Oregon coast EQ swarm in subduction zone.

Doing my daily check on the USGS site for anything anomolous, and I see this:

earthquake.usgs.gov...

Which is pretty odd. There are usually quite a few quakes out in the rift area of the Juan de Fuca plate, but rare to have anything in the subduction zone, let alone a small swarm like that.

Checking historical in that area:

earthquake.usgs.gov...

you see that that specific area is NOT prone to activity at all.

With the recent re-warning about the Cascadia quake hazard, and that the southern zone is more likely to rupture, this seems.... odd.

Anyone with more thoughts on this? The larger quakes have been about 29km deep, which is just about the depth of where the plates meet at that point.

Danno

reply to post by MoparDanno



someone else posted a theread today about a swarm in Alaska, hope they are not connected. know nothing about geography.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by tluna1



Yes,

I had checked that thread out to see if it was in relation before I posted mine.

Those quakes are happening in the South East Pacific, down by Australia. Probably about 7000-9000 miles away

I do not think they are related.

Thanks though!

Danno

I've been watching the swarms near Mono Lake & south of Mexicali
and noticed the Oregon swarm. Worrisome? Not sure, but I live
in southern Cali so my ears are pricked up.

Calling TrueAmerican!

reply to post by MoparDanno


lets say they were in alaska, and oregon, what would happen if both places had a small quake at the same time?

This swarm was mentioned in this thread-

West Coast USA: Pay Attention, Cascadia May Be Ready to Rupture

abovetopsecret.com

The comments at the bottom of the page may answer some questions.

Bring it on! Tired of waiting for the big one. Only 60 miles from the Oregon coast, I'm sure it would be a wild ride here. Kudos from fellow Mopar fan.

reply to post by tluna1


Well,

I am far from a professional, more of a hobbyist but IMO anything that happens in the Alaska area is unlikely to have a direct effect in this specific area. There are no direct plate connections, and the rift/subduction zones are not connected.

Plus, where most of the Alaska activity happens, the Aleutian island chain, is quite a ways away from where this is happening. By faultline at least 2-3000 miles, and as the crow flies 1000-1500 miles or so.

Now if a swarm were to happen off the Washington coast too, or even the southern BC Canada coast, then I would be paying even more attention. Same plates, same subduction zone.

Danno

reply to post by PacificBlue


thank you it did, hope nothing happens

Originally posted by PacificBlue
This swarm was mentioned in this thread-

West Coast USA: Pay Attention, Cascadia May Be Ready to Rupture

abovetopsecret.com

The comments at the bottom of the page may answer some questions.

Hmm, that seems to raise as many questions as it answers IMO.

Thanks for the heads up on that link!

Danno

Originally posted by Yngvarr
I've been watching the swarms near Mono Lake & south of Mexicali
and noticed the Oregon swarm. Worrisome? Not sure, but I live
in southern Cali so my ears are pricked up.

Calling TrueAmerican!

TA here!

Yes, I have been tracking that swarm south of Mono Lake too. But it is NOTHING compared to what has been experienced in 1989, for example. That was a swarm that had some scientists seriously scared, and lasted for some eight months! So as long as the quakes stay small, and relatively moderate rate of occurrence, I don't think there's too much to worry about. But staying vigilant is important!

As to the Oregon quakes, the link referenced to my other thread does explain, that we can't really trust them as accurate, because they get moved so often out to sea from that very spot. It has to do with the problem that seismometers are on land, and these are out at sea, so they are very hard to constrain, and to gauge accurate depth on. I mentioned to ATS member Olivine to contact John Vidale, who is a member here, and director of the very network that posts those quakes for further opinion on them. It is rare that small swarms lead to mega quakes, but it is not unheard of. Japan 9+ being an example.

It does raise some questions. It is always a good idea to keep an eye on that area, as it will become very active at some point in the future. Hopefully not soon.

reply to post by TrueAmerican


Thanks for the info TA!

I have been watching the westcoast for 5+ years and never noticed a swarm like that before in that area, so that is what caused me to "twitch". I live in the Seattle area so I tend to keep a pretty close eye on stuff like that

Danno

reply to post by MoparDanno


Heh, well don't get me wrong, I am concerned, very concerned about that swarm too. The problem is I repeatedly got nailed for commenting on them when the quakes just disappeared from that spot and reappeared 180+ km out to sea. So in effect what I am saying, is, I want confirmation from John that they are STICKING with those quakes as ACCURATE, BEFORE we comment at all. Experience hurts. So no more pain for me, at least not from that spot! Live and learn.

And of course I saw them. Been wanting to put up a comment about it IN the other thread. But again, not so fast. Just gonna have to wait some days probably, maybe not, we'll see. Give some time, and we'll have some answers.

Hi TA! I can't recall the last time John posted. I would think he would have been on here today because of the MSM articles on the 40% chance of an earthquake in Oregon.

Could this swarm be associated with the lava follow that had been happening off shore Oregon? As I recall it is in the general area.
Undersea volcano eruption found off Oregon Coast

Originally posted by AuntB
Hi TA! I can't recall the last time John posted. I would think he would have been on here today because of the MSM articles on the 40% chance of an earthquake in Oregon.

Could this swarm be associated with the lava follow that had been happening off shore Oregon? As I recall it is in the general area.
Undersea volcano eruption found off Oregon Coast

Hiya Auntie!
That's actually a very good suggestion, but unfortunately the Axial Seamount is not quite in the same place at all, as where this swarm is being INITIALLY reported. The Axial Seamount is on the plate boundaries some 500 km or more from there, way out at sea to the northwest of the "swarm" location.

Trust me on this folks, it has happened before plenty and I am witness to it. Until there is word from John, or until some time has passed, best not to make calls on this "swarm" at all. Cause it may just get moved.

Update:

I wrote to John Vidale, asking if they were sticking with epicenter locations/depths, and here is his response:

Depths are highly uncertain, epicentral locations are about right.

John

from cell

So seeing as Olivine was the first to publicly point this out in my other thread, look for more comments there. I feel that is fair.

reply to post by TrueAmerican



Agreed!

I will move over there as well. Thanks again for the information.

Danno

reply to post by TrueAmerican


“Normally, the Cascadia Subduction Zone is very, very quiet,” Goldfinger said. “Chatter I’ve heard among seismologists, they think they’re pretty deep in the Juan de Fuca slab. But no one would stick their neck out and say what they think they mean.”
www.currypilot.com...

the article here has gotten many people spooked. We have a friend who decided to move right now, she put her house up for sale based on this alone!

I checked the inundation map for Crescent City CA our town Del Norte County Ca, it shows our house would have water on all sides but dry....wonder how trustworthy that is? It shows all roads out of town would be flooded.


"A suite of tsunami source events was selected for modeling, representing realistic
local and distant earthquakes and hypothetical extreme undersea, near-shore landslides
(Table 1). Local tsunami sources that were considered include offshore reverse-thrust
faults, restraining bends on strike-slip fault zones and large submarine landslides
capable of significant seafloor displacement and tsunami generation"

www.conservation.ca.gov... te.pdf