Quake Watch 2010

WTF?
earthquake.usgs.gov...
Magnitude 4.9 - AZORES ISLANDS, PORTUGAL
2010 May 14 13:25:34 UTC

also algeria?

reply to post by jazz10


Is this a problem? The Azores is a very active area - has volcanoes and sits on fault lines.

This event was 72 mile from the nearest habitation.

Algeria - last 400 days (4.5+)

Date/Time UTC,Latitude,Longitude,Magnitude,Depth(Km),Location
14/05/2010 12:29:22,35.9029,4.0316,5.1,10.00,northern Algeria
14/12/2009 06:41:12,32.8400,-0.0440,4.9,10.00,northern Algeria

They do happen, but not very often!


[edit on 14/5/2010 by PuterMan]

Originally posted by PuterMan
reply to post by muzzy

 

Sorry muzzy but they are NOT doing anything. This is exactly what I was saying yesterday. There are several different scales. The ML magnitude is local magnitude and is the Richter scale. The quake was reported using the MM scale the moment of magnitude which is marked as Mb.

I think you need to get your magnitude scales sorted out a bit.

I said yesterday the there is often a difference between ML and Mb scales, and there is. It is not always that the ML is less than the Mb either although it is often the case.

Have a read of the USGS Magnitude policy

If after that you still think they are doing something I would be happy to get a reply for you directly from the horses mouth.

Yeah I understand all that, the > 7 mag quakes are harder to read with Richter and what they are doing with mb, but its still distorting the true size of quakes when one compares to the other 55% of earthquake reporting agencies.

In the last 4 years I have personally felt a 4.8, two 6.0's, and a 7.6 as well as numerous 3's, 4's and 5's and I can assure you I know the difference and can tell within 0.5 what size a quake is when it happens. The intensity ranges from the 4.8ML which was across the other side of Cook Strait 60km away and was like a train coming at you underground and passing by, to the 7.6ML wich was 1000km away at the Kermadec Trench when the whole Planet seemed to wobble for 20 seconds

Take the April 4 Baja M - 7.2 for example, USGS still haven't released any Phase Arrival Data ............. why?

According to GEOFON who reported it as a M -7.0, the average reading in ML was 7.75ML (admittedly only using data from 4 stations)
geofon.gfz-potsdam.de...

Take the May 9 Simeulue, Indonesia quake reported as a 7.2 ..........7.2 what? Looking deeper into the Phase Arrival Data it was 7.2 GS or
mb = 6.7 (174) ML = 6.2 ( 3) mblg = 5.8 ( 4) md = 0.0 ( 0) MS = 7.3 (298)
neic.usgs.gov...
That might explain the lack of aftershocks one would expect from a M 7.2 earthquake, at 6.2ML a couple of low 5's a/s would be about right.

And according to GEOFON it was only a 6.765ML ( taking the average of the ML column using 20 stations)
geofon.gfz-potsdam.de...

So why USGS say it was a 7.2?, why pump it up?

I'm a Phase Arrival Data reader, for me it gives me a more accurate view of a quake. I like my magnitudes in ML so I can relate the size to what I know it feels like.
I like to Split Hairs when it comes to magnitude numbers



[edit on 14-5-2010 by muzzy]

Wake up Kiddies...

Remember the Rainbow in Cali earlier?

earthquake.usgs.gov...
earthquake.usgs.gov...

4.1 2010/05/14 19:33:02 42.232 -126.467 10.0 OFF THE COAST OF OREGON
4.0 2010/05/14 19:10:24 42.264 -126.670 10.0 OFF THE COAST OF OREGON
2.7 2010/05/14 11:59:48 41.140 -125.495 2.5 OFF THE COAST OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
4.1 2010/05/14 01:01:19 42.339 -126.175 10.0 OFF THE COAST OF OREGON
2.7 2010/05/13 22:07:36 40.632 -124.693 9.0 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
5.1 2010/05/13 05:35:11 42.182 -126.475 9.7 OFF THE COAST OF OREGON

reply to post by Hx3_1963


The rainbow coloured clouds were seen in LA.

These quakes are in Northern California.

At any rate, we should be watching Southern California closely.

reply to post by muzzy

Take the May 9 Simeulue, Indonesia quake reported as a 7.2 ..........7.2 what? Looking deeper into the Phase Arrival Data it was 7.2 GS or
mb = 6.7 (174) ML = 6.2 ( 3) mblg = 5.8 ( 4) md = 0.0 ( 0) MS = 7.3 (298)

They did not 'pump it up' they reported it as a 7.2Mw because I remember looking at it, and the Indonesian site reported it as a 7.2 - but did not say which scale although they do tend to use teleseismic moment of magnitude. I am afraid I do not know what the GS reading is apart from being 'G' force, but I have no idea how that relates to magnitude.

I really don't think you can start comparing all these scales and expecting the results to be close or the same. They measure different things.

You say you know what these feel like in terms of Richter magnitude, but that is purely subjective and based on your locale and topography. Someone in Afghanistan or China might not agree with you.

but its still distorting the true size of quakes when one compares to the other 55% of earthquake reporting agencies.

I am sorry but I have to disagree with you. What is the true size of the quake? Is this according to how you perceive these magnitudes? They are not distorting anything as they are reporting the units that they are using and not using one and calling it another.

As far as 55% goes, which 55% would that be? RSOE rarely states any scale, EMSC uses a mixture of ML, Mb, and just plain M. Chile uses a mixture of ML and Mb and Mw, South Africa tends to use ML, etc etc - there is not a great deal of consistency since distance from epicentre makes a difference.

Since ML is used for local magnitudes up to about 600km and Moment of magnitude is used after that I just can't see why you are having a problem?

So if USGS was saying OMG a 7.2, then you might have a point, but since the Indonesians also called it a 7.2 where is your problem.

I think you are trying to see a conspiracy where none exists.

and

MAP 3.0 2010/05/14 19:03:04 45.359 -121.752 5.3 MOUNT HOOD AREA, OREGON

Things are not looking good there!

reply to post by PuterMan


Yep the Indonesians do use Richter (SR, I presume Scale Richter) and I don't know what the GS stands for either but it crops up through all the historical quakes on the USGS data base.
All we need is consistancy, make it one type of scale.
Why put one quake on the list as 7.2Mw and then another later one on the same list as 6.7Ms.

Based on the Dusky Sound, Fiordland quake last year I could have told you right away that it was a very strong quake, probably a high 6, and in fact when info first came out it was listed as a 6.8ML.
Over the next week it got upgraded/revised to 7.2ML
Then the Yanks got hold of it and Mw'd it and Magnituded it and its now listed as a M- 7.6.

I just read another thread with a very interesting theory I would like you check out. Yes, it involves eq genesis and sounds good to me, but I would like your more learned opinions.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by muzzy

All we need is consistency, make it one type of scale.

Win the clock back again? That was where we came from

Now we have lots of scales and that makes it far more difficult for everyone and that is good as it shows that the scientists are earning their grants.

Actually if the Indonesians are using Richter then how come the two were the same @ 7.2? That would make me think they were both using Mw.

Anyway I think we have bored the pants off this one now!

Originally posted by PuterMan
reply to post by muzzy

 

All we need is consistency, make it one type of scale.

Win the clock back again? That was where we came from

Anyway I think we have bored the pants off this one now!

Micro
Very Minor
Minor
Light
Moderate
Strong
Very Strong
Major
Great
Very Great
Epic
then?



There is even argument over those

reply to post by Hx3_1963


We had some interesting looking clouds here today too (PNW), and another sun halo. Now, I am NOT saying that I believe 100% that there is a connection, but if we don't note it when we see it, how are we ever to debunk/prove it?

Edit to add the NOT..DUH....

[edit on 14-5-2010 by westcoast]

Magnitude 3.9 - GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA
earthquake.usgs.gov...

Magnitude 3.9
Date-Time

* Saturday, May 15, 2010 at 03:19:01 UTC
* Friday, May 14, 2010 at 08:19:01 PM at epicenter

Location 34.091°N, 119.066°W
Depth 17.9 km (11.1 miles)
Region GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA
Distances

* 14 km (9 miles) ESE (123°) from Port Hueneme, CA
* 15 km (10 miles) SE (136°) from Oxnard, CA
* 15 km (10 miles) SSW (192°) from Camarillo, CA
* 76 km (47 miles) W (273°) from Los Angeles Civic Center, CA

Magnitude 2.6 - OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
earthquake.usgs.gov...

Magnitude 2.5 - OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
earthquake.usgs.gov...

[edit on 5/15/2010 by Hx3_1963]

Swarm of shallow "minor" quakes 10km off the coast of Whakatane, Bay of Plenty, NZ, just north of Whale Island ( Moutohora) 2-3 hours ago
REF,LAT, LONG, DATE/TIME UTC, DEPTH, MAG
3307273, -37.85, 176.97, 2010/05/15 09:39, 5, 3.5ML
3307282, -37.81, 176.96, 2010/05/15 10:01, 5, 3.1ML
3307293, -37.84, 176.96, 2010/05/15 10:36, 5, 3.1ML
3307299, -37.84, 176.96, 2010/05/15 10:53, 1, 2.9ML

edit to add type of magnitude scale



[edit on 15-5-2010 by muzzy]

On May 14 a 4.1 Quake hits Oregon.

hisz.rsoe.hu...

near a volcano. "North Gorda Ridge Volcano"

Originally posted by muzzy
Data real slow coming in tonight from GNS for 07/05/2010 UTC. (7th-8th NZST)
Something of reasonable size occured in Fiordland or offshore just after lunch Friday NZDT.
All 3 stations down there are showing it.
Will be interesting to see what size they were.

Heres one of them, just for the record , it will be gone by morning.
Wether Hill Rd seismograph

Still nothing in on these quakes, 7 days now
Shouldn't be too far away, I was just checking the NZ lists last night and they have just loaded fresh data for the 3rd May UTC - 43 events 1.672ML to 3.98ML, 9 of them 3+, on the day the catalogue was only showing 1 quake a 3.435ML just N of White Island.
At this rate GNS/GEONET will never get "live quakes" up and running ........... too slow.

Has anyone ever gone back on the USGS/NEIC lists to see if new quakes have been added? ie keep track of what is initially shown and how much they change a week later. I haven't got the time to do it, enough on my hands here in NZ.
I'm just talking about minor/very minor quakes, anything over 4.5 usually stands out on the main 7 day lists.

The results might be surprising, if they do the same as NZ, once I found the Geonet Search page 4 years ago, it freaked me out the number of quakes per day was 40 times what the general public reads on the main lists.


[edit on 15-5-2010 by muzzy]

Originally posted by Austria
On May 14 a 4.1 Quake hits Oregon.

hisz.rsoe.hu...

near a volcano. "North Gorda Ridge Volcano"

Hey cool map, with the rings out of the epicentre.

I wouldn't call 50km "near" though

Region: South of Kermadec Islands
Time: 2010-05-15 19:19:37.6 UTC
Magnitude: 4.9mb
Epicenter: 178.16°W 32.92°S
Depth: 10 km
Status: manually revised

Phase Arrival Data

Heck why not make our own Magnitude Scale? Everyone else is doing it.
Lets call it MML (Muzzys Local Magnitude)
Take the list of ML readings off the phase arrival data add them up and divide by the number of stations.
So in the above quake its URZ 5.3 + OUZ 5.9 + BKZ 5.1 = 16.3 divided by 3 = 5.433MML

Perfectly scientific IMO.

Magnitude 5.8 MINAHASA, SULAWESI, INDONESIA

Date-Time

* Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 00:33:08 UTC
* Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 08:33:08 AM at epicenter
* Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location 0.446°N, 124.632°E
Depth 130.1 km (80.8 miles)
Region MINAHASA, SULAWESI, INDONESIA

Distances 120 km (75 miles) SSW of Manado, Sulawesi, Indonesia
175 km (110 miles) E of Gorontalo, Sulawesi, Indonesia
1620 km (1000 miles) SSE of MANILA, Philippines
2100 km (1310 miles) ENE of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia

Magnitude 5.3 SOUTH OF AFRICA

Date-Time

* Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 01:08:07 UTC
* Sunday, May 16, 2010 at 03:08:07 AM at epicenter
* Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location 51.866°S, 28.253°E
Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
Region SOUTH OF AFRICA

Distances 885 km (550 miles) SW of Marion Island, Prince Edward Islands
2460 km (1530 miles) S of Durban, South Africa