Five earthquakes jolt California in 48 hours

Shake Alert

Important Takeaways:

  • Residents in California experienced a swarm of five earthquakes within the last 48 hours.
  • A 4.4-magnitude was felt in the north around Lake County on Saturday and two more struck the area the following evening, ranked as a 2.7 and 2.8-magnitude.
  • Locals in southern California also reported two more quakes on Saturday, with the largest ranking a 3.9-magnitude.
  • Northern California typically sees a spate of about 50 earthquakes per month, experienced two quakes this weekend, in addition to the two felt in the southern area of the state.
  • ‘2024 has had more earthquakes than any year we’ve seen since 1988,’ Caltech geophysicist Dr Lucy Jones told reporters. ‘We should expect this to continue.’
  • Experts believe a major quake in Southern California – usually defined as 7.0 and up – could kill at least 1,800, leave 50,000 injured and cause more than $200 billion in damage.

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Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano rumbles with over 200 earthquakes in 8 hours

Hawaii-Volcanoes-National-Park

Important Takeaways:

  • Scientists are keeping a close eye on Kilauea and a new pulse of seismic activity.
  • Although the volcano is not erupting, in the past 8 hours, 200 earthquakes have been detected in the Upper East Rift Zone.
  • USGS officials say this may indicate magma being supplied to the zone.
  • At this time, an eruption is not imminent.

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More earthquakes rattle the eastern part of Russia

Russia-Earthquake-graph-map

Important Takeaways:

  • In the wake of a powerful earthquake shaking Russia and subsequent volcanic eruption, the country has been hit by two more seismic events.
  • This magnitude 4.6 earthquake was reported in Buryatia, Russia, around 12 miles from the town of Severomuysk, while the 5.2 magnitude quake was detected 40 miles northeast of the tiny Russian island of Shikotan, just off the coast of Japan’s Hokkaido.
  • These quakes occurred only days after a powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook the Russian city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky early on Sunday, occurring about 60 miles off the country’s far eastern coast. Russian news outlets reported that Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky residents experienced some of the strongest shaking they had “in a long time,” according to the Associated Press. No major damage has been reported as a result of the quake, Russian media TASS reports, but “buildings are now being examined for potential damage, with special attention paid to social facilities.”
  • In the day after the M7.0 quake, over 30 aftershocks were felt around the nearby region.

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LA earthquake is connected to Japan’s earthquake through the same tectonic plate

Map-of-earthquake-striking-Pasadena-on-August-12-2024

Important Takeaways:

  • A significant earthquake just hit the Los Angeles area, striking two miles southwest of Pasadena, California.
  • According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake was magnitude 4.4 and felt through the nearby counties.
  • The tectonic plate responsible for the LA quake is the same one responsible for the Japan quake last Thursday, sparking fears of a ‘megaquake.’
  • Emergency response groups have warned residents to “be prepared for aftershocks.” The quake caused no injuries or major damage, and the National Weather Service said a tsunami was not expected.
  • The quake comes less than a week after a 5.2 magnitude temblor hit southern California and was also widely felt in Los Angeles.

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Over 60 earthquakes shake western Texas

Seismic-reading

Important Takeaways:

  • US state is rocked by more than SIXTY earthquakes with up to 5.1 magnitude in a week
  • A single county has reported more than 60 earthquakes in the last week, sparking a State of Emergency to be declared.
  • Scurry County in West Texas was hit by a 5.1-magnitude quake on Friday, which was felt as far north as Oklahoma, followed by a 4.5-magnitude the next day.
  • The epicenter in Hermleigh has now experienced 62 seismic events since last Monday (July 23)
  • No damages or injuries have been reported.
  • The largest quake was felt about 80 miles away in Lubbock and across parts of the South Plains.
  • West Texas is not located on a major fault line, but features 250 minor ones that extents outward 1,800 miles from the Dallas-Fort Worth area

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After string of small quakes: Expert attention is directed at some of LA’s oldest neighborhoods where casualties would be higher than a San Andres Megaquake

Puente-Hills-Thrust-fault

Important Takeaways:

  • Southern California was recently rattled by several small earthquakes. They produced minor shaking but nonetheless left psychological aftershocks in a region whose seismic vulnerabilities are matched by our willingness to put the dangers out of our minds.
  • For many, it all added to one question: Is this the beginning of something bigger?
  • First, a magnitude 3.6 earthquake in the Ojai Valley sent weak shaking from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles on May 31. Then came two small quakes under the eastern L.A. neighborhood of El Sereno, the most powerful a 3.4. Finally, a trio of tremors hit the Costa Mesa-Newport Beach border, topping out at a magnitude 3.6 Thursday.
  • Having half a dozen earthquakes with a magnitude over 2.5 in a week, hitting three distinct parts of Southern California, all in highly populated areas, is not a common occurrence.
  • But experts say these smaller quakes have no predictive power over the next major, destructive earthquake in urban Southern California, the last of which came 30 years ago.
  • Generally speaking, there is a 1 in 20 chance any earthquake in California will be followed by one that’s larger, said Susan Hough, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. Those odds aren’t high, and typically, the subsequent, larger quake would occur in the same area within a week. Plus, if something bigger did happen, the odds are a new temblor would be only a little bigger, Hough said.
  • In contrast, last week’s earthquakes highlighted nearby fault systems directly under our most populated cities and could produce even worse death tolls than a San Andreas megaquake, targeting our oldest neighborhoods with many unretrofitted buildings when they rupture.
  • “All three sets of these earthquakes occurred near large, potentially dangerous faults,” said James Dolan, an earth sciences professor at USC. “The L.A. urban fault network has been in a seismic lull for the entire historic period, and this lull likely extends back on the order of the last 1,000 years. We know at some point this lull we’re in will end.”

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Swarm of earthquakes at Campi Flegrei has locals on high alert

Naples-earthquake

Important Takeaways:

  • Earthquake hits volcanic crater near Naples: Strongest tremor to hit region in decades sparks panic, with buildings damaged
  • The strongest earthquakes in decades were registered at a volcanic caldera near the southern Italian city of Naples on Monday night, sending panicked residents flocking into the streets.
  • One 4.4-magnitude quake was registered shortly after 8pm (1800 GMT) at a depth of 1.6 miles, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).
  • It was preceded moments earlier by a 3.5-magnitude tremor and followed by dozens of aftershocks.
  • The Campi Flegrei – or Phlegraean Fields, as the caldera is known – experienced about 150 earthquakes between 7:51pm on Monday and 12:31am on Tuesday, the INGV said in a report.
  • According to the institute’s Mauro Di Vito, ‘this is the most powerful seismic swarm in the last 40 years’.

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Floods and Quakes: Could there be a connection? Some geophysicists think so

Salton Sea

Important Takeaways:

  • Floods linked to San Andreas quakes
  • Historical record underscores connections between reservoirs and seismic activity.
  • Geophysicists have linked historical earthquakes on the southern section of California’s famed San Andreas fault to ancient floods from the nearby Colorado River.
  • The work has broad implications for understanding how floods or reservoirs relate to quakes — a topic that gained new relevance in 2008, after a massive earthquake in China’s Sichuan province killed more than 80,000 people. Some geologists have proposed that impounding water behind a newly built dam there helped hasten the quake.
  • Now, new work in southern California suggests that at least three times in the past 2,000 years, the weight of river water spreading across floodplains seems to have helped trigger earthquakes in the region.
  • The team subsequently analyzed data from 20-metre-deep cores pulled from the lake bed in 2003 during earlier work for the US Bureau of Reclamation. The cores showed layers of coarse sandy material laid down during floods — at the same time that seismic activity was known to have occurred.
  • “We found quakes happened about every 100 to 200 years and were correlated with floods,” says Brothers. “The Colorado River spills, loads the crust and then there is a rupture.” He says the team is “very confident” in its evidence for the existence of three flood-derived quakes, of roughly magnitude 6, which happened about 600 years ago, 1,100 years ago and 1,200–1,900 years ago. “Sediments don’t lie,” he says.
  • A quake of about magnitude 7 struck the southern San Andreas fault about 300 years ago; the next is a century overdue. One possible reason is the Hoover Dam: since its completion in 1936, the lower Colorado no longer floods.

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Congress requests new map showing where damaging earthquakes are most likely to occur

new-usgs-map

Important Takeaways:

  • Nearly 75% of the U.S. could experience damaging earthquake shaking, according to a recent U.S. Geological Survey-led team of more than 50 scientists and engineers.
  • This was one of several key findings from the latest USGS National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM). The model was used to create a color-coded map that pinpoints where damaging earthquakes are most likely to occur based on insights from seismic studies, historical geologic data, and the latest data-collection technologies.
  • The congressionally requested NSHM update was created as an essential tool to help engineers and others mitigate how earthquakes affect the most vulnerable communities by showing likely earthquake locations and how much shaking they might produce. New tools and technology identified nearly 500 additional faults that could produce a damaging quake, showcasing the evolving landscape of earthquake research.
  • Key findings from the updated seismic hazard model include:
    • Risk to people: Nearly 75% of the U.S. could experience potentially damaging earthquakes and intense ground shaking, putting hundreds of millions of people at risk.
    • Widespread hazard: 37 U.S. states have experienced earthquakes exceeding magnitude 5 during the last 200 years, highlighting a long history of seismic activity across this country.
    • Structural implications: The updated model will inform the future of building and structural design, offering critical insights for architects, engineers, and policymakers on how structures are planned and constructed across the U.S.
    • Unified approach: This marks the first National Seismic Hazard Model to encompass all 50 states simultaneously, reflecting a massive collaborative effort with federal, state, and local partners.
    • Not a prediction: No one can predict earthquakes. However, by investigating faults and past quakes, scientists can better assess the likelihood of future earthquakes and how intense their shaking might be

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In Iceland as earthquakes dwindle into the hundreds experts are wary to say it’s over

Iceland-Earthquakes

Important Takeaways:

  • Iceland Volcano Update: Eruption Map, Experts’ Views ‘Completely Changed’
  • In an update on Tuesday, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said that the Reykjanes Peninsula—where an eruption was thought likely after a burst of seismic activity from November 10—would be subject to increased monitoring and more experts drafted in to help.
  • On Wednesday, the Icelandic Met Office said the ground around Svartsengi “continues to inflate,” meaning “further dikes or an eruption remain possible.” While the area the previous dike formed is anticipated to be the most likely area of eruption, experts have not been able to discount the possibility that magma propagates elsewhere in the region.
  • Between 1,500 and 1,800 earthquakes a day were being recorded from November 10 for nearly two weeks, before dropping to the low hundreds. Between 200-300 earthquakes have been registered a day in the past two days, while the Icelandic Met Office said as of 6:15 a.m. ET on Wednesday there had so far been a hundred.
  • While the intense seismic activity around the vertical dike appears to have subsided for the time being, the continued flow of lava into the horizontal intrusion means another could form, or more magma flow into the dike, without warning.

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