Quake Watch 2016

Salton Sea keeps rumbling. Since 10:15PM local, there have been several: a 1.0, 2.1, 2.2, 1.5 and 1.4 (oldest to newest).

San Jacinto has been fairly active, but small quakes.

*edit- add a 1.1 to the list.

a reply to: Olivine

Here's spectro of one of the 4+ sequences:


Now to me, that has some volcanic flavor to it, with the repetetive, ghosting of smaller quakes happenning within the coda of the main shock. With tectonic quakes, the coda usually finishes first before the next one...

a reply to: TrueAmerican

And look at one of the other 4+ sequences, even worse:


I am also seeing just now lead up quakes, with ghosting in front of the main shock- just coming in now. I must say folks, this looks volcanic from all my experience with YS and such.

a reply to: TrueAmerican

Really interesting, TA. Thanks for posting those.

I'm going to try to keep my eyes open for another 30 minutes or so. Curious to see what the morning brings.

originally posted by: Olivine
Curious to see what the morning brings.

"Salton Sea Explodes in VEI 5 Eruption." Run for the hills!!!

a reply to: TrueAmerican

Oh, you're funny.
Great, I know what will be creeping into my dreams tonight.

[off topic--I'll have to take a pic for you tomorrow of my new work locale. The view of 'the mountain' is a m a z i n g. roughly 23 air miles away]

a reply to: Olivine

Which mountain? Rainier?

a reply to: TrueAmerican

Sí.



It has been relatively quiet there the past week. Here is an West-East cross section, from PNSN

a reply to: Olivine

Bueno, me gustaria eso.

Im glad to see you both.. TA and Olivine.... commenting on the Salton Sea swarm... in my opinion not that it has an expertise behind it other than observation...seems to be too quiet this morning. I am sure it will begin again although makes me wonder what if anything may be building.

Let's say it is volcanic in nature do you have any idea what type of explosion it could produce? I'm going to do some research on it just curious to know what others think.

originally posted by: muzzy
a reply to: crappiekat

That's the Ryukyu Is one, USGS have over rated it, the NIED traces don't lie. Bet it comes down later on.

NIED have settled on 5.6 ML for this one, and only 7 aftershocks, which isn't many.
Expect more from this area, near Okinorebu Island
26/9/2016 JSTl

USGS seem to be holding out at 6.0mb
yet GCMT says 5.7Mw
and IRIS 5.7 Me_bb and 6.1 Me_hf
ds.iris.edu...
usually (but not always) the number goes up when converting mb to Mw
seems to be some delay in converting at USGS, not sure why, its a significant quake

The problem with watch Southern California, is that it's very busy. The standard is, little earthquakes almost everywhere. I've tried many times to follow along and keep track. I found this very hard because I was trying to sort of a messy Nevada as well. Nevada is still on the low end, and the swarm areas are active but barely.

The rest of Southern California seems normal other than Salton Sea. It's looks about normal. When we in the lake, there are three patterns. Last week the very southerly point rang out. Then the middle yesterday. But I'm wondering about the widely spaced group around the north end of the Sea. These aren't a usual spot and must be included in this series. It's started last week, weakly, and is travelling northward. I think. The entire area of the Sea seems to be under the same influence. Be it tectonic, or volcanic. I'm certain of neither.

There is a definite trend in the north end. The usual line of regular earthquakes is closer to the coast and you can see this trend on the 7 day map. This is the regular pattern and I recognize it because I wrote months ago that I thought there was another fault beside the San An.

Oh, and I'm still seeing the odd couple in the NMSZ. Nothing much. But the last few weeks, there's been a constant , drip , drip pattern.

I didn't check the weather for Salton. I made a stupid assumption, that it is always hot and dry there these days.

When flying around on the seven day map, it is noticeable swarm at Hebgen Lake. Small, but swarm like. I'm not saying that the other in the area are part of something else, because it's still relatively quiet in general. Checked the uplift at Norris. Still ticking up.

Near Hawthorne, and the lake north of Hawthorne are swarmy- but at a low level.

Just to prove to you all, that I am a warrior, and will keep watch, never falling asleep on duty, I have just endure a torture.
I couldn't the debate last night as I said. I did it tonight. I watch the whole whole thing. Wow. I made. After endure such at thing, I turned my gaze back to where I was last night. And again, it seems swarmy. I'm cooking soup. Oh my god I'm a good cook. I'm distracted. 3.5M folks. This, I think, is more energetic than 2012 and 2015. Least, what I remember. There was a swarm, but this is seems to be continuing.

I'll post shot of last one

Oh, the Salton Sea is one of the weirdest places on earth. Look up documentaries...

Sorry, 3.6

earthquake.usgs.gov...

124 in the last day
217 since it started



wow, numbers count, but so doesn't magnitude. 22 today have been above 2.5M

Oh, my soup and gravy are so good. I was stirring around and keeping it at the right level. When I decided to slow down the boiling, and sit, and came and found the swarm is continuing in earnest. Two around 3.5M. I'll post shot

I don't even like soup. That's why I know I make the best soup. If I can tolerate it, it must be magnificent. I did have a job as a cook once.



Oh also, it seems we have a volcanic theme to the earthquakes. So, I must mention Nicaragua has been quiet, but today, near a volcano, it popped one of near 5M

Ha, I'm not used to fast USGS update. I saw a new 3+ and went< "What?" I didn't see it. And then, bam, it was there. So, we have 3 3M+ in the last couple hours. wow



I just found something official from the USGS on the swarm. And, I quote, "Earthquake Swarm near Salton Buttes is not volcanic."

volcanoes.usgs.gov...

I'm taking this totally seriously. Why? Because they are going into detail to detail this swarm. So, we were right in calling swarmy. I found this stuff, because I was trying to get my dates right. To be honest, this makes me think I was way off course in think it was 2015 and 2012. In fact, this must mean the swarms I'm thinking about were at the southern end of the sea. So, I still have to pinpoint those swarms. This means, this freakin' Sea is shaking and regularly.

Now, as for the argument with the USGS, is it volcanic? Yes, and no. I was just starting to realize that the trend perfectly fit the right angles that would fill in the end of the San An. The reason for the gap is that this area has not been shown to be active enough to map the fault. Well, it would seem this is the end of the San Andres. Also, I think it is volcanic. As the area is a rift, it is splitting apart. The magma heats the crust and allows the fault to spread and fracture. Let's use physics to answer anything we need for the future. And, I'm sorry, my answer will involve water.

Water has mass. The Salton Sea has water. But, the Salton Sea is drying up and fast. This means that the thin crust which lies below this area will thin even more as the two different pressures "work it out". If, the water is evaporating due to drought and other reasons, this means the mass putting a downward forces is lessened. And, if we assume, the hot magma pushing upward on the thin crust, is forcing the rift apart, we can see why the equilibrium has been lost, and now the fracture which fills in the gap, can now be seen clearly.

Yes, it's tectonic. Meaning, the fault is moving. And yes, it's volcanic, because the magma is moving the fault.

a reply to: MamaJ

Hello to you, MamaJ!
Good to 'see' you, too.

In my humble lay person opinion, I think if we were to ever see action of a volcanic nature near the Salton Sea area it would be from ground water heating to steam...generating a steam explosion, and possibly leaving a maar crater.

Honestly, I think the odds are very small of that happening. Much more likely to have a bigger (but not huge) earthquake. I just worry that a moderate sized quake, say a mag 5.5 at the southern end of the San Andreas will be the trigger to set that southern section of the SAF off with a big, big quake.

a reply to: Olivine
You beat me to it
I was going to say a "geyser"
I recall reading something about geysers being the origin those "silica ant hills" in the shallow salty sea part.
* sorry about the technical jargon

Ah, craptastic, the time closed before I could post this map of the previous swarms



Oh, and I haven't thought through the idea of a hydro-thermal explosion like at Yellowstone. Why not? Good point. If we are taking water in to account, and I love to do that. We must consider, the aquifer. They pumping the crap out of it. And how do we know that, look maps and look at all the circular farms. They're all pumping like mad. Especially, considering the drought. So, you must calculate how the depletion of ground will effect the overall pressures on the faults. I'm sure it's having an effect.







The best way to way the mud volcano is to have too many beers. All you can think is, that the earth is farting. I tried to think scientifically about these things, but I can help giggling.

a reply to: muzzy
Great minds, and all that, Muzzy.

a reply to: ericblair4891

Terrific map, Eric.

This current swarm is much more robust than the previous versions.
Well done, sir.

Okay, here's the story. It's all about the Sea. It's all about the history of the Lake, and or, the present Salton Sea. If you watch the video, the body of water, which probably, directly on top the San Andres, is the reason for the gap. Before 1900, the area was dry desert. After an engineering problem, the low area refilled. Since, 1900, the weight of the water has slowed the amount of earthquakes and hid the fault from modern detectors. Before 1900, who knows, there may have been lots of earthquakes in the area of the Salton Sea.

Okay, we can assume these are tectonic due to a kind of rebound. Let's look at it the same way we look at glacial rebound. Without the mass of water, the land moves upward and splits open. So, this means, it's tectonic. It will, become volcanic, if the magma moves upward, and heats the systems to a point of active disturbance. As you guys have pointed out, this doesn't always mean eruption, it could mean hydro-thermal explosions. Or, maybe something altogether different. I'm not even sure what I mean by that. Maybe it will be . ah, ah..

like Azerbaijan and Gate of Hell!??? ah, now I've gone too far

I had to finish, god damn mean, because it's clay, slit, yes, the same crap that ends up being slate and shale which are the same freakin' things that they are frackin'. let's say lots of methane escape.. etc.

Oh, I finished that earthquake movie. 10.0 Earthquake on Netflix.

Utterly terrible.

From the USGS site:

The geothermal system is fueled by heat emanating from zones of partially molten rock (magma) deep below the Earth's surface. Eruptions occurring about 400,000 years ago were followed by a long lull in volcanic activity until about 18,000 years ago. The most recent eruptions, which took place about 1,800 years ago, started explosively, then progressed to relatively gentle effusion of dense, glassy-looking (obsidian) lava domes. The Salton Sea Geothermal Field, which currently produces enough power to supply about 325,000 homes, has persistent small to moderate earthquakes related to the geothermal system and to movement along regional faults. Monitoring of earthquake activity began in the 1930s, and the dense seismic network installed in the 1970s is operated by the USGS and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The available data are insufficient to establish a pattern of volcanic activity to determine the likelihood of eruption. The high heat flow from the area and relatively young age of Salton Buttes, however, attest to the potential for future eruptions.

volcanoes.usgs.gov...

And I'm not sure, Robin, if the USGS changed their tune or what from your quote, but the current wording is:

The swarm does not appear to be related to volcanic activity.

volcanoes.usgs.gov...

That is much different than outright stating it is NOT related to volcanic activity- and it gives them a way out in case they are wrong and the whole thing blows up in their faces. Which, as you can see from my top quote, it clearly has the potential to do.

But ok, I'm down, it is not volcanic and it's just some tectonic unrest. Uh huh. Whatever you say, USGS.

*Glances with a weary eye one more time at the spectro, and recalls the character of the seismicity at Yellowstone witnessed during the big swarms. Makes comparison. Shakes head.*

Yup, whatever you say USGS.

a reply to: TrueAmerican

Oh, I'm sticking an edit in here...

(I posted an article yesterday on the previous page that states there was volcanic active 2000 years ago.)


The title of the article states! is NOT volcanic. Then, later, they qualify the theme, and say, hey, who knows for sure. Right.

Okay, back science and not the public relations branch of government agency. Here's another map. I'm getting so confused about the dates of swarms because they are regular. It just depends on which end of the lake/sea your talking about.

So, swarms are regular. They are not regular main shock, after shock, pre shocks. They are different. Why? Because these earthquakes, unlike the other earthquakes in California, don't have bodies of water on top. And, the fact that different ends of the lake go off at different times is perfectly logical. The Sea is like a pool. It has a shallow end and a deep end. As the water evaporates, there is a breaking point, where enough water is displaced over a fault in order to let it go. The Salton Sea is not uniformly deep, therefore, the swarm would come at different time when as the water disappeared.

The faults and the cross faults that are forming are like cracking, dry skin. Think of those mud volcanoes. When clay dries, it cracks in nice straight lines. This I've seen myself every time our pond dried out.

The Sea dries up. it cracks
mystery solved

Sorry
one last stupid joke
it's crackin' up
just like me