Cuban researchers are studying the palaeoseismology of the Pinar fault, a long-standing concern of the scientific community about a region of the country that has reported several earthquakes throughout history, it was announced today.

The director of the National Centre for Seismological Research (Cenais), O’Leary Fernando González, explained to Granma newspaper that in a first stage the location of the possible places to carry out the studies was carried out, based on geological work.

For the time being, specialists from Cenais and a Venezuelan expert with extensive experience in the Caribbean and South America are involved.

He affirmed that as progress is made, other scientists from Cuba and other countries should join in.

He noted that the research began with the support of the Cuenca Resiliente project, which is being implemented in the western Cuban province of Pinar del Río, for early warning of the risks of natural disasters.

It is a complex study, which will take months and perhaps longer, the specialist warned.

The main objective is to know more precisely how dangerous the Pinar del Río fault is and how much it threatens communities, he said.

The researcher commented that it is known that the faults located to the south of the eastern region are capable of generating strong earthquakes every 80 or 90 years, but this information on the repetitiveness and intensity of the earthquakes that the Pinar fault is capable of generating is unknown.

He recalled that a very strong earthquake already occurred in January 1880 and seismicity continues to manifest itself.

In June 2021, for example, there was a moderate earthquake that affected the hospital in the town of San Cristóbal.

According to the scholar, palaeoseismology will show how the fault has behaved in the past, and from there it will be possible to determine its seismic danger.