Swarm of Earthquakes Detected Off Oregon

[WheelWalker]

Source: Associated Press

Scientists don't know what the earthquakes mean, but they could be the result of magma rumbling underneath the Juan de Fuca Plate - away from the recognized earthquake faults off Oregon, said geophysicist Robert Dziak of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Ore.

They hope to send out the OSU research ship, Wecoma, to take water samples, looking for evidence that sediment on the ocean bottom has been stirred up and chemicals in the water that would indicate magma is moving up through the crust, Dziak said.

There have been more than 600 quakes over the past 10 days in a basin 150 miles southwest of Newport. The biggest was magnitude 5.4 and two others were more than magnitude 5.0, OSU reported. They have not followed the typical pattern of a major shock followed by a series of diminishing aftershocks, and few have been strong enough to be felt on shore.

It looks like what happens before a volcanic eruption, except there are no volcanoes in the area, Dziak said.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EARTHQUAKE_SWARM?SITE=ORROS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

---

Let's see....and Earth Day is when?

[gateley]

1. Hey, V.I. --

Hmmm. This is interesting. I wonder what they'll be able to determine, if anything, other than you can't fool with Mother Nature.

Do you guys get about the same number of quakes that we do in Seattle?

This will be interesting to follow. HOLD ON!

[WheelWalker]

4. Most quakes in our part of Cascadia are off shore, or under

St. Helens. The Sisters are developing a huge bulge. Shasta's been rumbling and I think Rainer, too. We get a lot. Don't know how many Seattle gets. We are all connected, though, I think. This development off shore is weird...not what the scientists normally expect, at all. Gotta mean something.

[gateley]

5. Yeah --

it's obviously something that has them puzzled.

Rainier's been rumbling for quite a while, I think.

I'm not sure how Seattle and You Guys Down There compare, I just don't recall hearing many earthquake reports about Oregon. Maybe because there haven't been as many in Portland as in Seattle? (The big cities getting the press...)

:hi:

[WheelWalker]

14. Hey Gateley -

The salmon have disappeared off the Oregon and California coasts this spring like never in history. The fishery simply isn't there. And it's a huge fishery. Where are they everyone asks? You don't suppose they sense something big on the event horizon, do you?

[gateley]

24. Wow -- that's a thought!

You may have something there! Remember always hearing about how the Chinese kept crickets because they knew when they went silent, an earthquake was on the way?

I've also heard a geologist who, in addition to his geological stuff, tells people to track the number of lost animal ads in their local paper. When they went back and checked, for a short time before a quake, the incidence of animals running away jumped.

I did it in Seattle for a bit, and right before a quake the number tripled. Granted, it was only from 3 to 9, but still...

GREAT observation, VI!

[WheelWalker]

26. Many responders to this post and one in GD think it's gases venting

and we might be looking at a volcanic eruption and/or the BIG ONE associated with an eruption, and the the fishery is high-tailing it our of the stinky waters. We'll probably never know if there's a connection, but if an eruption/BIG ONE eventuates and there is a Cousteau special on the connection to the salmon disappearance sometime in the future, I should be awarded a posthumous DUZY for predictions beyond the pale.

[gateley]

32. My gut feeling is you made the correct connection.

If I'm still in NC when it occurs, I'll promise I'll see to your DUzy. If I'm back in Seattle by then, we'll have to leave it up to our pals in our forum.

I sent off the info to my brother in Seattle, and called my best friend in LA. BF was fascinated, too -- both he and I strongly believe that you're right.

Exciting!!

[Thor_MN]

55. So in other words, Mother Earth just ripped one?

I have a sister that claims she never, ever has any "gas venting." I sometimes fear one day she is going to explode.

[kestrel91316]

74. How abut the huge Dead Zone they have (or had) there........

Did they ever come up with a good explanation for that??

[WheelWalker]

78. Negative. Still a mystery so far as I've heard. VERY strange, as there

are no sources of heavy fertilizer run off, like into the Gulf. Holy Mother venting rear-gas projectiles?

[juno jones]

12. Do you have some links to these stories, or sites I can check out?

I'm really intrigued this, I live in the shadow of Mt Baker, and it always interests me to know what's going on in Cascadia Volcano Land. I've looked at the USGS site but all it seems to show are the quakes and magnitudes with little or no commentary.

I hadn't heard about the sisters bulging.

[WheelWalker]

15. I think it's the Middle Sister...the peak itself, not exactly, I think...but

on the flat plateau...I watched a special on Oregon Field Guide on Oregon Public Broadcasting. I'll look for a link. Another thought...Do the salmon know that something big is coming? Is that why they've up and disappeared from coastal waters all along Oregon and California this spring? Now I'm getting freaked.

[juno jones]

17. Thanks. I'll look too.

As for the salmon, something is up for sure, it's a scary thing whether it's global warming or a volcano (or a series of them) rising in the oceans there that's causing it.

But the volcanic stuff would make a lot of sense. Also while I was on USGS, I saw a lot more little earthquakes than I usually see. Cloverdale Ca (in geyser country)seems to be a real hotspot right now too. Seems like something's up.

[WheelWalker]

18. Google - "South Sister" bulge - Also, see this link for a start

http://www.livescience.com/environment/ap_050906_sisters_bulge.html

[juno jones]

20. Think I found the Field guide link

http://www.opb.org/programs/ofg/videos/view/71-Volcanoes-in-Our-Backyards

Thank you!

[WheelWalker]

21. I do believe that's it. Good work! I'm really thinking there's a connection

between the inexplicable missing salmon off Oregon and California, and this bizarre off shore earthquake activity. I'd be flapp'n fins, too!

[gateley]

30. Wow - that was a fascinating clip!

Thanks so much for the link!!

Now it's got me thinking even MORE about the rumblings off Oregon.

[WheelWalker]

34. Good report, isn't it? I just watched it again. Public broadcasting is news worth paying for!

[lyonn]

53. Just watched the video and it was good/thought provoking

Although, it sure puts human life and the life of our planet in perspective. It is hard to believe there are people out there that just think this earth/universe is for Our benefit.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

49. Watching now, Thank you!

Activity of this region for 2008.

[wpelb]

83. Years ago, even before Mt. St. Helens erupted

Mt. Baker, in the northern part of Washington, appeared to be ready to blow. I think it was showing some smoke. But as far as I know, nothing serious ever happened up there.

Mt. Rainier may show activity from time to time. Mt. Hood and the other Cascade peaks vent or rumble occasionally. But we'll never know for sure that one of them is going to erupt until it does (though Mt. St. Helens did give a few months of warnings).

[coriolis]

2. Uh-OH! Cascadia event in the offing?

Do pay attention to tsunami warnings!
:scared:

[jobycom]

3. Damn. How many natural disaster or alien invasion films start this way?

[gateley]

8. You're right. nt.

[itsrobert]

6. That's just oil out there bubbling up from the ground. Probably 433333 Trillion barrels worth

We are saved!

[gateley]

9. Hell, EXXON would drain the ocean to get at it! nt

[Oldtimeralso]

29. Only if

The US Gov. paid Halliburton or KBR to do the draining.

[Kool Kitty]

41. Shit, if Cheney thought there was a way to make money off

it, he'd drink the water himself.

After reading all this, do you think that there could be a new volcano rising? (Please don't laugh if that's a stupid question.) I just got an e-mail from Truthout that said that they are closing the fisheries there because there are no fish. That freaked me out and then I come here and read this.

[whistle]

7. Oregon is over an active volcanic zone which we know back in the early 1970s

...led to Mt St Helens blowing its top and side clear out. I'm sure that disturbances and even more eruptions will continue. I just would hope that scientists and the government will take measures and action to protect lives and where possible property to keep those living in the state safe and alerted.

Isn't that one of the roles of FEMA? Oh, wait BushCo wants FEMA to be filled and staffed by political cronies who are given massive funds to hide such threats from the public. My mistake...never mind

[gateley]

10. In know in Washington that there have been

many attempts to put a volcano warning in place in Orting, which is at the base of Rainier. None worked too well :), but I've no doubt they're still working on it because it's been thought for quite sometime that Rainier could erupt at any time.

When St. Helens blew, we had a lot of warning (relatively) and they were able to evacuate most of the people in the area.

When an earthquake comes, there's generally no warning

[WheelWalker]

11. Many of the peaks in the Oregon Cascades are rumbling....this is off shore and totally bizzare. We

have lots of earthquakes off Oregon's coast, but these apparently are more like what we see in the Cascades. Something new and different is waking up, and it's way too close to the subduction zone for comfort. If this is an awakening of what's necessary for THE BIG ONE, the whole west coast would be served by heightened awareness.

[whistle]

62. Yet FEMA has been rendered completely impotent to address this

[WheelWalker]

13. Holy Mother of Buddha...I just had a thought - the salmon off the Oregon & California coasts

have disappeared this summer. They've just canceled the season for everybody. This has never happened. You don't suppose the salmon know something very big is churning within the Holy Mother and they've flapped fins out of the area? OMG !

[jobycom]

16. So long, and thanks for all the... what, lures?

[gateley]

37. Ha!

This topic and your reference reminds me of a Douglas Adams book I read -- "Last Chance To See" -- where he traveled around the world to see and write about endangered species.

[Poll_Blind]

22. Now THAT is an interesting point. n/t

PB

[galledgoblin]

42. uh, probably has more to do with the oxygen deprivation of the water

more than any extrasensory abilities animals supposedly have

[hootinholler]

46. Well, if there's say sulfur (or some other chemical) venting into the sea there...

I could see it making the salmon skedaddle. Kind of like an area with low O2 saturation will hold no fish. The gas reports after the samples are taken will tell if that's the case.

-Hoot

[IndianaGreen]

19. A very unusual series of events

Those of you that live out there, please keep us posted.

What's the next event? New Madrid fault coming alive again?

[WheelWalker]

72. Well, you certainly called THAT one! That's a DUZY of a prediction !

[FightingIrish]

23. The USGS has a really useful tool for Google Earth

It's a kmz file that shows real time earthquakes, updated every five minutes. There are some interesting swarms near Cobb, California that is apaprently an area of high geothermal activity.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/data/google_earth.php

[gateley]

25. Cool link -- thanks! nt

[PetraPooh]

27. Firefox has a neat 5min delay Equake add-on. Link below. It rattles the screen at the same as the

quake so you can't miss them.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/search?q=earthquake+alert&cat=all

[FightingIrish]

31. That is fantastic.

I just installed it. The first time it reported a quake, I thought something was wrong with my computer and then I saw the readout at the bottom of the screen.

[PetraPooh]

33. I love it, I've had it for a couple years anyway, and I don't tell visitors its there.

There reactions are hysterical...particularly this one drunk that lives next door and has a bad habit of coming over when he's really wasted. I plop him in the compfy chair in front of the puter and leave it on while I sit in a straight back chair near by. Then if/when the screen rattles, I pretend it didn't and he's just really drunk. One of these days he's going to get even with me by having "motion sickness" all over my keyboard, no doubt.

[gateley]

35. I'm embarrassed to ask, but that never stops me, so...

I opened Firefox and added it. Now what?

I also downloaded it in Safari -- will that work?

Do I need to DO anything? (besides restart Firefox)?

Thanks!

[WheelWalker]

36. I'm still waiting, too....and waiting,...and waiting...Hey, maybe that's not so bad? Still waiting,

that is.

[gateley]

38. I just finally closed out Firefox. We'll see if it works in Safari.

Of course, "It" may be working just fine -- could be operator error on our parts. :)

[PetraPooh]

52. I don't think it works for Safari.

[PetraPooh]

51. No if your screen isn't rattling, that's "good" news, so to speak. I've answered the other below.

[PetraPooh]

50. No, you're done. Look down at the bottom right of your window.

See the M 4.9 Guam Region (or whatever has been the most recent?) Right click on that for a few more options to look at. Otherwise just wait for the next earthquake then glance down at the bottom right of the window to see where and how much. Right click then choose, "recent quakes" and you will see that at 5:05am this morning another one hit off the coast of Oregon at 5.2 on the scale.

[IndianaGreen]

58. Thanks for the link! n/t

:-)

[WheelWalker]

28. Yikes! That certainly puts it in perspective! Thanks!

[gulfcoastliberal]

39. Interesting, huge quake off Antarctica - over 10 earthquakes in S Pacific < 24hrs

Magnitude 7.1 Earthquake Strikes South of Australia
April 12 (Bloomberg) -- A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck in the vicinity of Macquarie Island, which lies about halfway between Australia and Antarctica, the U.S. Geological Survey said. No tsunami was reported after an alert was issued.

The quake hit 120 kilometers (75 miles) south-southwest of Macquarie Island and 1,995 kilometers south-southwest of Wellington in New Zealand at 11:30 a.m. local time, the USGS said on its Web site. The USGS, which revised the magnitude three times from an initial 7.5, said it struck 10 kilometers below the seabed.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which put the magnitude at 7.2, issued a tsunami alert for areas within ``a few hundred kilometers'' of the quake zone. There was no threat to Pacific coastlines, it said. There were no reports of casualties or damage or of a tsunami nearly three hours after the quake hit.

Macquarie is a ``subantarctic'' island located in the Southern Ocean at 54 degrees, 30 minutes south and 158 degrees, 57 minutes east, according to the Australian government's Antarctic Division's Web site. The island, inhabited only by scientists at a research station, is a Tasmanian State Reserve.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aioHX_glavlE&refer=asia

Whole Lotta Shaking Going On
There have been over 10 recorded undersea earthquakes in the past 24 hours between Vanuatu and neighboring New Caledonia, including one peaking 7.3 on the Richter scale.

The most powerful quake occurred at 11:46 p.m. local time (00:46 GMT) on Wednesday at an estimated depth of 35 kilometers below sea level, the Colorado-based U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter was located at about 70 kilometers South-West of Tanna Island (South Vanuatu) and 190 kilometers east of the island of Maré (which is part of New Caledonia's Loyalty Islands group).

This series of undersea quakes has occurred within a timeframe situated between 11:13 and 16:02 GMT Wednesday, at an average depth of 35 kilometers.
http://www.pacificmagazine.net/news/2008/04/10/whole-lotta-shaking-going-on

edit to add new info

[gtar100]

40. How do earthquakes swarm?

Just asking. Bees swarm. But earthquakes?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

47. like this...

Earthquake swarms are sequences of nearby earthquakes striking in a short period of time. They are differentiated from earthquakes succeed by a series of aftershocks by the observation that no single earthquake in the sequence is obviously the mainshock.

:hi:

[gtar100]

60. Fascinating. I hadn't heard the term before

in reference to earthquakes, nor that earthquakes happen that way. Of course, I live in "safe" Colorado (knock on wood). Fascinating...from a safe distance. Thanks for explaining that.
:hi:

[earth mom]

43. I'm in the PNW. Any more news or links? nt

[Viva_La_Revolution]

48. 5.2 early this morning!

DATE LAT LON MAG DEPTH km REGION
12-APR-2008 12:05:15 43.66 -127.53 5.2 10.0 OFF COAST OF OREGON

http://www.iris.edu/seismon/

latest Oregonian link...
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1207976111181180.xml&coll=7

[WheelWalker]

63. There's another one, same general location. April 13, M4.0, about 22:44 UTC

[darue]

64. still happening today, here's another monitor site link

http://www.iris.edu/seismon/

[WheelWalker]

66. Latest link from the Portland Oregonian on Sunday's events....

http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/04/quakes_continue_off_oregon_coa.html

[IndianaGreen]

67. They are all at the same depth of 10 miles

http://www.iris.edu/seismon/zoom/events/?lon=-128.93&lat=44.74

That's what I find so odd.

[darue]

69. if another cluster starts on the 16ths that'll make a serious pattern I think

since they're all 10, I wonder if maybe 10 is the max they can calculate accurately, meaning they're really 10 or more deep. I wonder if this could be announcing the imminent arrival of another big quake? it's a bit early for one, only been 300 years, but that's long enough on the low end of past frequencies.

[darue]

71. hmmm. actually this turns out to NOT be 'never before seen' ...

"In the last 10 years, I've seen seven of these swarms," Dziak said. "The plate doesn't move in a continuous manner and some parts move faster than others. Every four years or so, a section of the Juan de Fuca Ridge exhibits a large earthquake swarm and lava breaks through onto the seafloor.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/07/040715075917.htm

[XemaSab]

84. That's why they're saying it looks like magma moving

If they start coming from a depth of 9 miles, then 8 miles.... it's time to get worried. :scared:

[leftyclimber]

44. Eep.

Subduction zone earthquake = bad.

But an undersea volcano off Newport would be pretty cool!

-lefty
native Oregonian

[grasswire]

68. more exciting than the spouting horn at Depoe Bay!

It truly would be the Twenty Miracle Miles then.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

45. K&R Juan de Fuca Plate. nt.

[gateley]

54. I just e-mailed the writer

of Saturday's article to ask if they are looking at a connection between this activity and the scarcity of salmon.

[WheelWalker]

57. Thank you. I somehow think this story is just developing!

[gateley]

61. Sounds like it -- Standing by! nt

[cliss]

56. I've been following this story also.

1. There seems to be underwater activity in the Pacific Ocean, West of Oregon. I believe it's about 50 miles west of Port Orford. There is apparently a magma dome building underwater.

2. This has been going on for several years. One article in the Oregonian said that the lava dome has been growing by several feet per day. (LAND?) Related earthquakes.

3. The water has been getting warmer on the OR coast. Several tropical fish have been spotted, most notably some Moor Angel Fish (the kind that lives in Hawaii). Scientists don't know what to make of it.

4. This could have something to do with the salmon disappearance.

[IndianaGreen]

59. These may be unrelated events

Last year there were reports of sunfish spotted off the coast of Northern Ireland which was indicative of the ocean getting warmer. The same could be happening here, and it may have something to do with the disappearance of salmon.

As to the swarm of quakes, they are always related to the movement of magma. In the Cascades, it would be a portent of an upcoming volcanic event.

[fed-up]

65. North-state earthquakes leave cracks in pattern-6 days in Jan-30 quakes-4.4 and 4.7

this is from google cache
http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:K_2mYEJjJ8IJ:www.chicoer.com/opinion/ci_8424471+%22Earlier+this+year,+an+unusual+and+not+completely+explained+swarm%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=us&client=safari
North-state earthquakes leave cracks in pattern


Publication: Chico Enterprise-Record (Chico, CA)
North-state earthquakes leave cracks in pattern

By ROGER H. AYLWORTH - Staff Writer
Article Launched: 03/02/2008 12:00:00 AM PST

Earlier this year, an unusual and not completely explained swarm of earthquakes left a remote section of the north valley trembling. Over a period of six days in January, 30 quakes, ranging in size from imperceptible to a pair with magnitudes of 4.4 and 4.7, were recorded near the western edge of Tehama County.

The biggest of the quakes were of a size to do some damage in an urban environment, but these tremors went largely unnoticed because they were centered 27 miles west of Red Bluff, in an area where the jackrabbit population hugely exceeds the number of human residents.

..
However, the number and upper-end intensity of the tremors didn't go unnoticed by Steve Walter, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park.

The problem is the miniature burst of seismic activity didn't really conform to any established pattern.

He said the quakes didn't seem to be related to the two major faults in the region.

"It wasn't on one of the main faults up there," said Walter.

The Bartlett Springs and Maacama faults run parallel to one another along the western confluence of the Coastal Mountains and the Central

Advertisement

Valley. The fissures in the earth's crust are part of the San Andreas Fault complex that dominates most of California's earthquakes.
At one point, Walter was inclined to think the quake swarm might have been spawned by a mechanism that elsewhere is the force that creates volcanoes.

..snip

[opihimoimoi]

70. Big shelf nearby...a slip means big tsunami...mega level....much death destruction...

Tokyo, Honolulu, and many other cities will be swamped

[kestrel91316]

75. Well, if you get news of a big quake off the OR coast, head up the nearest hill.

[kestrel91316]

73. .......there are no volcanoes in the area...........

Sounds like Mother Nature might be working on that little omission.........

[Rosa Luxemburg]

76. Mount Ranier will blow

[WheelWalker]

77. Mt. Rainer, or Shasta. When they blow around here, they are ginormous. Remember Mazama.

[Tinksrival]

79. One of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen

Crater Lake (Mazama)



The best vacation....driving tour of the Pacific Northwest

St. Helen


Mt.Rainer



I missed Mt. Shasta :(

Guess I better go back!:)

[WheelWalker]

80. Beautiful photos! Those of us who live here and travel around the state

like we're going to the local Wal-Mart, often under appreciate the glory that surrounds us. Did you make the coast? Whenever you can make it, I'll welcome you back.

[Tinksrival]

82. Does this look familiar? Ha Ha!

Thanks for the welcome! We are trying to relocate! Hubby had an interview with a company in Beaverton. We were to fly out for the last and final round last week and the in a surprise move to everyone a major part of the company was sold. :( All hiring suspended.

[Name removed]

81. Deleted message

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