Earthquakes
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Seismologist warns of megathrust earthquake threat for New Zealand

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Less than 100km off the coast of Hawke's Bay is a deep-water trench that could be the site of a potential megathrust earthquake similar to the 2011 Japan earthquake, says seismologist Kevin Furlong.

Despite the Hikurangi Trench's potential, he said very little was known about the underwater valley, where the Pacific plate was dragged underneath the Australian plate.

Professor Furlong, of Pennsylvania State University, said the worst-case scenario for the East Coast was not yet known.

"Many, if not most, scientists working on these megathrust earthquake plate boundaries would argue that, although it is very, very unlikely, until we can demonstrate otherwise we should expect that major segments of these boundaries could rupture simultaneously.

"Most of the time, as was the case in Japan for the past several hundred years at least, segments rupture individually and so maximum earthquakes are in the mid-to high magnitude 7 range. But on rare occasions, such as in 2011 in Japan, bigger ruptures can occur.

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Austria shaken by strongest earthquake in 13 years

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A 4.5-magnitude quake shook southern Austria on Saturday, the country's ZAMG meteorological and geodynamic institute said, but it was not immediately clear whether it had caused any damage. The quake struck at 14:35 pm (1335 GMT) and "was strongly felt" in the Karavanke mountain range bordering Slovenia, near Eisenkappel in Austria's southern state of Carinthia, the centre said.

About two months ago, an earthquake measuring a magnitude of 4.3 on the Richter scale hit the Slovenian side of the Karavanke mountain range, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) southwest of the Austrian border. In the year 2000, Austria's eastern provinces and its capital Vienna were shaken by the strongest earthquake in 20 years, Austrian television reported. The quake, which measured 4.8 on the Richter scale, caused minor damage to buildings in the provinces of Lower Austria and Burgenland. The epicenter was in the Lower Austrian town of Ebreichsdorf, some 20 km (13 miles) south of Vienna. - Global Post People's Daily

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At least 10 people injured as 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit northern Japan

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At least ten people have been injured as 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit the coast of Hokkaido, Japan. The authorities are assessing the extent of material damage. Two nuclear power plants are in the affected area.

­Some of the victims were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, Japan's NHK reported.

Traffic movement on several main railway lines and highways in Hokkaido was halted as a result of the quake.

­The quake that occurred at 11:17 pm (14:17 GMT) was marked 5 upper at JMA Seismic Intensity in several places in Hokkaido.

According to the US Geological Service, the epicenter of the earthquake was located at a depth of 120 kilometers.

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USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.1 - WSW of Lata, Solomon Islands

Solomon Quake_020213
© USGS
Event Time
2013-02-02 18:58:07 UTC
2013-02-03 05:58:07 UTC+11:00 at epicenter

Location
10.912°S 165.260°E depth=10.0km (6.2mi)

Nearby Cities
66km (41mi) WSW of Lata, Solomon Islands
551km (342mi) NNW of Luganville, Vanuatu
604km (375mi) ESE of Honiara, Solomon Islands
823km (511mi) NNW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu
1127km (700mi) N of We, New Caledonia

Technical Details

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Scottish Highlands hit by largest earthquake in 120 years

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A 2.4-magnitude earthquake has been recorded in one of the most northerly parts of the UK. It is the largest quake in the area for around 120 years. It was recorded by the British Geological Survey at 4.16 am yesterday, about seven miles (11km) south of the village of Durness, in Sutherland in the Scottish Highlands. Only one resident, who lives near Loch Eriboll, reported feeling a "slight rumbling."

The earthquake is the largest recorded in the region since one on September 26, 1887 which had a magnitude of three. The Richter Magnitude Scale typically ranges from 0 to 9. David Galloway, a seismologist at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, said the earthquake was fairly small and went relatively unnoticed by residents because of the time of day it happened.

"We only had one person, who was already awake, report to us that they felt a slight rumbling," he said. "Most people will have been asleep when this happened and we wouldn't expect it to wake anyone up. If it was during the day, and in an area of higher population, we would expect more reports of people having felt it. It is one of five or six recorded in the region within a 30km (19-mile) radius, and the largest since 1887. It is not a region that experiences many earthquakes." No reports of any damage were made. - Herald Scotland

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Earth reeling from eight major earthquakes striking in 5 days

An earthquake of magnitude 6.7 struck off the coast of the Solomon Islands (Santa Cruz) in the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Friday. The quake was later downgraded by the USGS to a 6.3 magnitude event. The depth of the quake was 10 km (6.2 miles) and the epicenter was 68 km southwest of Lata. The quake hit at 9:16 a.m. local time on Saturday. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not immediately issue any alerts on its website. This quake was underscored by an even stronger 6.9 magnitude earthquake that just struck the Hokkaido region of East Japan on February 2nd. This is the eighth major earthquake to strike the planet in the last five days. The present cluster of earthquakes began with a 6.0 event in Eastern Kazakhstan on January 28th, following a full moon on January 27, 2013.
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USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.9 - SW of Obihiro, Japan

Japan_020213
© USGS
Event Time
2013-02-02 14:17:34 UTC
2013-02-02 23:17:34 UTC+09:00 at epicenter

Location
42.812°N 143.078°E depth=103.1km (64.0mi)

Nearby Cities
15km (9mi) SW of Obihiro, Japan
22km (14mi) SSW of Otofuke, Japan
78km (48mi) NE of Shizunai, Japan
82km (51mi) SE of Shimo-furano, Japan
842km (523mi) NNE of Tokyo, Japan

Technical Details

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USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.3 - WSW of Lata, Solomon Island

Solomon Quake_010213
© USGS
Event Time
2013-02-01 22:16:36 UTC
2013-02-02 09:16:36 UTC+11:00 at epicenter

Location
10.926°S 165.450°E depth=19.9km (12.4mi)

Nearby Cities
47km (29mi) WSW of Lata, Solomon Islands
542km (337mi) NNW of Luganville, Vanuatu
624km (388mi) ESE of Honiara, Solomon Islands
814km (506mi) NNW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu
1122km (697mi) N of We, New Caledonia

Technical Details

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USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.0 - 52km SW of Lata, Solomon Islands

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© USGS
Event Time
2013-02-01 05:36:40 UTC
2013-02-01 16:36:40 UTC+11:00 at epicenter

Location
11.090°S 165.538°E depth=9.3km (5.8mi)

Nearby Cities
52km (32mi) SW of Lata, Solomon Islands
522km (324mi) NNW of Luganville, Vanuatu
638km (396mi) ESE of Honiara, Solomon Islands
793km (493mi) NNW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu
1103km (685mi) N of We, New Caledonia

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Aftershocks may portend major Philippine earthquake

Philippine Trench
© Ye, et al./GRL Vol. 39A diagram of the Philippine Trench showing historic large earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or great, as well as the motions of tectonic plates.
Aftershocks shook the Philippines for more than two weeks after a magnitude-7.6 quake rocked the region on Aug. 31, 2012. A team of seismologists monitoring the aftershocks and plotting their whereabouts noticed an odd pattern.

"Typically, if you locate aftershocks they sort of outline the fault that ruptures. This time they didn't," said Thorne Lay, a geophysicist at the University of California, Santa Cruz who was part of the team. "Instead they were shallower and had very different fault geometries."

The 7.6 quake happened at a fault within the Philippine Sea Plate, which is subducting beneath the Philippine Microplate. Some of the unusual aftershocks were so called "intraplate" ruptures, like the original quake, but happened at a shallower depth.

And others of the unusual aftershocks were located west of the epicenter, within the Philippine Trench itself, where the plate is subducting. These are called interplate aftershocks because they happen at the boundary between two plates.

That segment of the trench hasn't seen a major earthquake in at least 400 years, but the shocks may be a sign that the plate boundary is linked to the intraplate rupture and that it is building up strain in preparation for a big one.

No one will know until GPS equipment is installed and scientists collect more data, Lay said.