5.2 EQ on Arizon/NM border

This is a bit strange, the one thing we joke about here in Arizona is that we don't have Earthquakes, Hurricanes, or Blizzards......Very odd location in deed.

5.2 EQ

SAFFORD, Ariz. (AP) -- A moderate earthquake struck in Arizona near the New Mexico line that was widely felt across the region, but no injuries or damages were immediately reported.

County sheriffs' offices on both sides of the state line reported receiving numerous phone calls after Saturday's magnitude 5.2 quake shook the largely rural region.

It was felt as far away as Phoenix and El Paso, Texas, both about 175 miles from the epicenter, as well in parts of Mexico, which begins some 80 miles to the south.

The U.S. Geological Survey said that the temblor struck at 9:59 p.m. PDT Saturday and was centered in southeastern Arizona, about 35 miles east of Safford.

USGS geophysicist Jana Pursley says it touched off several aftershocks. The agency reported one at magnitude 3.5.

The Hidalgo County Sheriff's office in New Mexico said it received numerous calls but had no reports of serious problems.

On the other side of the state lines the Graham County Sheriff's office in Safford said hundreds of people called about feeling the quake.

But Sheriff's dispatcher Jennifer Taylor said that despite the large number of calls, they had no reports of injury or serious damage.

She said a few callers reported that the natural gas meters in their homes appeared to malfunction.

© 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

WTF?! What fault sits there???

Don't know where you live in Arizona but we get blizzards in the winter....I guess it's all in location.

It snows pretty good up on the Mogollon Rim.

originally posted by: mwood
Don't know where you live in Arizona but we get blizzards in the winter....I guess it's all in location.

It snows pretty good up on the Mogollon Rim.

I was being a bit tongue in cheek on the blizzards.......I know you northern guys get hit from time to time...but us valley folk just bake.....regardless....strange location for an earthquake swarm.

Last night I heard a funky sound in Phoenix. Anyone else in or near Phoenix hear anything?

a reply to: pointr97

Until further evidence is found I can go with this.

Reviewing the location (at the edge of the Peloncillo Mountains) and depth (5km) of the tremor in the light of geology and economic activity leads to the conclusion that the probable cause of the tremor was slippage along a previously unmapped fault.

www.decodedscience.com...

Just proves we don't know everything about this planet.

There really isn't much if any fault lines to speak of in this area, just all rocks.

originally posted by: RedmoonMWC
a reply to: pointr97

Until further evidence is found I can go with this.

Reviewing the location (at the edge of the Peloncillo Mountains) and depth (5km) of the tremor in the light of geology and economic activity leads to the conclusion that the probable cause of the tremor was slippage along a previously unmapped fault.

www.decodedscience.com...

Just proves we don't know everything about this planet.

Pretty quick for a diagnostic article to be written, just hours after the event....but it isn't wrong, there is a lot we don't know.....but didn't really tell us anything new.

a reply to: pointr97

It's those underground bases where the aliens hang out.

They're probably cooking meth.

originally posted by: Swills
a reply to: pointr97

It's those underground bases where the aliens hang out.

They're probably cooking meth.

Damnable alien methheads......can't they do that crap on Uranus.......already stinky up there

FYI.. I'm a bit gimped on a slow comp and connection, but I managed to dig up the map for that region in FracTracker.

Source

There doesn't appear to be shale deposits or other things there, at least known on the NM side, to have that be of any relation. Since Frac'ing and weird quakes seem to go together at times here recently, I figured I'd check.

originally posted by: Wrabbit2000
FYI.. I'm a bit gimped on a slow comp and connection, but I managed to dig up the map for that region in FracTracker.

Source

There doesn't appear to be shale deposits or other things there, at least known on the NM side, to have that be of any relation. Since Frac'ing and weird quakes seem to go together at times here recently, I figured I'd check.

Being from Oklahoma, that was the first thought from my mom and friends as well...but just don't see mountainous terrain to be a very good location for fracking......Wonder if this is connected to those mysterious quakes in Colorado and Virginia a year or two ago.....not directly linked, but there were numerous theories about ordinances being set off in their subterranean bunkers and passages......I know, not likely, just don't see much else out there, and wouldn't make a bad bunker location.

a reply to: pointr97

Indeed.. It hadn't first occurred to me but then I recalled just what kind of land that is out there. I ended up lost on old highway 666 through the White Mountains about a thousand years ago when I was 19 and dumb enough to go into mountains while figuring 'surely there will be a gas station up there!'. lol... That was a long night to get into Quemado.

You're right though. Rough country and nothing of real note that I can think of unless, as you say, they are working deep under the surface. I definitely don't have a quick link handy to a reliable seismograph tracing on this. Anyone else have one handy from a station half way close to Western New Mexico?

originally posted by: Wrabbit2000
a reply to: pointr97

Indeed.. It hadn't first occurred to me but then I recalled just what kind of land that is out there. I ended up lost on old highway 666 through the White Mountains about a thousand years ago when I was 19 and dumb enough to go into mountains while figuring 'surely there will be a gas station up there!'. lol... That was a long night to get into Quemado.

You're right though. Rough country and nothing of real note that I can think of unless, as you say, they are working deep under the surface. I definitely don't have a quick link handy to a reliable seismograph tracing on this. Anyone else have one handy from a station half way close to Western New Mexico?

Yep, it is a rather large area of empty space........and our government loves to hide things were no one goes.....
Here is the previous topic(not the exact thread, but close enough)
Secret War, CO/VA earthquakes

If something big was lit off underground, that would explain a small quake followed by the swarm.....And supporting RedmoonMWC claim of unidentified faults.......if there was a previous fault there with pressure but no new geological activity....that initial blast could have been enough to cause it to release the pressure it has been holding.

I was surprised as hell last night when we received a reverse 911 call about an earthquake! What? We've been talking about it today. We didn't feel it (we were asleep), but one of our friends wrote to say he did. It woke him up.

A drought? Sure. A wildfire? Absolutely! But an earthquake here is as weird as a tornado!

originally posted by: Wrabbit2000
WTF?! What fault sits there???

We don't need faults anymore Wrabbit. They'll just call it a previously unknown or unmapped fault line, but oh well..."earthquakes in strange places"

originally posted by: pointr97
There really isn't much if any fault lines to speak of in this area, just all rocks.

There are some hot springs out in that area. I've been to Hannah Hot Springs, which is in the middle of nowhere. So some hot geologic activity is feeding this area. I would say there is a magma chamber underneath this area and it burped.

originally posted by: Kratos40

originally posted by: pointr97
There really isn't much if any fault lines to speak of in this area, just all rocks.

There are some hot springs out in that area. I've been to Hannah Hot Springs, which is in the middle of nowhere. So some hot geologic activity is feeding this area. I would say there is a magma chamber underneath this area and it burped.

Absolutely plausible theory.......we haven't had a new volcano in the states in awhile......maybe this will be for a low impact(no damage) type event, good visuals.....always find eruptions fascinating, not the damage of course.

originally posted by: pointr97

originally posted by: Kratos40

originally posted by: pointr97
There really isn't much if any fault lines to speak of in this area, just all rocks.

There are some hot springs out in that area. I've been to Hannah Hot Springs, which is in the middle of nowhere. So some hot geologic activity is feeding this area. I would say there is a magma chamber underneath this area and it burped.

Absolutely plausible theory.......we haven't had a new volcano in the states in awhile......maybe this will be for a low impact(no damage) type event, good visuals.....always find eruptions fascinating, not the damage of course.

Just like the earthquake swarm we have seen recently in Yellowstone, the same may be happening here. At least the beginnings of it.

I live in northern Tucson and I didn't feel anything. But the epicenter is right next to if not in the Rio Grand Rift Zone depending on where you define the boarders. The North American Continent is pulling apart there and in a couple million years the rockys will be gone and there will be an inland sea according to geologist.