Earthquakes
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Bizarro Earth

Growing risk for large magnitude earthquake for NW Pacific coast

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© Unknown
The western US state of Oregon has a 40 percent chance in the next half-century of suffering a massive earthquake on the scale of Japan's 2011 disaster, a study said Wednesday. The Pacific Northwest -- from the Oregon-California border to Vancouver Island in Canada -- has endured 19 huge earthquakes of around 8.7-9.2 magnitude over the past 10,000 years, Oregon State University researchers said.

An additional 22 major earthquakes have impacted only the southern part of the so-called Cascadia fault that runs from the Oregon areas of Coos Bay to Newport, the study said. "The southern margin of Cascadia has a much higher recurrence level for major earthquakes than the northern end and, frankly, it is overdue for a rupture," the study's lead author Chris Goldfinger said in a statement.

Bizarro Earth

Deep Earthquake Magnitude 6.1 Strikes Central Peru

A deep, magnitude-6.1 earthquake shook people awake in Peru's central jungle region early Thursday and was also felt in the capital, Lima. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. Civil defense official Jairo Goreau in the provincial capital of Pucallpa near the epicenter said some power outages were reported as well as telephone line congestion but city inspectors had so far encountered no damage.

The quake struck at 4:38 a.m. (9:38 GMT), 21 miles (34 kilometers) east of Pucallpa, a city of more than 270,000 people, at a depth of 89 miles (143 kilometers), according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Bizarro Earth

Alpine faults show new evidence for regular magnitude 8 earthquakes

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© University of Nevada, RenoUniversity of Nevada - Reno seismologist Glenn Biasi spent eight days in the dense forests on the western side of the Southern Alps on the South Island of New Zealand to study the Alpine Fault, among the world's longest, straightest and fastest moving plate boundary faults.
A new study published in the prestigious journal Science, co-authored by University of Nevada, Reno's Glenn Biasi and colleagues at GNS Science in New Zealand, finds that very large earthquakes have been occurring relatively regularly on the Alpine Fault along the southwest coastline of New Zealand for at least 8,000 years.

The Alpine Fault is the most hazardous fault on the South Island of New Zealand, and about 80 miles northwest of the South Island's main city of Christchurch.

The team developed evidence for 22 earthquakes at the Hokuri Creek site, which, with two additional from nearby, led to the longest continuous earthquake record in the world for a major plate boundary fault.

The team established that the Alpine Fault causes, on average, earthquakes of around a magnitude 8 every 330 years. Previous data put the intervals at about 485 years.

Relative motion of Australian and Pacific plates across the Alpine Fault averages almost an inch per year. This motion builds up, and then is released suddenly in large earthquakes.

Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.0 - Offshore Chiapas, Mexico.

Chiapas Quake_290712
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time
Sunday, July 29, 2012 at 12:22:15 UTC

Sunday, July 29, 2012 at 07:22:15 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location
14.339°N, 92.364°W

Depth
35.5 km (22.1 miles)

Region
OFFSHORE CHIAPAS, MEXICO

Distances
26 km (16 miles) SW of Ocos, Guatemala

28 km (17 miles) SSW of Suchiate, Mexico

43 km (26 miles) SSW of Ciudad Tecun Uman, Guatemala

63 km (39 miles) S of Tapachula, Mexico

Radar

Earthquake swarm on Tjörnes Fracture Zone and around Þeistareykir volcano, Iceland

Earthquake east of Grímsey Island

Earthquake with the magnitude of ML3.5 (estimate) did take place at 19:48 UTC. This is normal tectonic activity for this area. But this area of Iceland has the most earthquake activity most of the year.
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© Iceland Meteorological Office Earthquake activity in TFZ.

Radar

Magnitude 6 earthquake rocks north-east India, Myanmar

An earthquake of moderate intensity shook Meghalaya, Assam and some other north-east states today but there was no report of any casualty or damage to property. The quake, which had a magnitude of 6.0 on the Richter scale, hit the region at around 7:51 am and the epicentre was located 70 km underneath the earth's crust in Myanmar, officials at the Seismological Survey of India said.

The officials said the quake was of "moderate" intensity and all major towns in the region felt the tremor.

Earlier this month, tremor having a magnitude of 5.4 and 5.5 on the Richter Scale hit the region with their epicentres located in Phek and Nagaland region of Nagaland respectively.

Sunday's tremor was also felt in Itanagar, Guwahati, Agartala besides Kohima and Imphal.

Police said there was no report of any casualty or damage to property in Meghalaya.

Target

Strong quake strikes off Papua New Guinea, does not generate tsunami

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Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea: An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 hit off the coast of Papua New Guinea early Sunday, the US Geological Survey said.
A strong earthquake struck off the coast of Papua New guinea in the South Pacific but did not generate a Pacific-wide tsunami, officials said this morning.

The magnitude 6.6 quake struck 19 miles south-southeast of Taron, Papua New Guinea at a depth of more than 40 miles about 6:04 a.m. Sunday (10:04 a.m. Saturday, Hawaii time), according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach said that while no Pacific-wide tsunami was generated, earthquakes of this size can produce locally destructive tsunamis near the epicenter.

Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.6 - New Ireland Region, Papua New Guinea

PNG Quake_280712
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time
Saturday, July 28, 2012 at 20:04:00 UTC

Sunday, July 29, 2012 at 06:04:00 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location

4.733°S, 153.173°E

Depth

66.7 km (41.4 miles)

Region

NEW IRELAND REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Distances

32 km (19 miles) SSE of Taron, PNG

108 km (67 miles) ESE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea

309 km (192 miles) WNW of Arawa, Papua New Guinea

347 km (215 miles) ENE of Kimbe, Papua New Guinea

Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.7 - Mauritius, Reunion Region

Mauritius Quake_260712
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time
Thursday, July 26, 2012 at 05:33:31 UTC

Thursday, July 26, 2012 at 09:33:31 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location

17.593°S, 66.363°E

Depth
9.8 km (6.1 miles)

Region
MAURITIUS - REUNION REGION

Distances
387 km (240 miles) NE of Port Mathurin, Mauritius

388 km (241 miles) NE of Ile Rodrigues, Northern Mariana Islands

954 km (592 miles) ENE of Bel Air, Mauritius

955 km (593 miles) ENE of Centre de Flacq, Mauritius

Target

No damage, tsunami after 6.6 quake hits off Indonesia's Sumatra

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© thewatchers.adorraeli.com
A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 struck off northern Sumatra in Indonesia on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, but authorities said there was little chance of a tsunami.

The quake was felt by residents on the island of Simeulue off Sumatra's northwest coast but there were no
immediate reports of damage or injuries.

"The quake has no tsunami potential," said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency. "Some people ran away from their houses. We don't have any house damage."

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat of a widespread, destructive tsunami after the quake, about 330 km (205 miles) southeast of Indonesia's Banda Aceh. It said there was a "very small possibility" of a local tsunami.