Quake Watch 2012

reply to post by Phage

Actually a refrigerator magnet is quite a bit stronger than the magnetic field of the Earth, which in turn is about 1,000 times stronger than the magnetic field of the Sun by the time it gets to Earth.

Fairy snuff. So are Space Weather telling porkies then or am i misinterpreting what they are saying?

Magnetism not being my interest in itself I just took the data from SW.


I note that Wikipedia has this in the listing

strength used to levitate a frog

eh?

reply to post by PuterMan


Love it. Fairy snuff. IS it legal? When a fairy sneezes, do they zoom backwards.

I'm going to borrow that one.

P

reply to post by PuterMan

As that wiki chart shows, the strength of Earth's magnetic field is measured in microteslas (around 60 or so).

The IMF (the Sun's magnetic field carried by the solar wind) is measured in nanoteslas.

The IMF is a weak field, varying in strength near the Earth from 1 to 37 nT, with an average value of ~6 nT.

spidr.ngdc.noaa.gov...

50 microtesla = 50,000 nanotesla.

I was off a bit. Not 1,000 times stronger, many thousands of times stronger.

reply to post by Phage


However does this answer the question? Are space weather wrong?

Is the strength of the sun 50 gauss (accepting that sunspot local magnetism can be greater than the average). If so then according to Wiki that is the average strength of a fridge magnet.

If that is the case then @580 miliGauss for the earth's field, call that 500 or 1/2 a gauss, then that is 100 times weaker as they said.

I would have to be very surprised if Dr Tony Philips (NASA) was wrong I must say, but stranger things have happened.

(Are we talking about different things here? You are saying the sun's field near the earth and SW are saying the sun's field)

(Are we talking about different things here? You are saying the sun's field near the earth and SW are saying the sun's field)

Yes. And when talking about the effects of the Sun's magnetic field on Earth it makes sense to talk about the strength of that field near Earth.

reply to post by Phage


Good, so we are agreed that Space Weather are not wrong and that what I posted originally was correct?

As regards what we should be talking about then yes I would agree that it makes more sense to talk about the effect of the Sun's magnetic field AT the surface of the earth.


reply to post by pheonix358

Love it. Fairy snuff. IS it legal? When a fairy sneezes, do they zoom backwards.

Definitely legal otherwise it would be against the T & C to post it on ATS. I believe that they have a complex trajectory from a sneeze. Sort up backward and upwards with a little flip at the end.

reply to post by PuterMan

Yup. I suppose I extrapolated your statement to imply that the Sun's magnetic field had some effect on refrigerator magnets. Seeing the Sun's magentic field, Earth's magnetic field, and demagnetization of refrigerator magnets in the same paragraph (on ATS) led me astray.

reply to post by PuterMan

We, the collective, thank you for your thanks. Although nominally this is 'my' thread I can hardly call it that as many make excellent contributions.

Have to say I am a little surprised by that one as I had not earmarked it for a downgrade. Must be slipping!

Oh thank you for that information.

I really do not know how to interpret them, probably it means that the initially magnitude based on measurements from multiple stations didn't match the standards that all listings of the source has it.

"Between an M station and an earthquake stays the human factor that can alter the initial data."

If I remember right, (and my memory was the second thing to go),
I think it was mentioned waaay back on the Arkansas thread maybe,
about refrigerator magnets.

Something about they become demagnetized
right before a nearby earthquake, due to some kind of electrical
disturbance caused by earthquakes???
(Is that why animals can sometimes sense them too?)

So if you hear your magnets hit the floor, RUN!
But that raises more questions!
What kind of damage would that do to electronic equipment???
Especially from a 9! Wonder if it happened in Japan?

OT: Fairies reminded me of something I learned when we were
in Australia in Sept. They call cotton candy Fairy Floss???
The grandkids thought it was so funny!
They'll never be able to floss their teeth again without thinking of it!
WOQ

Magnitude 6.0 - New Britain Region. Papua New Guinea

Location in Google Maps

• Date-Time: Saturday, December 15, 2012 @ 19:30:03 UTC
  
• Earthquake location: 4.724°S, 152.964°E,
  
• Earthquake depth: 55.8 km
  
• Distances:
  29km (18mi) SSW of Taron, PNG
  87km (54mi) ESE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea
  325km (201mi) ENE of Kimbe, Papua New Guinea
  329km (204mi) WNW of Arawa, Papua New Guinea
  824km (512mi) NE of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
  
• Event ID: usc000eacu
  

Derived from Event Data Source: USGS
Powered by QVSData

pretty much shaking today...

reply to post by aLLeKs


Not really. Take a look at T-5 days in my signature.

It is about the same as any other normal day.

I remember reading some theories on large groups of whale's beaching themselves before large earthquakes and just came across this article on yahoo mass squid 'suicides' which talks about a large mass beaching of squid on the coast of California in monterey bay. Now their saying it was because of a red tide type of algae which was disorienting the squid and causing them to come to shore, just wondering if any of y'all thought this might be some sort of precursor to a major quake in that region, I know there was 6.3 off the coast of southern California recently, and this beaching occurred much farther north, anyway just want your thoughts and input

reply to post by RN311

Those theories are nonsense, there are way more earthquakes than there are whale strandings, on a weekly basis, it is just the odds of probability that just after a whale stranding there will be a decent sized earthquake.
Studies here in NZ and Tasmania of whale strandings have shown it mostly ill health that causes a whale (or several whales) to beach, being intellegent creatures they communicate their stress and their pod comes to help, but ends up stranding too.
If the theory was true the worlds beaches would be littered with whales.

Its just coming up to stranding season here in NZ so expect to see some over the next couple of months.
Golden Bay/ Farewell Spit at the top of the South Island is a regular beaching area, due to the shallow runup to the coastline and the tides.

As far as those Humboldt Squid go, I say good riddance, seen a Nat Geo doc on them a while back, they are mass producing in huge number and taking over the entire coast from Mexico to Oregon, quite aggressive predators, depleting the normal stocks of other fish species in the area, I say let the Gulls have em for lunch.

this woke us up

Public ID 2012p947483
Universal Time December 16 2012 at 13:39:27
NZ Daylight Time Monday, December 17 2012 at 2:39:27 am
Latitude, Longitude -41.41, 174.98
Intensity light
Focal Depth 28 km
Magnitude 3.9
Location 25 km south-east of Wellington
Agency WEL(GNS_Primary)
www.geonet.org.nz...

Fault: Wairarapa Fault (scene of the 1855 Mag 8.0)

There was a small swarm of micro 1's and very minor 2's there on the 13th Dec that I was going to say something about here, but thought it of little consequence due to their small size. interactive map of that
Just goes to show the littleuns do count when it comes to prediction.
So do the Geonet analyst's get a kick up the arse for not issuing a warning? (like the Italians did)
If that had been a 6!

I think there is still something bigger brewing for the lower North Island/Cook Strait

If you do look at that map, note the terraced beaches at the point to the SW, thats where the coastline uplifted over time due to subduction earthquakes, the lowest level is from the 1855 quake. Also over in Wellington, where the Airport is was a sea channel and the Miramar Peninsula was an island ( until 1855)

Sulawesi Mag 6.1 - Potsdam

More details when USGS or EMSC come in

F-E Region: Minahassa Peninsula, Sulawesi
Time: 2012-12-17 09:16:30.2 UTC
Magnitude: 6.0
Epicenter: 123.91°E 0.74°S
Depth: 10 km
Status: A - automatic

geofon.gfz-potsdam.de...


Looks like it may not be a Mag 6+. Already reduced to 6.0M by Potsdam. The others will probably come in just under. Can't have too many Mag 6+ this close to the end of the world can we!


EMSC

Magnitude M 6.1
Region SULAWESI, INDONESIA
Date time 2012-12-17 09:16:30.0 UTC
Location 0.77 S ; 123.86 E
Depth 12 km
Distances 693 km NE Makasar (pop 1,321,717 ; local time 17:16:30.5 2012-12-17)
173 km SE Gorontalo (pop 144,195 ; local time 17:16:30.5 2012-12-17)
120 km E Luwuk (pop 47,778 ; local time 17:16:30.5 2012-12-17)

Mm, that will go down I am sure.

Magnitude 6.1 - Sulawesi. Indonesia

Location in Google Maps

• Date-Time: Monday, December 17, 2012 @ 09:16:28 UTC
  
• Earthquake location: 0.709°S, 123.837°E,
  
• Earthquake depth: 18.5 km
  
• Distances:
  119km (73mi) ENE of Luwuk, Indonesia
  163km (101mi) SSE of Gorontalo, Indonesia
  251km (155mi) SSW of Tomohon, Indonesia
  252km (156mi) SSW of Tondano, Indonesia
  889km (552mi) NNW of Dili, East Timor
  
• Event ID: usc000eb6k
  

Derived from Event Data Source: USGS
Powered by QVSData

OK well they did not come in under 6 so I was wrong

Have you guys thought about the possibility that this little swarm off the coast of Sendai are all precursors to a subduction monster??

earthquake.usgs.gov...

I am thinking the same for a long time, but everybody says they are just aftershocks... so since I am not that experienced, I trust the other guys

I asked a friend in France if all these quakes, east of fuk, in the same area, could have anything to do with the runaway cores? I know.... it's a stretch because how could they be so far down? It's just the coincidence of the steady pounding in one area and the proximity to fukushima that bug me. Sort of like what's happening in Louisiana and the gulf blow-out. Anyway, here is what he sent me.



Looks like he thinks it's magma behind the swarm.

Originally posted by Aircooled
I asked a friend in France if all these quakes, east of fuk, in the same area, could have anything to do with the runaway cores? I know.... it's a stretch because how could they be so far down? It's just the coincidence of the steady pounding in one area and the proximity to fukushima that bug me. Sort of like what's happening in Louisiana and the gulf blow-out. Anyway, here is what he sent me.



Looks like he thinks it's magma behind the swarm.

Yikes, what a lot of 'oops' in one post!

First the image. That is the standard image of the Japan cross-section showing the subduction zone and the corresponding volcanic region that is found in every other subduction zone in the world.

Chicken and egg, cart and horse. No it is not magma driven, in that the volcanoes to not drive the subduction but completely the other way round. The volcanic zone is a result of the subducting slab and it's water content.

Here is a relatively easy explanation

Whether it is slab pull or plate push the subducting lithosphere in most subduction zones is subject to periodic swarms. These can be volcanic or megathrust origin and the determination of that will probably be the distance. In this instance these are most certainly megathrust origin as they are right on the subduction zone.

Not quite sure what you mean by 'runaway cores'. As far as I am concerned the cores of the nuclear plants at Fukushima may be/have been in meltdown but I am not aware of any suggestion of a theoretical 'China Syndrome' scenario. A nuclear reactor core is a pretty puny thing compared to the core of the planet! No contest really.

This has absolutely no similarity to Louisiana which is not in a subduction zone, and which to gulf blowout are you referring? There have been many. As far as I am away there are currently no uncontrolled well blowouts amongst the several thousand wells in the Gulf of Mexico.

So what is it that you are suggesting is happening that is similar to Fukushima, if that is what you are saying?