Spectacular video of Devil’s Hole seiche rocked by earthquake in Oaxaca, Mexico

I found this video and information incredible. In a nutshell, that 7.4 in Mexico last month rippled across the earth and the effects were clearly visible in Death Valley as you will see. While the seismic waves of distant earthquakes are not noticeable to most of us in our cars or homes, the water in Devil's Hole sure got excited. Really neat. I hope you enjoy and learn something as I did.

This video is a must-watch. A fortunate National Park Service biologist and a Scientific American reporter interviewing him were standing at a deep natural pool in Death Valley when it began to be dramatically rocked by an earthquake that had occurred 2,000 miles away.

Link

reply to post by grantjennings

Amos 9:13
"and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt."
ETA As a foreigner, Death Valley is not the 1st place I'd associate with large channels of water like that. Cool video.

Very cool.

I wonder why this hole amplified the seismic waves so much?

Looks man made to me. If you look at it the water goes right about the white beams creating a even flow.

reply to post by earthdude


I had to research what a seiche was before I knew the answer. Wikipedia basically laid it out nicely.

Earthquake-generated seiches can be observed thousands of miles away from the epicentre of a quake. Swimming pools are especially prone to seiches caused by earthquakes, as the ground tremors often match the resonant frequencies of small bodies of water.

And I'm also assuming that the constricting walls of Devils Hole also had something to do with it. We need a geologist to chime in with the science!

Wikipedia - Seiche

After looking at it on Google Earth I can only guess that this water is part of an underground system that is very long and pointed at Oaxaca.

For those like me who had no idea what this is :

Description

Devils Hole' is a geothermal (92 °F/33 °C), aquifer-fed pool within a limestone cavern in the Amargosa Desert in the Amargosa Valley of Nevada, east over the Amargosa Range and Funeral Mountains from Death Valley.

Devils Hole branches into deep caverns at least 300 feet (91 m) deep from an opening at the surface that is approximately 6 by 18 feet (1.8 by 5.5 m). According to geologists, the caves were formed over 500,000 years ago.[1]

Wiki info... so adding to the video that the small entrance there, full of water, is the opening of a cavern 300 feet deep, yikes!!

Excellent! They are calling this an underground tsunami. Amazing stuff. Could you imagine if one of them had been standing down in there and been sucked down into the cavern?? Scary.

Here is an article in the Scientific American about it, with a much longer video:

Scientific American

reply to post by grantjennings

Thank for posting. That's one of the best examples of seiching I've ever seen. Very impressive.

This shows why it's not a good idea to stay in a swimming pool if it starts to do that! (And yes folks I know the video is not showing a swimming pool. Just making a point. )

Mike

This is why I've been coming to ATS for ten years.

Great find!

Noob here - first post!! I have been a long time reader here and love the site but now I want to start contributing to the community.
I am fascinated with all the eartquacke threads here and this one is no different.
it reminds me of how the Eadwards Aquifer water table moved a foot only 15 minutes after the Japan earthquake. The Eadwards Aquifer supplies most of central Texas its drinking water. I was ammazed that an eatherquake in japan could have such an affect on the water all the way over here in lil Texas
If there is not a monitoring site already it seems like someone should link all the water tables to an eatherquake chat and plot the oscillating water tables around the world.

Peace out!

www.statesman.com...

Reply to post by spaceinvader

The dynamics should really get everyone's attention. Earthquake in Japan, water table in Texas. It's a small world.

There but for the grace of God go we.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

This gives us some idea how small our world really is. I have read some theories about how much more extensive the earth’s aquifers than originally estimated and now I can see evidence to that effect. You were in the right place at the right time. Thank you for sharing your video Jeff

reply to post by grantjennings

That was revealing. I guess quakes ripple thru the ground like waves on water. Deep down the walls of the cave are squeezed and motion is transferred to the water welling it up. Did you hear dude say he smelled sulfur? 1:20 in.

nature never ceases to amaze me nice find star and flag for you.

So at the beginning of the video the water was being pulled out before it started rushing back heavy at the end... Is this kind of similar to the same affect you get from a tsunami? The water gets pulled out, then rushes back in? I guess there has to be some type of underground channel of water thats interconnected under Mexico, especially knowing that this EQ happened 2000 miles away...

Anyways, interesting clip nevertheless, S & F OP...

Here's a better version of the OP's video. It shows stronger waves, and has an article too.

Scientific American

Here's a link to a similar phenomenon. This happened in a fjord in Norway after the big one in Japan last year. The shockwaves from the earthquake travelled right through the earth from Japan to this fjord in Norway, considering those two countries are almost on opposite sides of the earth. The link is to a norwegian newspaper, I couldn't find it anywhere else, sorry. Anyhooo, it's pretty amazing.

www.vg.no...

No one else is speculating that its man made? How do we know its actually devils hole? It looks like a machine to me. Maybe some kind of water filtration system? Look at the beams, the water flows just above the beams creating a flow, as if the water is supposed to flow right about those beams.