Earthquakes frightened residents of some neighborhoods in the municipality of Caxias do Sul, in the early hours of this Monday (13). On social media, some internet users say they felt their homes shaking, while others reported hearing a loud noise.
In a note released this Monday morning (13), the municipal environment department reported that tremors were recorded in at least four neighborhoods. According to the ministry, the situation is a consequence of the accommodation of underground rock layers and does not pose additional risks to the population.
According to the Seismology Observatory of the University of Brasília (UNB), three tremors were recorded in the Serra Gaúcha in the early hours of the day. The first, 2.4 degrees, at 1:48 am in Bento Gonçalves; the second, at 2:58 am, in Caxias do Sul, at 2.3 degrees; and the third at 3:03 am, with the same intensity, in Caxias do Sul.
Last weekend, parts of the municipality were once again hit by torrential rain, causing more landslides and damage in the city, which had a state of public calamity declared on the 2nd. The consequences of the rain have already killed at least nine people in the city. One person is missing.
A landslide recorded this morning once again ruptured a water main that had already been hit on May 1st and provisionally repaired. Consequently, the Morro Alegre Water Treatment Plant (ETA) is not functioning and the water supply to 52 neighborhoods has been completely or partially interrupted.