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starroute

(12,977 posts)
17. Does this have any connection with the Puerto Rico earthquake swarm?
Thu Jul 23, 2015, 07:38 PM
Jul 2015

I know Grenada is at the other end of the island chain from Puerto Rico, but I've been watching that swarm for a while and wondering what it means. Currently usgs.gov shows 22 quakes between 2.6 and 3.8 magnitude just north of Puerto Rico over the last 24 hours. That's a lot.

On edit: There's some technical discussion of the underlying geography here:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/pr15204002#general_summary

"Moving east and south, the plate boundary curves around Puerto Rico and the northern Lesser Antilles where the plate motion vector of the Caribbean plate relative to the North and South America plates is less oblique, resulting in active island-arc tectonics. Here, the North and South America plates subduct towards the west beneath the Caribbean plate along the Lesser Antilles Trench at rates of approximately 20 mm/yr. As a result of this subduction, there exists both intermediate focus earthquakes within the subducted plates and a chain of active volcanoes along the island arc. Although the Lesser Antilles is considered one of the most seismically active regions in the Caribbean, few of these events have been greater than M7.0 over the past century. The island of Guadeloupe was the site of one of the largest megathrust earthquakes to occur in this region on February 8, 1843, with a suggested magnitude greater than 8.0. The largest recent intermediate-depth earthquake to occur along the Lesser Antilles arc was the November 29, 2007 M7.4 Martinique earthquake northwest of Fort-De-France."

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More on Kick 'em Jenny malaise Jul 2015 #1
kick 'em & r.... spanone Jul 2015 #2
Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah - you're the best malaise Jul 2015 #3
and another kick'em !!!!!! spanone Jul 2015 #4
This is breaking news right across the Caribbean malaise Jul 2015 #5
Is there any precedent for Tsunamis in that area? Baitball Blogger Jul 2015 #6
In Jamaica,... HooptieWagon Jul 2015 #8
I think I read about a Virgin Island tsunami back in the 19th Century malaise Jul 2015 #9
Caribbean is a geologically active part of the world. Octafish Jul 2015 #7
We do wonder malaise Jul 2015 #10
As long as it doesn't piss off the New Madrid Seismic Zone... AtheistCrusader Jul 2015 #11
Now that is what nightmares are made off nadinbrzezinski Jul 2015 #13
I know very little about these faults but that doesn't seem malaise Jul 2015 #16
Even Michigan has been having earthquakes lately. Octafish Jul 2015 #20
That would be a disaster of epic proportions malaise Jul 2015 #22
Changed the course of the Mississippi. Octafish Jul 2015 #21
Fascinating read malaise Jul 2015 #23
Not only that, but the land moved so much it ran *backward* for a while. AtheistCrusader Jul 2015 #25
Yikes! I have good friends in Grenada. CottonBear Jul 2015 #12
Just heard an expert on the suhject saying malaise Jul 2015 #14
I hope there is not an eruption that causes major damage. CottonBear Jul 2015 #15
Does this have any connection with the Puerto Rico earthquake swarm? starroute Jul 2015 #17
There was a 6.4 quake in the Atlantic off Barbados last week malaise Jul 2015 #18
I was in Sicily in 2005 and went up Mt. Etna, which we had heard was an "active CTyankee Jul 2015 #19
Well nothing she's done to date suggests malaise Jul 2015 #24
Kick'em Jenny eruption not likely to be a big deal CajunBlazer Jul 2015 #26
That's oh so wrong malaise Jul 2015 #27
You make it sound like the entire premise of my post is wrong - and it is not CajunBlazer Jul 2015 #30
It is Wikipedia that is wrong malaise Jul 2015 #31
Thanks for clearing that up. n/t CajunBlazer Jul 2015 #33
Wow... greytdemocrat Jul 2015 #28
Last eruption was 2001 malaise Jul 2015 #29
Did you know... CajunBlazer Jul 2015 #35
That's because.... CajunBlazer Jul 2015 #32
so how much damage does there have to be before some minister blames it on the gays dembotoz Jul 2015 #34
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