Earthquake season again

[nuuumannn]

Hi guys, well, it's just after 4 am and I'm just recently home from work and there's been another tremor as I sit here. Over the last few days the earthquake activity has really been heating up here; today we had two big tremors that lasted for fifteen seconds or so, causing fittings around the house to dance about - one of them, at around 5 pm last night caused damage to buildings and a couple of injuries in Wellington. Take a look here:

GeoNet - Quakes

This page shows earthquake activity felt in the region I live in since 9am yesterday:

GeoNet - Quakes

This was the worst one of late:

GeoNet - Quakes

This gives you an idea of the seismic activity here:

GeoNet - Quakes

So far nothing really bad and certainly nowhere near as bad as the big ones that affected Christchurch over the last couple of years.

M 6.3, Christchurch, 22 February 2011 - Earthquake - GeoNet

Off to bed now; wondering if I'm going to be awoken for a third day in a row by a blasted earthquake (if you'll pardon the pun...)

 

[GrauGeist]

Quakes out here are typically a nuisance but once in a while we'll get a big one

Be careful and hopefully all those tremors will be done soon

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Season? Since when is there a season for them? They can happen any time.

 

[mikewint]

As with all real estate it is a matter of Location, Location, Location. There are a large number of active submarine volcanoes in the Kermadec Arc, located north of New Zealand.. This is a subduction zone where tectonic plates converge and a chain of restless volcanoes is formed along the boundary

 

[vikingBerserker]

There actually is a rough correlation between earthquakes and weather/rain fall. In some parts Asia they are more frequent during winter months and during heavy periods of rain (ie monsoon season). I cannot remember if that is true in the Americans or Europe or not.

 

[GrauGeist]

In California (SoCal in particular), we (native Californians) get an eerie sensation during warm or hot, dry weather, when the sky is cloudless and the air becomes dead calm. We'll call it "Earthquake weather" and more often than not, this is when quakes hit, even if they're just the little wigglers.

 

[gumbyk]

They were centred 35 km (20 miles) from here, and some were only 5 km deep.
No damage here, but they gave us all a bit of a fright, and had us under the table. I'm just glad we were downstairs when the biggest one hit, the mess upstairs was bigger than down.

http://info.geonet.org.nz/display/quake/2013/07/21/Preliminary+science+from+the+Seddon+sequences

We live just under where the "6" is on the map...

 

[mikewint]

In every area where earthquakes are common there is a belief that earthquakes are more common in certain kinds of weather. In fact, since geologists have been collecting data no correlation with weather has ever been found. Earthquakes originate many kilometers (miles) below the region affected by surface weather. Things like wind, precipitation, temperature, and barometric pressure changes affect only the surface and shallow subsurface. Earthquakes are focused at depths well out of the reach of weather, and the forces that cause earthquakes are much larger than the weather forces.
Another common belief is that earthquake occur in the mornings. In fact, several recent damaging earthquakes have been in the early morning, e.g. the 22 Dec 2003 San Simeon 6.5 event was at 11:15 AM. The 17 Jan 1994 Northridge quake 45 sec and a 6.7 shaker and of course the famous San Francisco quake 18 April 1902 at 5:12 AM and 7.9 estimated. As a result many people believe that all big earthquakes happen in the AM. In fact, earthquakes occur at all times of day. The 1933 Long Beach earthquake was at 5:54 pm and the 1940 Imperial Valley event was at 8:37 pm. More recently, the 1992 Joshua Tree earthquake was at 9:50 pm. It is easy to notice the earthquakes that fit your preconceived pattern and forget the ones that don't

 

[vikingBerserker]

In every area where earthquakes are common there is a belief that earthquakes are more common in certain kinds of weather. In fact, since geologists have been collecting data no correlation with weather has ever been found. Earthquakes originate many kilometers (miles) below the region affected by surface weather. Things like wind, precipitation, temperature, and barometric pressure changes affect only the surface and shallow subsurface. Earthquakes are focused at depths well out of the reach of weather, and the forces that cause earthquakes are much larger than the weather forces.
Another common belief is that earthquake occur in the mornings. In fact, several recent damaging earthquakes have been in the early morning, e.g. the 22 Dec 2003 San Simeon 6.5 event was at 11:15 AM. The 17 Jan 1994 Northridge quake 45 sec and a 6.7 shaker and of course the famous San Francisco quake 18 April 1902 at 5:12 AM and 7.9 estimated. As a result many people believe that all big earthquakes happen in the AM. In fact, earthquakes occur at all times of day. The 1933 Long Beach earthquake was at 5:54 pm and the 1940 Imperial Valley event was at 8:37 pm. More recently, the 1992 Joshua Tree earthquake was at 9:50 pm. It is easy to notice the earthquakes that fit your preconceived pattern and forget the ones that don't

Reason for earthquake season revealed - Technology science - Science - LiveScience | NBC News

 

[GrauGeist]

The Sylmar Quake was early in the morning during a warm spell in February...the Newport Quake was on a hot calm afternoon...the Whittier quake was at 7:30 in the morning, which was hot and calm. We had several significant quake swarms that occurred in the early hours of the morning back in the late 80's...all during warm, calm weather. And the list goes on.

Most of the quakes in the Southern California region have an average depth of 1.5 miles, but because of the high density of fractures in the region, that can vary to a high degree.

Not saying there's any science to it...just sharing what I've personally experienced over the many years

 

[vikingBerserker]

I don't believe in coincidences so I think there is something to the Himalayas. I read another article years ago about the US Army disposing of sewage under ground and shortly afterwards several small earth quakes occurred. It turned out that the sewage was acting as a "lubricate" between the plates and releasing pressure.

I think that's what occurs with Fracking as well, it's just relieving pressure which to me is better then letting it build up and then let loose when the pressure is too great.

 

[GrauGeist]

I've heard of people saying that they've seen a bigass green flash on the horizon (at night) that preceeds a quake, too...something I've never experienced.

Anyway, here's a few things to consider:

Some recent research has found a correlation between a sudden relative spike in atmospheric temperature 2-5 days before an earthquake. It is speculated that this rise is caused by the movement of ions within the earth's crust, related to an oncoming earthquake. However, the atmospheric changes are caused by the earthquake, rather than causing it. Furthermore, this relative change would not cause any single recognizable weather pattern that could be labelled "earthquake weather".
"Temperature rises hint at earthquake prediction". New Scientist. December 14, 2001.
"Atmospheric temp spiked before Japan earthquake". Discover Magazine. May 23, 2011.

At the 2011 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, Shimon Wdowinski announced an apparent temporal connection between tropical cyclones and earthquakes.
"Link Between Earthquakes and Tropical Cyclones: New Study May Help Scientists Identify Regions at High Risk for Earthquakes". ScienceDaily. December 28, 2011.

In April 2013, a team of seismologists at the Georgia Institute of Technology re-examined data from the 2011 Virginia earthquake using pattern-recognition software and found a correlation between hurricane Irene's nearby passage and an unexpected rise in the number of aftershocks.
"Hurricane may have triggered earthquake aftershocks". Nature. April 4, 2013.

In the above quote: Furthermore, this relative change would not cause any single recognizable weather pattern that could be labelled "earthquake weather", they are referring to an overall average (global) to base a prediction on. It is speculated, however, that there is a possibility that it can create a localized phenomina depending on several factors, i.e.: geographic conditions, weather averages and frequency of occurance.

Would be interesting to see if they can get something proven with this, because even a couple minute's warning would be able to save many lives in areas that have terrible building standards.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Very cool Dave, that's pretty interesting!

The Virginia one was the first earth quake that I had been through that was very noticeable. All the other ones were either a slight tremor or I read about it in the paper the next day.

 

[syscom3]

Mother nature herself decides when a quake will happen. Any person who proclaims its earthquake season is deluding themselves.

 

[nuuumannn]

Any person who proclaims its earthquake season is deluding themselves.

No one's proclaiming anything, it's just that there have been so much activity of late it's like its earthquake season. Thanks for your input; when I want someone to sneer at a general comment made, I know where to come.

 

[GrauGeist]

By the way, I hope the quakes have eased up for you guys down there and hoping that no one was injured during all that activity.

 

[nuuumannn]

Hi Graugeist, thanks and so far nothing too bad, just a whole heap of broken wine bottles and stuff falling off shelves. Hopefully it won't get much worse. Aaron (Gumbyk) is only 30 or so Ks from where the most intensive activity has been happening. I have a house over there too and I haven't heard from my tenants, so they must be okay.

 

[gumbyk]

Apparently there have been a few minor injuries in Wellington, nothing reported here. But the town clock did stop at 5:09 when the biggest quale to date struck!

Nuuumannn, PM me the address if you want me to drive past and have a look.

Just had a look at the maps, and they seem to be getting closer to Blenheim. I'd really rather they didn't....

 

[mikewint]

And Man-made quakes

(CNN) -- Three dozen earthquakes over the past week in central Arkansas shook shelves, rattled nerves and prompted speculation about their cause.

"Are they being being triggered or are they natural? That's something we don't know," Arkansas Geological Survey scientist Scott Ausbrook said Sunday.

The chances of so many temblors in the region in such a short time are "Powerball kind of odds," Ausbrook said. "What was unusual was to have four different areas in the state to be active in the same week."

More than two dozen quakes recorded since Wednesday have been centered north of Morrilton, Arkansas. The strongest, on Wednesday and Thursday nights, had reported magnitudes of 3.5 and 3.4.

"Right now all we've gotten reports of is shaking stuff and rattling shelves, but people are definitely noticing them," Ausbrook said.

Measuring the magnitude of eathquakes

Solving the mystery is important because of suspicion the quakes could be related to natural gas exploration nearby using hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, he said.

"The best probability at this point is they are natural, but we can't rule out the possibility that there may be a relationship," Ausbrook said.

A swarm of hundreds of earthquakes centered near Guy, Arkansas, ended two years ago after state regulators imposed a moratorium on new injection wells in the area.
Two operating injection wells, just outside of the moratorium area, are about 8 miles from some of the quakes. "I can't say at this time there's not a connection, but given the distance from those wells, it would be pretty amazing," Ausbrook said.

 

[GrauGeist]

Hi Graugeist, thanks and so far nothing too bad, just a whole heap of broken wine bottles and stuff falling off shelves. Hopefully it won't get much worse. Aaron (Gumbyk) is only 30 or so Ks from where the most intensive activity has been happening. I have a house over there too and I haven't heard from my tenants, so they must be okay.

Glad to hear no one's been seriously hurt (rattled nerves aside) although broken wine bottles can be considered a tragedy