Alaska quakes

Many quakes in Alaska... USGS

Something big is going to happen?

What do you think about this?

Do you remember what happened in 2002 with Yellowstone after a big quake in Alaska?

Alaska Quake Seems to Trigger Yellowstone Jolts

Small Tremors Rattle National Park After Big Quake 2,000 Miles Away

Media Contacts

November 4, 2002 -- A major, magnitude-7.9 earthquake that rocked Alaska on Sunday apparently triggered scores of earthquakes some 2,000 miles away at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.

Take a look to the full article

Not that I am saying that something is going to happen there now, but I am worried about all the seismic activity taking place...

By the way,

The 1946 tsunami that caused severe damage in Hawai'i came from a location at 52.8 degrees north and 163.5 degrees west, about 900 miles away.

The 1957 tsunami came from a quake quite close to yesterday's temblor. It was at 51.5 degrees north, 175.7 degrees west, just 84 miles away and within the Andreanof Islands.

Source: Raising islands

Did you noticed where all these quakes are taking place?
Keep an eye on this.

Is this related to the volcanic activity taking place in Alaska or is the volcanic activity triggered by the seismic activity?... I wonder...

Regards,
Ptolomeo

P.S.:
To Moderators.
I apologize. I tried to add my post to the Quake 2008 thread but obviously I
clicked on the wrong button... If you like, please, feel free to move this to the opened thread of Quakes 2008. Thank you.



[edit on 7-8-2008 by Ptolomeo]

[edit on 7-8-2008 by Ptolomeo]

[edit on 7-8-2008 by Ptolomeo]

Hi Ptolomeo,

Yes, lots of quakes indeed. Kinda reminds me of the thread Over FIFTY earthquakes in the last several hours in Alaska and still counting

I was wondering about the Yellowstone area prior to these quakes in Alaska because it seems to act up before another place does. And sometimes the other way around too. Here is some information I came across when wondering about why Old Faithful was named Old Faithful. Apparently back in 1998 there was a quake that changed the intervals of it's eruption times.

Old Faithful

Old Faithful - This famous geyser got its name because of its punctuality and predictability. Old Faithful erupts more frequently than other large geysers. Contrary to popular belief Old Faithful is not the largest geyser in the park. Eruptions at Old Faithful last anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes, and sprays water and steam up to 184 ft vertically. The average interval of Old Faithful was every 76 minutes. An earthquake occurring in the winter of 1998, effected the time interval of Old Faithful. Eruptions now occur approximately every 80 minutes.

Check out this article:
Old and Faithful Quake Warnings

Even with such sophisticated tools as strain gauges, laser beams and magnetometers to determine the buildup of dangerous stresses in the earth, scientists have had little success in forecasting major earthquakes. But as they have attempted to develop more complex quake-prediction devices, they may have been overlooking a simple one that predates man. A U.S. Government scientist reports that nature itself may provide a primitive early-warning system in the periodic eruptions of spectacular geysers like Yellowstone National Park's Old Faithful.

The concept was developed by Physicist John S. Rinehart of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who has been comparing the past activities of Old Faithful and two other famous geysers—Yellowstone's Riverside and Old Faithful in Calistoga, Calif.—with earthquake records dating back more than a century. He found that although geysers are commonly thought to erupt with clocklike regularity, their timing begins to change as the stresses that lead to quakes begin increasing in the earth around them; Yellowstone's Old Faithful speeds up any time from two to four years before a major quake within 60 miles of the geyser. It begins slowing down again shortly after the shock.

Geysers may even predict major quakes that will occur thousands of miles away. In the early 1960s, for example, Old Faithful was spewing forth once every 67 minutes. But in 1963 its rate increased to once every 65½ minutes. Then in 1964 it abruptly slowed down again. To Rinehart, that variation in Old Faithful's timing seems intimately connected with Alaska's destructive Good Friday quake in 1964.

Interesting.

I lived in Alaska for 4 years. Earthquakes were as common as seeing Moose.

Seriously. Earthquakes in Alaska are very common. So much so, never thought anything of them after awhile. Most are so small you barely feel them.

This is just my observation and everyone there that lived around me.

I am no scientific expert...so I have no idea if something "Big" is on its way. But just thought Id share since I just left there

[edit on 8/7/2008 by greeneyedleo]

Hi greeneyedleo,

Quakes are a common thing here in California too. But there are the quakes that make you go, hmm...and you wonder if it's an indicator of something bigger to come.

Ptolomeo, you mentioned about volcanic activity. In the same area of these swarms, there's a Volcano Island that is acting up now. Federal workers ask to leave volcanic island

ADAK -- Two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees requested to be evacuated from Kasatochi Island in the Aleutians after seismic activity in the area, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The island, about 50 miles east of Adak, was reportedly experiencing tremors and volcanic uncertainty, which prompted the Alaska Volcano Observatory to issue an advisory in the area.

Ooo...just noticed it's already posted in An Experiment in Alternative Methods of Earthquake Prediction

Things are heating up in the Alaskan Island Chain. The list of 3 plus quakes around Atka is quite busy. I kind of watch the rolling number of earthquakes within the last week for the US and world. We've added 200 out of 1200 now listed in the last day. The depths vary form the surface to 46 miles deep so it makes me think maybe, perhaps it is a volcano about to spew.

That bit about a connection with Yellowstone is interesting. When I took geology they called Yellowstone a hotspot that moved kind of like the Hawaiian Island chains along the crust.

Never mind the alaskan range , you look at the whole pacific rim ! Below are a couple of links , sorry if everyone is aware of these sites but useful enough anyway .


European earthquakes

And finally a live Yellowstone cam

Old Faithful

[Edit] Removed already posted link

[edit on 8/7/2008 by mrbenn]

I have U.S. earthquake alerts sent to one of my e-mail addresses today 8/7/08 I opened up my e-mail and had almost 50 all from the USGS and all in the Aleutian Islands.I lived on Adak for 18 months and I am familiar with the quakes and the volcanoes in the chain. But the number of the magnitude makes me wonder what is going to happen.
I also find it strange when I get e-mail alerts about fairly strong quakes and then later on I get a "this alert has been deleted after a review by a seismologist." e-mail.What made the ground shake that hard that it registered on the graph a 3.0 but was not a quake?
It happens a lot and has me wondering.

[edit on 7-8-2008 by calcoastseeker]

[edit on 7-8-2008 by calcoastseeker]

reply to post by mrbenn


That old faithful webcam is great. We got a sunset now. The earthquakes are still popping. 1,306 in the past week now on the USGS US map. I saw it get up into the 1,400 s a month or two ago I think. I think I saw it go down to 800 or so in that time as well. Exciting stuff!

reply to post by calcoastseeker


The ones that aren't quakes, are you referring to the ones at 0.0 depth? Adak must have been a neat place to spend some time.

LOL i have USGS reports sent to me too,

I open my email today I have 90 quakes, 10 more in clusters every other 20-30 mins


very interesting....... on the same date as the LHC site shutdown, an test.....

reply to post by stikkinikki


Hi stikkinikki,

I came across this article which sounds like what you learned about Yellowstone being a hotspot moving kinda like the Hawaiian islands. The Yellowstone Caldera Rises, Falls and Rises Again

Geologist Bob Smith, of the University of Utah, said to understand what's going on today, you have to look 16.5 million years back in time. That's when the North American plate started traveling over the Yellowstone "hot spot," a huge plume of molten or partly molten rock rising up from the upper part of the Earth's mantle. Periodically, that "hot spot" has erupted, beginning near what is now northern Nevada and southeastern Oregon. As the continental plate drifted to the southwest, said Smith, the hot spot blew more than 100 times in super volcano eruptions, leaving overlapping calderas and vast lava flows in Idaho, known as the Snake River Plain.

The hot spot finally arrived under Yellowstone and had three successive giant eruptions at 2 million, 1.3 million and 640,000 years ago. Yellowstone may well have had spectacular mountains like the nearby Tetons, but these supervolcano blasts either knocked them down or swallowed them as the calderas collapsed, Smith noted. The result is the relatively flat, undulating topography of the Yellowstone Plateau.

All told, the Yellowstone hot spot left a 350-mile trail of older, dead calderas that have been worn down or filled in.

Similarly, the Hawaiian island chain was created by another hot spot under the Pacific Ocean. As it periodically erupted under a moving tectonic plate, it built a series of islands. So, too, with Iceland, created by a hot spot located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Another interesting read is the history of the 1959 Yellowstone earthquake

Here's an update on Kasatochi. Biologists plucked from erupting volcanic island

Two U.S. Fish & Wildlife biologists were rescued from volcanic Kasatochi Island in the Aleutians today shortly before an eruption sent an ash plume 35,000 feet in the air.

The biologists, who were studying birds, have not been identified, but seismologists said they narrowly escaped burning flows of gas, steam and ash that probably enveloped the mile-wide island.

"If they had been there, they certainly could have died," said Stephanie Prejean, seismologist with U.S. Geological Survey's Alaska Volcano Observatory.

Here's a satellite loop of the eruption at Kasatochi volcano .

Thank you all for your contribution, support and information added to this thread.

Dearwife, I agree with you. I remember the thread. I would say that we are facing a similar event.

I am for the idea that the whole planet is connected and therefore any event that takes place in one part of the world has a consequence on the other side of it. Yellowstone can of course be included.

Greeneyedleo, quakes can be common, but when there are swarms as the ones we had, so often, it is always a sign of something taking place. This time it has possibly be caused by the eruption of Kasatochi Volcano, though there are also comments about a possible sub-surface eruption. We cannot forget that the volcano is part of the Aleutian Arch.

Stikkinikki, the connection with Yellowstone is in fact very interesting.
Let´s hope it does not trigger quakes there. Will keep an eye on it.
As you might have noticed, July had more quakes in Yellowstone than June...

Regards,
Ptolomeo

Originally posted by stikkinikki
Things are heating up in the Alaskan Island Chain. The list of 3 plus quakes around Atka is quite busy. I kind of watch the rolling number of earthquakes within the last week for the US and world. We've added 200 out of 1200 now listed in the last day. The depths vary form the surface to 46 miles deep so it makes me think maybe, perhaps it is a volcano about to spew.

Pardon me but I am ego quoting myself. I Watch the Earthquake swarms and for a time yesterday they seemed to zero in on the location of the newly erupting volcano.
Third volcano erupts in Alaska USGS page