In my morning reading, I found this story: Small Earthquake rattles New Jersey. A 3.0 earthquake hit New Jersey last night. It takes at least a 2.5 or 3.0 earthquake to be felt. Apparently in addition to the seismological evidence, there was a flood of calls to 911 after the quake. Interestingly, the 911 callers heard what sounded like an explosion as well as feeling the movement.
To me this story is interesting, because we expect earthquakes on the west coast. We don't expect earthquakes as much on the east coast.
On the sidebar for this story was a video about an earthquake near Seattle. A quick google search yielded this story from the Fox News No reports of damage from 4.5 Magnitude Seattle Earthquake and from the USGS: Magnitude 4.5 Seattle-Tacoma Area that occurred last week.
I'm guessing that I'm just noticing these more since I started paying more attention to earthquakes after the swarms of quakes around Yellowstone. Yikes: I checked the home page at the USGS - and there was a 3.0 earthquake in Oklahoma last night! Three miles southeast of Centrahoma, Oklahoma. Apparently there is a Centrahoma aniticline in the Arkansas valley geosyncline. From Wikepedia: In structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is convex up and has its oldest beds at its core. Also from Wikepedia: Geosyncline is a term still occasionally used for a subsiding linear trough that was caused by the accumulation of sedimentary rock strata deposited in a basin and subsequently compressed, deformed, and uplifted into a mountain range, with attendant volcanism and plutonism.Wikepedia
In surfing for more information as to whether this quake was associated with either the Ouachita Mountains or the Arbuckle mountains, I found that there was a 2.7 quake near Oklahoma City in early December.
Looking at this weeks' USGS Latest Earthquakes - Last 7 days there has been a lot of activity along the west coast, Alaska, and even a very small one west of Carlsbad, New Mexico. SInce I have not been monitoring quake activity, I suspect this is all within the normal activity. I am certainly finding it interesting.
Showing posts with label earthquake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label earthquake. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Mount Redoubt -Alaska Volcano Observatory Report
From the Alaska Volcano Observatory's January 29th report
Their site is getting a lot of hits such that they are having a hard time staying up.
Redoubt Volcano
60°29'7" N 152°44'38" W, Summit Elevation 10197 ft (3108 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: WATCH
Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE
Currently we have no indication that an eruption of Redoubt has occurred or is occurring.
Unrest at Redoubt Volcano continues. Seismicity has remained at a relatively constant level for the past 24 hours, and is still well above background.
Staff are currently monitoring the volcano 24 hours a day. We will issue further information as it becomes available.
Their site is getting a lot of hits such that they are having a hard time staying up.
Redoubt Volcano
60°29'7" N 152°44'38" W, Summit Elevation 10197 ft (3108 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: WATCH
Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE
Currently we have no indication that an eruption of Redoubt has occurred or is occurring.
Unrest at Redoubt Volcano continues. Seismicity has remained at a relatively constant level for the past 24 hours, and is still well above background.
Staff are currently monitoring the volcano 24 hours a day. We will issue further information as it becomes available.
Alaska's Mount Redoubt
When our kids were little, we took them to Alaska. When we were driving from Alaska to Homer, we noted a mountain on the other side of the Cook Inlet that was "smoking." We suspected a volcano and were pleased that we had guessed correctly when just a few miles up the road we came to the roadside sign that told us all about Mount Redoubt. We had been to Mount St. Helens and Mount Ranier a couple of years before which was one of the reasons that we were so quick to leap to the conclusion we were seeing another volcano.
In my morning news web surfing, I came across the news that an eruption is eminent at Mount Redoubt. Yahoo News article reports beginning in early November, the volcano changed its emissions and there was some snow melting at the top of the summit. At that point, the scientists raised the volcanic threat level from green to yellow. This past Sunday there was a sharp increase in earthquake activity below the volcano that led scientists to increase the threat level from yellow to orange - signaling that an eruption is imminent.
I remember the scientists who were studying the quakes around Mount St. Helens before it erupted in 1980. It was an amazing time as volcanologists were learning how to accurately predict an eruption.
Mount Redoubt last erupted in 1989-1990. An airliner flying through the ash had all four engines stall out. Fortunately they were able to get them restarted before a crash. But now they issue warnings so that jets won't fly through the ash.
When I was looking at the world wide earthquake maps in the last week, I had noted some in southern Alaska. This week's earthquake list shows several earthquakes in Alaska.
People in Alaska seem to be taking the warnings seriously, stocking up on protective eye gear and masks. The particulates in the air after an eruption are very abrasive and can damage eyes and the air passages in your nose, throat, bronchial tubes, and lungs.
Interestingly enough, the change in status for Mount Redoubt occurred January 25th, but only today did it make the front page at My Yahoo. It will be interesting to see if the mountain settles down or goes into an eruptive phase.
In my morning news web surfing, I came across the news that an eruption is eminent at Mount Redoubt. Yahoo News article reports beginning in early November, the volcano changed its emissions and there was some snow melting at the top of the summit. At that point, the scientists raised the volcanic threat level from green to yellow. This past Sunday there was a sharp increase in earthquake activity below the volcano that led scientists to increase the threat level from yellow to orange - signaling that an eruption is imminent.
I remember the scientists who were studying the quakes around Mount St. Helens before it erupted in 1980. It was an amazing time as volcanologists were learning how to accurately predict an eruption.
Mount Redoubt last erupted in 1989-1990. An airliner flying through the ash had all four engines stall out. Fortunately they were able to get them restarted before a crash. But now they issue warnings so that jets won't fly through the ash.
When I was looking at the world wide earthquake maps in the last week, I had noted some in southern Alaska. This week's earthquake list shows several earthquakes in Alaska.
People in Alaska seem to be taking the warnings seriously, stocking up on protective eye gear and masks. The particulates in the air after an eruption are very abrasive and can damage eyes and the air passages in your nose, throat, bronchial tubes, and lungs.
Interestingly enough, the change in status for Mount Redoubt occurred January 25th, but only today did it make the front page at My Yahoo. It will be interesting to see if the mountain settles down or goes into an eruptive phase.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Yellowstone's Earthquake Activity - Interesting Websites
For my readers who are interested in keeping up with the latest news about the earthquake swarm that has gone on during the last few weeks, here are a couple of good websites with the most up-to-date information.
This first one is fun, because when you start the animation,the oldest earthquakes "disappear" off the map and you can see where the more recent ones have happened in relation to the earlier ones.
Animated map of the last week's earthquakes in Yellowstone National Park
The University of Utah's Seismograph Stations post a list of the most recent earthquakes This site gives you a list with the how strong the earthquake was, when it happened, and where it happened.
From these two sources, it is obvious that the earthquake activity has slowed down a lot. There is some new earthquake or seismic activity on the west side of the park near West Yellowstone, but the quakes are very very small.
This first one is fun, because when you start the animation,the oldest earthquakes "disappear" off the map and you can see where the more recent ones have happened in relation to the earlier ones.
Animated map of the last week's earthquakes in Yellowstone National Park
The University of Utah's Seismograph Stations post a list of the most recent earthquakes This site gives you a list with the how strong the earthquake was, when it happened, and where it happened.
From these two sources, it is obvious that the earthquake activity has slowed down a lot. There is some new earthquake or seismic activity on the west side of the park near West Yellowstone, but the quakes are very very small.
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