Another Slow Tremor Moving Beneath Olympic Peninsula

I was going to originally post this in my on-going thread: What might really be happening in Washington State , but I feel it is worthy of its own thread, and I don't want it to get buried.

The Associated Press just released an article about another slow moving tremor being detected beneath the Olympic peninsula here in Washington State. Back in 2002 scientists discovered this phenomenon that (so far) is unique to our area. They don't understand why it happens or what is causing it, other than it may be tied into the build-up of energy in the nearby Cascadia subduction fault zone. Please read the article for further info:

LINK to AP article

Now, going back to my other thread on my theory regarding what may lay beneath Washington State. Please see the original OP in my above thread for more info, but to sum it up, I think it may be possible, based on recent discoveries and scientific speculation that we could have a large magma chamber beneath us...possibly even venting a few hundred miles off the coast of Wa/Or. I have been following the seismic activity in our area on the other thread for several months now, (as well as the cascadia volcanoes) and it is most interesting. In my OP I link several articles outlining WHY I believe this.

This current activity and the slow moving tremors, I believe, ties into this theory very nicely.

Here is a current list of siesmic activity for the PNW:


MAP 2.4 2010/08/11 19:29:34 42.192 -122.636 7.1 5 km ( 3 mi) E of Ashland, OR
MAP 2.1 2010/08/11 18:59:16 47.644 -123.572 4.2 36 km ( 22 mi) NE of Neilton, WA
MAP 1.9 2010/08/11 10:26:35 46.325 -122.237 12.8 15 km ( 9 mi) NNW of Mount St. Helens Volcano, WA
MAP 2.3 2010/08/11 09:38:53 47.636 -120.372 1.2 13 km ( 8 mi) WSW of Entiat, WA
MAP 1.2 2010/08/10 22:09:41 44.362 -124.509 37.2 33 km ( 20 mi) W of Yachats, OR
MAP 1.2 2010/08/10 18:03:57 42.065 -121.748 6.8 13 km ( 8 mi) WNW of Merrill, OR
MAP 2.0 2010/08/09 22:29:53 46.985 -122.216 0.0 8 km ( 5 mi) SE of Graham, WA
MAP 1.0 2010/08/08 20:56:28 45.998 -122.777 18.2 5 km ( 3 mi) ESE of Kalama, WA
MAP 1.1 2010/08/08 14:09:26 47.445 -122.378 29.0 3 km ( 2 mi) WNW of Normandy Park, WA
MAP 1.0 2010/08/07 22:37:40 46.191 -122.190 0.3 1 km ( 1 mi) SW of Mount St. Helens Volcano, WA
MAP 1.8 2010/08/07 19:49:18 45.522 -122.643 9.5 0 km ( 0 mi) WSW of Portland, OR
MAP 1.6 2010/08/07 18:06:51 47.452 -115.790 0.4 2 km ( 1 mi) SSE of Mullan, ID
MAP 1.6 2010/08/07 02:15:25 46.196 -122.183 1.0 1 km ( 0 mi) SSW of Mount St. Helens Volcano, WA
MAP 1.3 2010/08/06 20:46:02 45.447 -123.240 22.1 8 km ( 5 mi) W of Gaston, OR
MAP 1.0 2010/08/06 07:54:39 47.453 -122.077 26.6 1 km ( 1 mi) NE of Maple Heights-Lake Desire, WA
MAP 2.6 2010/08/06 04:08:25 47.855 -120.397 13.0 24 km ( 15 mi) NW of Entiat, WA
MAP 1.4 2010/08/06 01:21:30 45.665 -122.747 18.9 5 km ( 3 mi) WSW of Lake Shore, WA
MAP 1.0 2010/08/05 15:35:56 45.666 -122.880 26.3 10 km ( 6 mi) S of Scappoose, OR
MAP 1.5 2010/08/05 11:55:18 47.272 -122.267 14.9 1 km ( 1 mi) ESE of Lakeland South, WA
MAP 1.0 2010/08/05 06:55:58 45.653 -122.865 21.1 11 km ( 7 mi) N of Rockcreek, OR
MAP 1.3 2010/08/05 03:36:16 45.650 -122.916 10.2 9 km ( 5 mi) NE of North Plains, OR



Link to source at USGS




here are also some current lists for the local volcanoes:

Mt. Saint Helen's:

10/08/02 03:08:56 46.19N 122.18W 2.6-0.3 AC
10/08/02 06:46:46 46.19N 122.18W 2.0 0.2 AB
10/08/04 07:21:37 46.19N 122.18W 4.5-0.9 AC
10/08/07 02:15:25 46.19N 122.18W 1.0 1.6 AA
10/08/07 07:28:42 46.20N 122.18W 3.7-0.2 AC
10/08/07 08:37:48 46.20N 122.18W 3.9-0.3 AA
10/08/07 22:37:40 46.19N 122.18W 0.3 1.0 AC
10/08/08 00:35:21 46.19N 122.18W 0.0-0.6 AA
10/08/10 17:52:52 46.19N 122.18W 2.3-0.6 AA
10/08/10 20:26:02 46.19N 122.18W 0.0 0.0 AA
10/08/11 02:33:29 46.19N 122.19W 2.6 0.3 BA
10/08/11 16:32:45 46.19N 122.19W 0.0-0.2 AD


Mt. Rainier:

10/07/10 10:16:21 46.85N 121.75W 4.1 0.3 AB
10/07/10 10:19:56 46.85N 121.75W 4.7 0.1 AC
10/07/18 23:22:07 46.86N 121.75W 2.2 0.1 AC
10/07/28 06:31:11 46.85N 121.74W 4.1-0.1 AC
10/07/30 00:54:42 46.85N 121.75W 3.8 0.7 AB
10/08/04 16:56:18 46.83N 121.75W 2.7 0.6 AC


Mt. Hood

10/07/04 02:57:20 45.34N 121.74W 8.4-0.3 AC
10/07/04 03:18:46 45.34N 121.73W 8.1 0.4 AC
10/07/04 03:24:48 45.34N 121.73W 7.8 0.8 AC
10/07/04 03:50:39 45.34N 121.74W 8.6 0.2 AC
10/07/14 09:50:40 45.34N 121.73W 8.1 0.3 CC
10/07/14 18:04:04 45.36N 121.74W 5.8 1.7 BA
10/07/15 01:36:10 45.34N 121.73W 7.5-0.2 AC
10/07/15 02:25:27 45.34N 121.73W 8.8 0.2 AC
10/07/15 02:29:26 45.34N 121.73W 8.6-0.6 AC
10/07/15 05:31:00 45.34N 121.73W 6.4 0.9 BB
10/07/18 17:47:40 45.35N 121.74W 0.3 0.2 AC
10/07/21 06:38:54 45.35N 121.74W 6.5 0.5 BC
10/08/02 18:46:23 45.35N 121.73W 5.9 1.7 CA


Mt. Baker:

10/06/30 08:44:38 48.75N 121.83W 0.0 1.6 DB LOWF
10/07/01 00:30:23 48.74N 121.85W 0.0 1.7 CB LOWF
10/08/04 12:05:41 48.88N 121.91W 0.0 1.1 AD



LINK to PNW seismo source for volcanoes




You can see that Rainier, Helens and Hood have been especially noisy as of late. Yes, they are active so it is not alarming, but interesting. You can also see that today has been rather active so far.

I found the article regarding these 'slow tremors' to be very fascinating, to say the least. Especially since it has the leading scientists stumped. I can't help but wonder how it would tie into my theory, if applied by someone with the knoweldge to do so. What do you all think?

[edit on 11-8-2010 by westcoast] Edit to fix link

[edit on 11-8-2010 by westcoast]

Very interesting.
Note worthy is Jim Marrs book, Psi Spies.
In it there is an Army remote viewer that sees a dormant volcano in either lower Washington, or Northern Cali/South Oregon that become one of the worst eruptions known to man.
SNF

reply to post by Violater1


Hadn't heard of that one It certainly wouldn't be surprising though, since we are surrounded by active volcanoes here.

I can't help but speculate if this odd tremor could somehow be connected to the movement of magma beneath the peninsula. I realize that any seismologist worth anything could easily determine a harmonic tremor, but what if it were of a sort never seen before? What if the 'river' so to speak were actually beneath the ocean, not just land? add to that our complex system of faults working against each other and you could possibly have a type of siesmic action never before seen or studied up-close before.

I only hope that the fact that we are long over-due (geologically speaking) for a large release isn't connected to this odd tremor, though I suspect that the large movements on the opposite side of the ring of fire could be a part of this somehow.

Hmm, overall this is pretty bizarre.

The article asks a good question though, which is "What could be slowing them down?"

We know that the speed of different earthquake waves varies to a degree in different types of rock. But also depending on which type of wave it is. For example, primary waves travel faster than secondary waves.

But the big problem here is that these waves are traveling SO slowly, in MPH rather than the usual MPS, that to me it is questionable if they are earthquake or slip generated waves at ALL.

They could be something completely different that still cause seismometers to register them.

I think the alien mother ship is under there, and just woke up from its 10 million year slumber.

Really though, it's fricken weird alright.

The tremors could be a result of the oceanic plates that are subducting under the North American plate. There is one completely underneath that region, and another going down. Maybe its those?

Well poo, WC, that link is no longer there.

I wanted to read more about this

reply to post by TrueAmerican


Okay, glad to know that someone else finds this as odd as I do. I mean, for those that live in this area or are familiar with the study of seismology and vulcanology, know that for the leading experts in this region to be scratching thier heads is...well...scary.

I just had to fix the link to article, because they updated it with some more info. This snippet is disturbing:

UW scientists say it can't be felt at the surface, but the concern among scientists, including John Vidale, director of the Seismic Network, is that the slow slip events may be adding stress to the fault zone and bring the world's worst kind of earthquake to our part of the country. Those quakes are expected to reach into the magnitude 9 range.

In my other thread I commented on some strange noises I hear from time to time. I have heard it three different times in the past four years or so and now I am wondering if it could be related to this deep tremor. According to the article, it passes right under me. If this tremor takes a few weeks to travel up the coast, moving at miles per hour....I don't think it is far-fetched at all to speculate it could be related the weird rumbling noises reported by many in this area.

Here is a link to that thread: What's shaking the skies of the NorthWest?

Originally posted by berkeleygal
Well poo, WC, that link is no longer there.

I wanted to read more about this

LINK FIXED

I just noticed it and updated the OP. It seems they added some info to the article and changed the credits to include thier writer...it now works and has even more info! (thanks)

reply to post by westcoast


Can it be the Juan de Fuca plate causing this? Or the Farallon Plate?

reply to post by GenRadek


Here is a map of the faults and subduction zone:





As you can see, it is a complex system that is all working against each other. Certainly, the juan de fuca plate could be involved...which is why I speculate all the activity on the 'ring of fire' could be having an affect on it.

reply to post by westcoast


Yes, they are talking about a mega-thrust event, where a large portion of a subduction zone fault gives way over a considerable distance, in just a few seconds. Something like that happening along the west coast would most certainly cause catastrophic damage and a sizable tsunami. Very serious indeed, and it is one big factor for me staying away from the place and living on the east coast. That sukka is coming way too close to being overdue, and some say it is WAY overdue.

Also, I don't think that's unreasonable at all to suspect that what you've been hearing could be associated with this type of "slow" tremor, but note what the article said that they can't be felt at the surface. It is taking seismos to detect them, and I can see why they are having a tough time pinning down the depths of these, because it is out at sea.

The fact that they are recurring on a predictable, repeatable schedule is also very suspect to me, and almost implies something man made. Or well, not natural anyway.

I wouldn't put it beyond nature to have some other kind of thing going on down there such as a resonant cavity of water, oil, or fluid of some kind, which when it moves through causes some kind of tremor- like a harmonic tremor of sorts. It would be interesting to get some of these tremors on the spectragraph, and analyze for frequency content. That will tell some things right away.

[edit on Wed Aug 11th 2010 by TrueAmerican]

reply to post by westcoast


Its kinda cool and interesting at how much we DONT know about our planet. When things like this occur, it really puts everything into perspective. Hopefully this can give us a clue as to maybe one day getting a better heads up about upcoming earthquakes.

HAARP!!!, had to be the first too say it! Not funny?

On a more serious note this is strange indeed, especially if the top experts in the field are scratching their heads. I'm interesting to see how this unfolds further due to the fact I am just north of the border in Canada living on the large fault. I do hope nothing will come from this, though we are overdue for a large earthquake on both the Cascadia Fault, and the San Andreas Fault. What if these, if I understand correctly, trigger one another and therefore cause an unprecedented amount of damage. At least this article suggests it's happened before.

Earthquakes Along The Cascadia And San Andreas Faults May Be Linked, Affecting Risk To San Francisco Bay Region

ScienceDaily (Apr. 8, 2008) — Seismic activity on the southern Cascadia Subduction fault may have triggered major earthquakes along the northern San Andreas Fault, according to new research published by the Bulletin of Seismological Society of America (BSSA). The research refines the recurrence rate for the southern portion of the Cascadia fault to approximately every 220 years for the last 3000 years.

And it's interesting now they're both overdue for a major quake, don't you think?

The article has been once again updated, this time with a video of the local seattle news report:


ughh....I guess I don't know how to embed it. Here is the link:

LINK
[edit on 11-8-2010 by westcoast]

[edit on 11-8-2010 by westcoast]

reply to post by TrueAmerican


You've got a lot of good points.

Although it is tempting to say it could be man-made, given the pattern of occurance, we also know that there are often patterns in nature. Take yellowstone for example. Old failthful. Which brings me around to your comment about the resonant cavity of water. Water is one of the very predictable things in our world. It ebbs and flows...consistently. As you pointed out, this 'tremor' is under the bay, which also just happens to sit over one of the most dangerous subduction zones known to man. It has to tie in together somehow.

Look again at the pciture of the faults/subducion zone:


Enlarge your view and look closely at the subduction zone...now picture a large magma chamber over-layed into it. Now think of a very slow moving tremor traveling up the length of coastline right over top of it. scary.

What else in nature is on a 15 month cycle? We know the moon affects the tides...there is also speculation of it affecting tectonic/seismic activity. Do any moon cycles match up? How about the sun?

If the continental crust were to move enough....and it affected the theorized magma chamber, could that not be causing some sort of disturbance?

Edit to add: great article recently published that talks about the possibility of a mega quake with links and videos Article

[edit on 11-8-2010 by westcoast]

Okay, so maybe I can answer my own question. This is VERY interesting.

The full moon cycle is slightly less than 14 synodic months and slightly less than 15 anomalistic months

LINK to source

Could there be a connection?

I re read that article again, really trying to absorb and think about it. The video is not loading for me. And frankly, now I am more confused than before.

The first issue I have with this article is the summing together of tremor and slip. Well which is it, tremor or slip? Are they saying it's a tremor being caused by a slow slippage of faults that is recurring every 14 months? I just don't get that at all. Slippage along a fault still generates small seismic waves that still travel in MPS, not MPH! No no no. I am unclear at this point of what, exactly is traveling so slowly- the epicenters or the seismic waves.

"Deep Tremor?"

Steve Malone, UW seismologist and one of the nation's leading experts on deep tremor.

That's the first I've even heard of this. But it sounds to me as if they are referring to a similar type of tremor as in a volcanic, harmonic tremor. Not slippage along a fault.

I dunno, your theory may hold some serious water in that there could be a massive magma reservoir down there actually moving, resonating, and creating this "deep tremor".

But why would it cycle every 14 months? That part doesn't make sense. But you mentioned Old Faithful as an example of recurring, natural events, and it's a good point. So what if this was some kind of trapped hydrothermal system, somewhat similar to Yellowstone? I dunno, just thinking aloud.

reply to post by TrueAmerican


I agree...the more I read the article, the more confusing it is. I think perhaps part of the problem is the writers confusion. He seems to be mixing up the terms, referring to the tremor-and-slip events and the deep tremors as the same thing, which I don't think they are.

Anyways, here is an interesting article that ties in both the water theory AND the moon/sun theory:

"Tremors seem to be extremely sensitive to minute stress changes," said Roland Bürgmann, UC Berkeley professor of earth and planetary science. "Seismic waves from the other side of the planet triggered tremors on the Cascadia subduction zone off the coast of Washington state after the Sumatra earthquake last year, while the Denali earthquake in 2002 triggered tremors on a number of faults in California. Now we also see that tides – the daily lunar and solar tides – very strongly modulate tremors."

"The big finding is that there is very high fluid pressure down there, that is, lithostatic pressure, which means pressure equivalent to the load of all rock above it, 15 to 30 kilometers (10 to 20 miles) of rock," Nadeau said. "Water under very high pressure essentially lubricates the rock, making the fault very weak."

LINK to article.


I am still searching for some sort of paper discussing the current tremors specifically. There has to be a lot of speculation published out there on it, if it has been ocurring every 14-15 months since 2002. I mean, this is a big deal I think and I don't remember ever hearing about it before!

EDIT TO ADD:

Okay, I found it! The PNSN website has a study going on it. Here is the LINK

Right off it addresses the difference between the deep tremor and the tremor and slip:

This page will have frequent updates from observations and studies of Cascadia deep tremor expected during the winter of 2008 CAFE has several different goals including imaging the structure of the Cascadia subduction zone and a study of deep tremor associated with Episodic Tremor and Slip (ETS).

So it looks as if it is suspected (feared) that the deep tremors are associated with the tremor-and-slip. Big difference (IMO)

I am now reading through the web page. It doesn't seem to be updated since 2008

[edit on 12-8-2010 by westcoast]

After some searching, I found the experimental spectograph displays for ETS detection. Some of these are very impressive. check them out HERE

Edit to add: THIS is the noisiest one. I am trying to figure out where it is.

Also, HERE is the report (or lack of) report for 2009

[edit on 12-8-2010 by westcoast]

WOW!! Okay, gotta add this too:

Real-time tremor map

[edit on 12-8-2010 by westcoast]

reply to post by westcoast


Yep. I had already tracked this down to the PNSN, and now I have found the actual plot for Sunday 8/8 at the HUBA station- in the vicinity of where these were. Take a look at this!

www.pnsn.org...

That's very curious, as it appears you can actually see some of these tremors. Now note that is set to 100 mv, meaning extremely sensitive. So those tremors are very slight in intensity, but they are there!

Hmm.

[edit on Thu Aug 12th 2010 by TrueAmerican]