministry of Science and Technology.

Although there are other catalogues of adverse events already online, the Sistema de Teleinformación de Sismología Histórica de Venezuela (Online Historical Earthquake Information System of Venezuela) is an important electronic tool that will provide quick access to a wide range of information on Venezuela’s earthquake history. The catalogue has detailed data on seismic events, including their epicenters and intensity (as determined by various authors and methods). It also contains a large bibliography of documentary information on the events, including eyewitness reports, original documents in electronic format, research papers and other written and audiovisual materials. The user can access abstracts and complete documents. The team that worked on this project included seismologists, geologists, geomorphologists, historians, anthropologists, educators, engineers and programmers, all under the coordination of Dr. Christl Palme of the Regional Center for Humanities, Economics and Social Research at the University of Los Andes, Venezuela.

It is expected that the wealth of information in the database and its user-friendly design will encourage research into the history of earthquakes in Venezuela and the region. It is also hope of that it will spark the interest of students and the public at large, in order to increase their awareness that they live in a country with significant seismic hazards.

The Online Historical Earthquake Information System of Venezuela is available at http://sismicidad.hacer.ula.ve
For further information, please contact:

Alejandro Linayo alejandrolinayo@gmail.com
Christl Palme cpalme@cantv.net