Unreported Earthquakes off the Coast of Chile Continue

So recently I have discovered a new network apparently put in by Chile (or has had stations which have recently come online). It is the "C" network, which has a handful of stations. It allows monitoring the mid and southern Chile coastal areas, in addition to another couple of networks.

And in the last couple of weeks I have been picking up small quakes occurring off the coast in GEE, like this one:


These most of the time also register at station G.PEL for confirmation. But they are below the 4.5 world limit for USGS reporting here:
earthquake.usgs.gov...

So you could consider this "inside information," only known to those that watch GEE and have been monitoring these stations.

But the point is, the area is actively producing quakes. They could be late aftershocks of the big one a while back, but I believe the epicenter of that was a good bit north of there, so I am not positive on that. On the other hand, it could be a mid/southern section of the fault is about to rip. Dunno. But I am on it. Heads up ATSers in Chile!

These quakes are happening almost in swarm like fashion, coming in at the rate of about 10 per day or so. They are smaller than 4.5, but they are persistent. Another just happened as I type this...

I figured that, Chile is on a humongous fault line that goes in a circle called the ring of fire.Japan shifted the Axel dude, i'd be scared if you weren't shaking.

Look at how many earthquakes happen yearly in Alaska. I'm just saying, Chile is on prime ground for EQ's.
It would be scary if Chile weren't shaking like someone had previously stated.

Thanks TA. It's good to know someone with knowledge is keeping an eye on things like this, and giving us the benefit of their analysis. S&F.

Originally posted by kimish
Look at how many earthquakes happen yearly in Alaska. I'm just saying, Chile is on prime ground for EQ's.
It would be scary if Chile weren't shaking like someone had previously stated.

And your questioning trueamerican with his history, the man who successfully predicted the Japan earthquake. Only joking, i had to bring it up . The world does appear to be rumbling though.

Yes agreed that Chile is an active area. Of course it is. But when a swarm starts even in an active area like this, it is worth noting as a potential precursor to bigger activity.

Ah...yep......theres a good deal of shakin goin on....in fact a whole lot of shakin goin on!
Good eye to you sir.....

And now another small one happened:


(Trying out the new thumb feature )

Compared to the first image:


P to S wave distance is similar in both signatures, meaning the quakes are coming from a similar distance relative to station. In other words, something's been stirring out there on the big fault under the sea.

It seems the more I watch quake swarms, the less I expect a big event to come from it- because rarely it seems does a bigger event happen from a swarm. After a main shock, sure, we see a swarm of aftershocks. But rarely do we see a swarm leading to a big event. It's as if the stress gets relieved through a series of shocks, rather than all at once, suddenly. And that could be what's happening off the coast of Chile for this particular "swarm."

And another just occurred:

I guess my question is, is it unusual in respects to the last few years,.
I suppose it will be hard to track that data as your source rather new hey?

Originally posted by Lil Drummerboy
I guess my question is, is it unusual in respects to the last few years,.

Well, does something have to be unusual to report it? Especially when there is little other way to get this news of this swarm because it is not seen on the USGS list?

I suppose some will find it more interesting than others, and that's cool.... To me it's cool to watch the seismos and see things that don't get reported in the main stream.

Originally posted by TrueAmerican

Originally posted by Lil Drummerboy
I guess my question is, is it unusual in respects to the last few years,.

Well, does something have to be unusual to report it? Especially when there is little other way to get this news of this swarm because it is not seen on the USGS list?

I suppose some will find it more interesting than others, and that's cool.... To me it's cool to watch the seismos and see things that don't get reported in the main stream.

Hey I am with you,.
Just askin a simple question.
I am sure Puterman would tell me I am full of Irish oatmeal,,,
But I think there is an uptick in activity.. jus sayin

It's interesting that so many earthquakes aren't listed on USGS these days.
I see threads in here all the time stating things like "the number of earthquakes isn't increasing", but if you factor all the earthquakes less than 4.5 BACK IN to the equation...
it speaks for itself.

4.5 might not seem significant to USGS, but it's certainly an earthquake you can FEEL...
I'd like to see them reporting everything over about a 3.

...but that's just me.

Essentially the Earth is one giant bell. When you ring a bell that big that hard (Japan, 2011) it resonates for a long time... Bong - ongongongon. I expect that the whole balance of the Ring of Fire as it is called has been and is continuing to be altered. The subduction of all that Earth into Japan's basement has got to change the stresses on the rest of the Pacific Basin.

I know of no way to test or Google that notion (maybe you guys do) but I can see that the combined total of all the enormous quakes pushing on Japan has got to affect the "other side" of the Ring of Fire (the North and South American Continents) in some way. If it is all connected (we do call it a "Ring") then something else has to give on the opposite side?

The only variable to this notion is time. How long in Geologic time will it take for the stresses built up by the Japan quake swarm to be released in a resettling or rebalancing of the Pacific Basin? Will that overall "balance due" occur slowly in small fits and starts like in Chile? Or will some other fault line somewhere else suddenly give all at once and wreak similar havoc on another continent?

For my money the apparent slow movement of faults all around the Pacific Rim right now is a good sign. As long as faults keep moving a little here, there, then there is no stoppage and build up of pressure right?
Only time will tell...

Originally posted by intrptr
As long as faults keep moving a little here, there, then there is no stoppage and build up of pressure right?
Only time will tell...

Well I think it might be both redistribution AND relief of stress at the same time. When a huge piece of a fault moves, it causes stress loading on other parts of the fault- while releasing the stress energy at the rupture points. These quakes we see here could be reactions to the bigger quake, but as I mentioned before, the epicenter was a pretty good bit north of where these are occurring.

Also, as an update to this thread, I have seen many more, but they do appear to be subsiding for the moment...

Update:
Ok so I posted this what, a month and a half ago?

And the quakes are still not letting up off the coast of Chile. I've been watching almost daily, waiting for them to go away, and they just don't. Small shocks, below 4.5, and so not seen anywhere but to those watching the seismos and or who have seen this thread. It's like the fault that never sleeps. And the one that produced the biggest quake ever. What you cooking up down there on the zone?

Sorry I missed your Topic a month ago TA, I usually only read Quake and Volcano Watch

Anyway, see if your signals match in with the Geofísica Universidad de Chile lists

www.sismologia.cl...

and this page where you can go back in time by entering the date etc
www.sismologia.cl...

I ran a page on Chile on my Blog for a while, they get almost as many quakes per day as New Zealand, it was too hard to keep up doing them both manually.

not sure how that GEE graph works and where the time line is along the y axis and what the delay may be, but these two quakes might be the culprits, off the Servicio Sismológico Universidad de Chile page

And now another small one happened:

2011/09/22 01:35:36, -21.538, -68.514, 137.9, 3.5 Ml, GUC, No, 43 km al SO de Ollagüe


And another just occurred:

2011/09/22 01:46:12, -34.853, -70.928, 118.8,2.8 Ml, GUC, No, 30 km al S de San Fernando

maybe

reply to post by muzzy


Yeah, those are some of the smaller ones. They also register a lot on G.PEL, which is good to also monitor for confirmation. But keep your eyes on those stations for a few days and see for yourself, if you haven't already.

The timeline is on the bottom and top of the channel display window once you load some stations (where the waveforms are). Kinda hard to miss. You just cropped it out of the pics.

Originally posted by TrueAmericanIt seems the more I watch quake swarms, the less I expect a big event to come from it- because rarely it seems does a bigger event happen from a swarm. After a main shock, sure, we see a swarm of aftershocks. But rarely do we see a swarm leading to a big event

Unless it's volcanic in nature or that sunken city that will rise again when the stars are right

Originally posted by TrueAmerican
reply to post by muzzy

 

The timeline is on the bottom and top of the channel display window once you load some stations (where the waveforms are). Kinda hard to miss.

You just cropped it out of the pics.

I didn't crop anything I copied and pasted the pics you put on prior
I don't bother with GEE, there are few stations down our way so has little relevance.