What is up with all these earthquakes in the Caribbean?

The amount of earthquakes in the Puerto Rico/Dominican Republic/Virgin Islands area has increased substantially in the last weeks. A link to the most recent can be found here:

earthquake.usgs.gov...

Not only that, but the general average intensity of these seem to be increasing as well. These quakes are mostly occurring on the northeastern edge of the Caribbean Plate.

Could this activity potentially be a precursor to something much bigger?

One thing that is bugging me is that it seems public access to the GEE stations in this area has been very hard to unobtainable for me lately. This could be due I suppose to increased monitoring from the public, and server strain, but given the amount of times I have tried to get access to these (nearly everyday now for weeks), it seems to me that access has possibly been restricted to institutional use only.

I have been reading up on historical seismic activity for this area, and it is no stranger to 8 mag quakes and huge tsunamis. But it has been quite a long time since any major or great quake has hit the area, and I'm just wondering if this could be in the cards for the near future. This may be caused by the Caribbean Plate colliding with the North American Plate on the northeastern edge where most of these quakes are occurring.

Given that large quakes are preceded by strings of smaller quakes sometimes, and given that this area has a known subduction zone, it may be prudent for residents to take extra precautions in these times of increased seismic activity. A very large earthquake and resulting tsunami may be in the works here, potentially threatening the lives of thousands of people in the entire region- including Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and the Virgin Islands.

And for this check out the almost fun little quakequiz site, which will help to prepare you if you live in a hazardous seismic zone:

quakequizsf.org...

The locust are waking up yea....lol

reply to post by TrueAmerican


I believe these are man made.

Enjoy the informative video on HAARP.

www.youtube.com...

reply to post by absconditussapientia


Do you have any evidence to support that these quakes in the Caribbean are being caused by HAARP at all? Probably not. And according to your very own video, there is no evidence to support that HAARP can really cause quakes. They think it's possible, but where's the real evidence? Show me one quake that has been known for a fact to be caused by HAARP.

Over on my side of the Carib -- Cayman Trench -- the plate is always active. Fortunately for us, most of the temblors are deep and in deep water. Every once in a while, we feel one that is only a mile or two deep. I get the USGS reports as well, and this little oval-shaped plate is allways grinding against the others that are against it.

Most of the activity seems to be against the Cocos, Nazca and North American plates, but it wouldn't surprise me a bit that THAT side of the Caribbean plate would show some more activity of late, grinding against the S. American plate and all.

I believe that the northern part of the Carib. plate is a subduction zone, wherein it thrusts under the N.A. plate. I think I recall that that is what created Cuba. Fascinating stuff.

When I lived in the San Francisco area, I always felt more secure when there was a flurry of earthquakes........ little pressure reliefs, or that's how I liked to think of them. Many small temblors = goood. Big one = baaad.

Originally posted by argentus
When I lived in the San Francisco area, I always felt more secure when there was a flurry of earthquakes........ little pressure reliefs, or that's how I liked to think of them. Many small temblors = goood. Big one = baaad.

Yes, on one hand little quakes are good for that reason. But on the other hand little quakes can be an indicator of initial movement. In fact some of the biggest quakes have been preceded by sizable preshocks leading up to them in the weeks or days before. And because the average intensity of these quakes seems to be increasing, I am hoping to raise awareness of the possibilities here. If I was in Puerto Rico right now I'd be taking some precautions, for sure. They could be indications of an imminent fault thrust, which as we know would be real bad, and most likely cause a very big tsunami.

earthquake.usgs.gov...

A 4.0 quake just hit the Mona Passage, between the DR and PR. While not on the northeastern edge of the Caribbean plate like many of the others in this recent "swarm," it still does not bode well for the area, and increases my personal suspicions that something is going on here and this area may be facing a strong or great quake in the near future.

In 1918 a 7.5 mag quake hit near the same place, causing a tsunami that hit PR.

earthquake.usgs.gov...

Northwestern Mona Passage
1918 October 11 14:14 UTC
Magnitude 7.5

Epicenter
This was one of the most violent earthquakes felt on Puerto Rico since its occupation by Europeans. Immediately following the shock a tsunami broke upon the shore, drowning many persons and destroying many native dwellings. Property damage was estimated at about $4,000,000 and 116 lives were lost.

Most extensive property damage reports were recieved from Aguada and Anasco, both located on alluvium in Western Puerto Rico. In Aguada, masonary buildings were largly demolished. Some walls, severely cracked by the main shock, were thown down by the aftershock on Oct. 24. The church, built prior to 1876, was entirely destroyed. Some concrete walls and foundations without reinforcement were wrecked. A one-story reinforced concrete school was practically undamaged, and frame buildings were not damaged appreciably.

At Anasco, all brick buildings were destroyed or condemned. Several concrete structures with no reinforcement were generally wrecked during aftershocks, but those which were well reinforced sustained little damage. Wood frame buildings were not damaged except where timbers had rotted.

North of Aguada at Aguadilla, most of the buildings on the alluvium were badly damaged or destroyed. As a rule, masonry structures were badly cracked.

At Mayaguez, south of Anasco, the brick Catholic Church had to be razed, but the brick Presbyterian Church was only slightly damaged. Several persons were killed in the collapse of a two-story, poorly built concrete cigar factory.

Many bridges were damaged; railroad tracks were bent and displaced; pipelines and flumes were wrecked; and tall brick chimmneys were thrown down. Two cable links were broken in Mona Passage. Before the tsunami arrived, the ocean withdrew and exposed reefs and stretches of seafloor never visible during low tide.When the water returned, it reached heights that were equally high above normal, perhaps 9.5 feet.

Abridged from Earthquake History of the United States, Publication 41-1, Revised Edition (Through 1970), Reprinted 1982, With Supplement (1971-80). Edited by Jerry L. Coffman and Carl A. von Hake, NOAA, Environmental Data And Information Service, and Carl W. Stover, U.S. Geological Survey. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey. Boulder, Colorado, 1982.

The epicenter was located northwest of Aguadilla in the Mona Canyon (between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic). This earthquake had an approximate magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale and was accompanied by a tsunami ("tidal" wave) which got up to 6 meters (19.5 feet) high. Damage was concentrated in the western area of the Island because this was the closest zone to the earthquake. The earthquake killed about 116 people and caused more than 4 million dollars of damage. Numerous houses, factories, public buildings, chimneys, bridges and other structures suffered severe damage.

As I mentioned before, it has been some time since anything really big happened here, and it may be time for another major release of pressure. Then again, it may be nothing. But if it's nothing then why in the world cannot we access the otherwise public seismic stations? There is nothing more frustrating to me than trying to monitor this area, and I was literally in the process of trying again in GEE to get access when this quake hit.

The entire PR network of seismic stations appears to be inaccessible. If anyone can get in, please let me know. The closest I can get is Santo Domingo or the Virgin Islands, which is not really close enough to register what's going on in the Puerto Rico Trench, or in other words, the activity right along the Caribbean and North American plates.

reply to post by TrueAmerican


I'm pretty sure you know this TA, since you linked to the USGS site, but you know that they have a section centered on PR/DR, right?

Pretty decent maps and sat. views of tectonic plates here.

I couldn't find much in the way of data/maps on the Puerto Rico Seismic Network.

Glad you're keeping an eye on things. Like us, Your tsunami warning time could be very short.


[edit on 18/8/09 by argentus]

My apologies TA. After seeing your Teton thread, it's obvious to me that you know all the windows and permutations of the USGS site. Silly me. y'know........ there are sites I've been on for YEARS and then one day someone makes a reference to something, and I realize there's a feature that makes everything easier, or displays previously hidden data, that was always there that I didn't know about.

Anyway, just trying to help. BTW, it looks to me like all or nearly all of the temblors in the Puerto Rico area have been on the covergent/subduction of North American Plate and Caribbean Plate.

Now. Want a slightly off-topic but strangely related comment?

yes? Okay. I have a theory.... no.... hypothesis..... that the Caribbean Plate doesn't su much subduct under the N.A. plate (although there is plenty of evidence that it does, such as Cuba) but that it just noodles in a counter clockwise rotation. There is evidence to support this as well. If that is true, there is an even more fringy and peripherial possibility that Cuba and other islands might receede, and then rise up again higher. Eventually. So, I guess this is where the search engines of the future might see the first inklings of a theory. ha.

NEVERmind. It's been a strange day. I should've stopped after "My apologies.".

My apologies.

[edit on 18/8/09 by argentus]

reply to post by argentus


Hey man, sorry to not reply sooner, and please do not apologize for anything. I very much appreciate those links, and your comments are very much appreciated as well. Especially after the first two in this thread.

While I've been around the USGS for some time, I don't know if anyone could explore that whole thing in a lifetime. That is one of the biggest most complicated websites I think I've ever been to, and it never ceases to amaze. Whoever runs that place is truly the man! At one time or another yes I have seen those links before, but I did not have them bookmarked, so you were right on time.

That is a very interesting theory- but I do have a question: If it were rotating as you suggest, wouldn't we see more seismic activity along the entire boundaries of the Caribbean Plate more consistently and more often? I mean for instance, with this latest swarm, how could one area possibly move, especially in rotation, without affecting other areas in proportion?

It seems if it were the case we would be seeing a lot more quakes near the South American and Central American boundaries- and likely at the same times as we are seeing these. From what I have seen so far this year any quakes in those areas have seemed to be unrelated- but who knows- you might be right and they could be related. Interesting. Stars for you.

hi there, i asked exactly the same question a few months ago and it was not really answered back then.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

im glad you have brought it up again!

There does seem to be a huge amount of quakes in this area. Not huge quakes but many mid strength quakes. It makes you wonder whats brewing for sure.

reply to post by absconditussapientia


Ooooops, I thought this was alternative topics and conspiracy theory website. Silly me.

This should answer your question about Earthquakes and why so many in the Caribbean.

www.thegreenfrognews.com...

Since the Caribbean actually sits on a plate called the Caribbean Plate, that is why they have more then an unusually amount of activity.

What does this have to do with any of the alternative topics on this website??

I have been watching earthquakes everyday for about two years. That area has not changed in all that time. It always has swarms of little-medium earthquakes. I dont know why, but I have never been able to get any information about that area and why there are so many earthquakes there.

This is not a recent thing. It has been happening for years, me thinks that some tetonic plates must meet there.

r9.fodey.com...