Quake Watch 2012

earthquake.usgs.gov...

Earthquake Details

This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.
Magnitude
6.2
Date-Time
Friday, April 06, 2012 at 16:15:55 UTC
Saturday, April 07, 2012 at 02:15:55 AM at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location
4.534°S, 153.497°E
Depth
85.4 km (53.1 miles)
Region
NEW IRELAND REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Distances
52 km (32 miles) E of Taron, New Ireland, PNG
150 km (93 miles) ESE of Rabaul, New Britain, PNG
884 km (549 miles) NE of PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea
2543 km (1580 miles) N of BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia
Location Uncertainty
horizontal +/- 14.3 km (8.9 miles); depth +/- 9.5 km (5.9 miles)
Parameters
NST=247, Nph=247, Dmin=152.5 km, Rmss=1 sec, Gp= 18°,
M-type=regional moment magnitude (Mw), Version=9
Source
Magnitude: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Location: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID
usc0008xd7

yes it has been quiet for the last week, nothing above Mag 5 for NZ since the 20th March.
also seemed to come to a grinding halt with a 3 day lag with nothing above Mag 4 since April1 when there were 5 of them, until this yesterday

Reference Number 3685888
Universal Time April 5 2012 at 23:05
NZ Standard Time Friday, April 6 2012 at 11:05 am
Latitude, Longitude 44.16°S, 169.71°E
Focal Depth 5 km
Richter magnitude 4.5
Region Canterbury
Location
30 km west of Twizel
60 km south-west of Mount Cook
130 km west of Timaru
200 km north of Dunedin

www.geonet.org.nz...

I think that New Ireland 6.2 on USGS could be a few split hairs too high, it has 6.1Mw on the CMT and BWMT
and there are no magnitude figures on the phase data at all ( at this time). Holidays short staffed ?

Geofon has 5.9 but thats still Automatic and doesn't say if it is mb or Mw

The Russians came up with 6.1mb so maybe the Mw figure is right

doesn't look like a 6.2 on SNZO though

Magnitude mb 5.7
Region NEW IRELAND REGION, P.N.G.
Date time 2012-04-06 16:15:57.0 UTC
Location 4.55 S ; 153.44 E
Depth 100 km
Distances 2548 km N Brisbane (pop 1,843,392 ; local time 02:15:57.6 2012-04-07)
132 km E Kokopo (pop 26,273 ; local time 02:15:57.6 2012-04-07)
882 km NE Port moresby (pop 283,733 ; local time 02:15:57.6 2012-04-07)

Source parameters not yet reviewed by a seismologist

AND

Magnitude mb 5.1
Region KEP. MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA
Date time 2012-04-06 19:24:19.0 UTC
Location 3.15 S ; 100.59 E
Depth 40 km
Distances 462 km W Palembang (pop 1,241,278 ; local time 02:24:19.6 2012-04-07)
198 km W Bengkulu (pop 309,712 ; local time 02:24:19.6 2012-04-07)
150 km SW Sungaipenuh (pop 95,913 ; local time 02:24:19.6 2012-04-07)
Source parameters not yet reviewed by a seismologist

EMSC

Rainbows
Jane

reply to post by murkraz


Ah ha! I knew it would be one of you.

The second someone says "Ooh isn't it quiet - WHAM!"

It is only 4 days since the last. Not that long really and a few 5 and plenty 4+ in between so nothing particularly unusual I think.

* shrugs and walks of muttering - told them it would be quieter this year *




* well at least until the 8.5 *

There was a bit of a lull. The 6M and 5.5M came as the moon was full. I think tomorrow is perigee.

But yes, we were a bit impatient. I don't like the quiet. I guess it makes us nervous.

So. We Must RELAX!!!!

www.youtube.com...

www.youtube.com...

reply to post by ericblair4891


Hahaha!!! "Calm!"
Thank you EricBlair. I needed a good chuckle.

And not to totally derail the quiet, I noticed Oklahoma was still rattling earlier today, although a bit north of the most recent activity. Mag 3.3

reply to post by ericblair4891


Hmmm....it would have been a lot more relaxing without the grating, metallic voice!

I liked the field with the milkweed plants in the front. At least I think they were milkweed plants. Kind of far away to see for sure. If I would have seen some Monarch butterflies around them, I would have known for sure!

Didn't notice any earthquake clouds or fissures in the landscapes! (Gratuitous sentence to stay on subject!!!)

WOQ (& maybe now more calmly!)

It's about time for a bigger quake again isn't it?

Magnitude Mw 6.1
Region NEW IRELAND REGION, P.N.G.
Date time 2012-04-06 16:15:57.0 UTC
Location 4.50 S ; 153.52 E
Depth 100 km
Distances 2553 km N Brisbane (pop 1,843,392 ; local time 02:15:57.7 2012-04-07)
140 km E Kokopo (pop 26,273 ; local time 02:15:57.7 2012-04-07)
892 km NE Port moresby (pop 283,733 ; local time 02:15:57.7 2012-04-07)


Source parameters reviewed by a seismologist
Emsc

Rainbows
Jane

GFZ have manually revised to 6.1Mw too

when compared to the Mentawai 5.5 SNZO says otherwise graph
especially given the distance difference of the two locations from SNZO
New Ireland Travel Time 7 miinutes 36.6 seconds, Distance 5518 km
Mentawai Travel Time 11 minutes 49 seconds, Distance 8951 km

maybe the depth is the difference in the trace match

a Mw conversion of the Mentawai quake would be helpful

I'm predicting the next 7+ to hit around the 9th-10th-11th of April, given that there's a full moon and a few planets aligning around then ;-)

Just hope if it happens, it's not in New Zealand, especially Canterbury!

Magnitude Mw 6.0
Region NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
Date time 2012-04-07 11:58:09.1 UTC
Location 6.90 S ; 149.56 E
Depth 47 km
Distances 2315 km NW Brisbane (pop 1,843,392 ; local time 21:58:09.1 2012-04-07)
163 km SW Kimbe (pop 18,847 ; local time 21:58:09.1 2012-04-07)
77 km S Kandrian (pop 1,014 ; local time 21:58:09.1 2012-04-07)
388 km NE Port moresby (pop 283,733 ; local time 21:58:09.1 2012-04-07)

www.emsc-csem.org...

New Britain this time!!


reply to post by SpaceJockey1

given that there's a full moon

Coincible happenstance

Magnitude 5.8 New Britain region. Papua New Guinea

Location in Google Maps

• Date-Time: Saturday, April 07, 2012 at 11:58:07 UTC
  Saturday, April 07, 2012 at 09:58:07 PM at epicenter
  
• Location: 6.785°S, 149.549°E
  
• Depth: 39.6 km (24.6 miles)
  
• Region: NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
  
• Distances:
  61 km [38 miles] S [178°] from Kandrian, New Britain, PNG
  261 km [162 miles] NNE [33°] from Popondetta, New Guinea, PNG
  281 km [175 miles] E [91°] from Lae, New Guinea, PNG
  395 km [245 miles] NE [41°] from PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea
  
  
• Location Uncertainty: horizontal +/- 13.3 km (8.3 miles); depth +/- 10 km (6.2 miles)
  
• Parameters: NST= 95, Nph= 98, Dmin=391.8 km, Rmss=1.1 sec, Gp= 40°,M-type=body wave magnitude (Mb), Version=7
  
• Source:  Magnitude: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)Location: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
  
• Event ID:  usc0008xud
  

Derived from Data Source: USGS
Powered by QVSData

Sorry, demoted!!

BUT

That is Mb so it may grow up to be a big Mw one day.

British Columbia has been a little too quiet for a while now, the tension isn't being released, It could have an angry outburst pretty soon.

reply to post by rickymouse

After checking this page at the Natural Resources Canada, for SW British Columbia, it does seem rather uneventful.
I did click on the "past year" page on the link above, and found the most recent earthquake over a 5 was on 4 Feb 2012, located 178 km WSW of Tofino, BC. That's a Mag 5.4 Mw, only 2 months ago. so it hasn't been too quiet for too long. (You know as soon as I post this, it will start earthquaking)



Looking at a different area, I found something interesting (well, at least to me).

This Mag 3.7 from the Pinnacles, CA yesterday, seems innocuous enough, even though it's located smack dab on the San Andreas Fault zone. Taking a closer look under the Scientific & Technical tab, you'll find Directivity from Peak Motions.

This Mag 3.7 is an oddity--it was a strike-slip in the east-west direction. Most all the eq's in this area slip north-south. Weird.

Now on to the bonus...
I've been trying to understand how to interpret the First Motion Mechanism or "beach ball" plots for a while now, with moderate success. The "Directivity from Peak Motions" page above has a really easy to understand linked tutorial, titled Fault Plane Solutions .
Check it out, if you struggle with the "beach balls", as I do.

reply to post by Olivine


Does this mean that there may be more tension being added to the fault? It said something about a northernly direction but I'm not sure it means actually north or if it is an implied direction towards the direction the active plate is traveling. I'm new to studying earthquakes using this kind of input.

I'm not going to let this go! post by muzzy

compare the "6.2" usgs has for New Ireland on the 6th April 2012
2012/04/06 16:15:56 -4.534 153.497 85.4 6.2
with this one
2011 11 28 122645.45 -5.48 153.73 25 6.1 MwWCMT PDE-W
can 60km really make that much difference in the size of the trace?

for those who automatically poo poo tsunamis from land based quakes, here is one I read about

Date/Time: 1983/10/4 18:52:15.84
Lat: -26.539 Long: -70.503
Region: Atacama, Chile
Magnitude:
Mw 7.7 [hrv] Mw 7.4 [usgs]
Mw 7.7 [p&s] Ms 7.3 [p&s]
Depth: 24.6 km
Deaths: n/a Injuries: n/a
Tsunami: Yes
Catalog Source: ehb
A 1.5-meter uplift near Chanaral was reported and some roads were blocked by landslides. A minor tsunami was recorded at Valparaiso. Felt strongly (VII) in northern Chile. Felt also in Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil. This appears to be a multiple event.

check the location, 18km inland from the Pacific Coast and 718 km from the reported Valparaiso tsunami.
1.5m uplift , thats a bit of a heave.

Been watching So Cal today

3.3 2012/04/08 05:59:42 32.645 -115.833 28.7 19 km ( 12 mi) SE of Ocotillo, CA
3.3 2012/04/08 05:59:36 32.617 -115.831 2.6 21 km ( 13 mi) SE of Ocotillo, CA

earthquake.usgs.gov...

6 seconds apart
first one was shallow at 2.6
next one deeper at 28.7

just wanted to report this

The whole area seems active there.

Second quake at the Triple Junction Region.

Magnitude 4.8
Date-Time
Sunday, April 08, 2012 at 06:24:40 UTC
Saturday, April 07, 2012 at 11:24:40 PM at epicenter
Location 2.155°N, 101.253°W
Depth 10.1 km (6.3 miles)
Region GALAPAGOS TRIPLE JUNCTION REGION
1640 km (1019 miles) S (185°) from Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico
USGS

reply to post by berkeleygal


In my Humble opinion, I think there are some really cool things going on down there. I was talking to hubby the other day about how it would be to go down there and do some fishing, and check out how the lakes are doing. It won't be anytime soon. But it would be a really cool thing.

Just wanted to add, there's some great fishing down there. If anyone gets a chance. Big Bass.