Earthquakes

Strong, shallow M6.0 earthquake hits Iceland, ongoing intense earthquake swarm

Teo Blašković
The Watchers
Tue, 23 Jun 2020 20:32 UTC

A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.0 hit near the coast of northern Iceland at 19:07 UTC on June 21, 2020. The agency is reporting a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). EMSC is reporting M5.7 at a depth of 12 km (7.4 miles). The quake is a part of an ongoing intense earthquake swarm, with more than 2 000 earthquakes since June 19.

The epicenter was located 50.8 km (31.6 miles) NNE of Siglufjörður (population 1 190) and 101.4 km (63 miles) N of Akureyri (population 17693).

There are about 13 000 people living within 100 km (62 miles).

35 000 people are estimated to have felt light shaking.

Earthquakes shake North Iceland

Larissa Kyzer
Iceland Review
Sat, 20 Jun 2020 07:10 UTC

An earthquake measuring 5.6 was felt in towns and villages in North Iceland on Saturday afternoon, RÚV reports.

The quake occurred just after 3pm, and was centered offshore, roughly 20 km northeast of Siglufjörður. According to the Icelandic Met Office, it came on the heels of a similarly sized quake, measuring 5.3, in the same area, and was felt by residents in Dalvík, Hofsós, Siglufjörður, and Akureyri, and as well as those in the municipality of Hörgársveit, further inland.

The Tjörnes fracture zone started experiencing an earthquake swarm on Friday afternoon, peaking with the 5.6 quake on Saturday. Following this, there were a number of smaller quakes, many of which were measured at a 3.0 or higher.

Though the largest earthquake was felt all around the region, it doesn't seem to have caused any substantial damage and police in the area said they received fewer calls about it than expected, most likely because sunny weather had taken most people outdoors on Saturday afternoon.

Comment: Iceland's Grímsvötn volcano showing signs of increased activity, eruption possible

Shallow 7.3 magnitude earthquake hits south of Kermadec Islands

Emsc-csem.org
Thu, 18 Jun 2020 12:13 UTC

Summary

Magnitude M 7.3
Region SOUTH OF KERMADEC ISLANDS
Date time 2020-06-18 12:49:54.5
UTC Location 33.43 S ; 177.71 W
Depth 10 km

Distances 1096 km NE of Wellington, New Zealand / pop: 382,000 / local time: 00:49:54.5 2020-06-19
695 km NE of Whakatane, New Zealand / pop: 18,700 / local time: 00:49:54.5 2020-06-19

Increased seismic activity near Kick 'em Jenny underwater volcano

Loop News Trinidad and Tobago
Mon, 15 Jun 2020 14:19 UTC

Grenada's National Disaster Management Agency (NaDMA) has noted an increase in seismic activity near the Kick 'em Jenny underwater volcano.

In an update shared June 14, 2020 via social media, NaDMA said it received technical advice from the monitoring team at the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre St Augustine Campus Trinidad and Tobago (UWI SRC), showing increased seismic activity at the Kick 'em' Jenny Volcano.

The latest activity was observed over a seven-day period in the month of June.

"Though the Alert level remains at YELLOW, which is a 1.5 km exclusion zone around the summit of the volcano. However, with the increased activity, the Agency encourages marine operators to be vigilant when traversing the area, as increased seismic activity also results in the emission of gases, which can reduce the density of the water around the summit."

Weakening of Earth's magnetic field probed

Sputnik News
Mon, 15 Jun 2020 18:27 UTC

Geophysicists have been puzzling over a gradual weakening of the Earth's magnetic field in an area stretching from Africa to South America, which has resulted in technical disturbances in satellites orbiting Earth.

Scientists have resorted to data from the European Space Agency's (ESA) Swarm constellation to probe the disturbing weakening of Earth's magnetic field in the area known as the "South Atlantic Anomaly".

Jurgen Matzka, from the German Research Centre for Geosciences, and a team of experts from the Swarm Data, Innovation and Science Cluster (DISC) have been using data from ESA's Swarm satellite constellation to identify and measure the different magnetic signals that comprise Earth's magnetic field.

"The new, eastern minimum of the South Atlantic Anomaly has appeared over the last decade and in recent years is developing vigorously. We are very lucky to have the Swarm satellites in orbit to investigate the development of the South Atlantic Anomaly. The challenge now is to understand the processes in Earth's core driving these changes," said Matzka.

Magnitude 5.7 quake kills one, injures 18 in eastern Turkey

TRT World
Sun, 14 Jun 2020 21:14 UTC

A view of a collapsed house in Turkey's eastern province of Bingol on June 14, 2020.

Rescue and relief operation going on as quake hits Bingol province, damaging several houses and collapsing military watchtower, officials say.

An earthquake with a 5.7 magnitude shook Bingol province in eastern Turkey on Sunday, killing one and injuring 18 people and causing the collapse of a military observation tower, officials said.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said that 18 people were injured and one security guard died in the earthquake that struck eastern Karliova district at 1424 GMT.

Some 10 homes have been partially damaged in Elmali and Dinarbey villages of Yedisu district, said Bingol Governor Kadir Ekinci.

6.2-magnitude earthquake hits near Northern Mariana Islands

huaxia
Xinhua
Sun, 14 Jun 2020 09:43 UTC

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 jolted 415 km north of Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands at 21:08:30 GMT on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 614.72 km, was initially determined to be at 18.9196 degrees north latitude and 145.1144 degrees east longitude.

Magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes NE Taiwan

Keoni Everington
Taiwan News
Sat, 13 Jun 2020 21:33 UTC

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck off the coast of northeast Taiwan at 4:19 a.m. this morning (June 14), according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

The epicenter of the temblor was located 85.3 kilometers southeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 54.8 km, according to CWB data. Taiwan uses an intensity scale of 1 to 7, which gauges the degree to which a quake is felt at a specific location.

The quake's intensity registered as a 3 in Yilan County, Hualien County, Nantou County, Hsinchu County, Taitung County, Yunlin County, and Chiayi County. An intensity level of 2 was registered in Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Keelung City, Taichung City, New Taipei City, Miaoli County, Changhua County, Chiayi City, Kaohsiung City, and Tainan City.

A lesser intensity of 1 was felt in Hsinchu City, Pingtung County, and Penghu County. No injuries resulting from the quake had been reported at the time of publication.

Magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits near Japan's Ryukyu Islands

RT
Sat, 13 Jun 2020 20:24 UTC

A 6.7 magnitude earthquake has occurred at sea, near the southern Japanese islands of Ryukyu. So far, no tsunami warning has been issued. A powerful tremor was detected off the coast early on Sunday, the country's weather agency said. The epicenter is estimated to be around 160 km below the surface.

Despite the depth, the quake was felt in Okinawa, as well as Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu, according to local media. No information on possible damage or casualties was immediately available.

Why does Delhi keep getting hit by frequent earthquakes?

The Weather Channel
Tue, 09 Jun 2020 18:58 UTC

On Monday afternoon, the capital city of India witnessed yet another low-intensity earthquake. The National Center for Seismology revealed the epicentre of the earthquake was near Gurgaon, Haryana, and its depth was recorded to be 19 km with a magnitude of 2.1. Mild tremors were reportedly felt in Delhi, Noida, and the surrounding areas for a few seconds.

Just a week ago, on June 3, Delhi NCR had witnessed another earthquake of magnitude 3.2 on the Richter scale, which struck 19 km southeast of Noida. Further back, on May 29, an earthquake measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale jolted the NCR.

Since April 2020, New Delhi and nearby areas have recorded more than 14 earthquakes. According to the National Center for Seismology, all these earthquakes fell into the range of low to medium, as their magnitude was less than five.

This phenomenon, involving a collection of related earthquakes focused on a particular area for a limited period, is called 'swarm' activity. The swarm activity may or may not have an apparent triggering event behind it: say a large earthquake or a huge landslide.