judithgeology

judithgeology, 16 days ago to random

A M5.1 earthquake shook the Indonesian islands of Lombok and Bali in the afternoon of May 14. People evacuated their homes - probably remembering the twin M6.9 earthquakes that struck in 2018. This quake seems to be an aftershock of that sequence.

Read more on our blog: https://earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/m51-earthquake-shakes-indonesian

judithgeology, 1 month ago to random

A deadly M7.4 earthquake struck Taiwan yesterday - the largest event in over 20 years. We take a deeper look at the science behind Taiwan's tectonics and seismicity in our latest post.

https://earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/deadly-m74-earthquake-strikes-taiwan

judithgeology, 3 months ago to random

One year ago, two large earthquakes struck Türkiye, killing nearly 60,000 people. In the year since, >18,000 aftershocks have been recorded, and 150 geology and engineering studies published.

What have we learned? We look back - and forward - in our latest post: https://earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/one-year-after-the-february-6-turkiye

judithgeology, 3 months ago to random

Earthquake swarm in Hawaii!

According to the Hawaii Volcano Observatory: "At this time, it is not possible to say [...] if this activity will lead to an eruption; the activity may remain below ground. [A]n eruption [...] is one potential outcome."

https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/news/kilauea-volcano-activity-notice-status-upgrade-orangewatch-elevated-unrest-0

judithgeology, 4 months ago to random

In Tokyo, it isn't the little, deep earthquakes that should worry people (like yesterday's M4.9).

It's the big, shallow events - like the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, which killed ~105,000 people.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jun/12/this-is-not-a-what-if-story-tokyo-braces-for-the-earthquake-of-a-century

judithgeology, 4 months ago to random

A M5.6 earthquake struck Colombia today. Earthquake patterns in region reveal all kinds of fascinating tectonic behaviors! Unfortunately, there are a LOT of earthquakes here, over a wide area - meaning many people at risk.

Read more on our blog: https://earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/m56-earthquake-strikes-below-colombia

judithgeology, 4 months ago to random

Lake Baikal: not just the world's largest, but also its oldest freshwater lake. Why? It sits on an active continental rift!

Guess how fast that rift is pulling apart - and then read the post to find out how wrong Wikipedia is!

https://earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/m54-earthquake-below-lake-baikal

judithgeology, 4 months ago to random

A M6.4 earthquake occurred deep below Afghanistan today. A similar earthquake occured in March, killing 21 people. Actually, this location produces a LOT of large earthquakes. Why? Apparently the underlying slab is tearing itself apart!

Read more on our blog: https://earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/m64-shakes-afghanistan-and-neighboring

judithgeology, 4 months ago to random

We can "see" earthquakes ~100,000x better in Japan than in most parts of the world - and the story in the decades prior to the recent M7.5 is astounding. What is the relationship of the earthquakes and swarms to the recent damaging quake?

Read more on our blog:

https://earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/seismicity-patterns-around-the-jan

judithgeology, 4 months ago to random

Why do large earthquakes occur along Japan's western coast, even though the subduction zones are to the east? In our latest post, we explore the tectonics to understand damaging events like the January 1 M7.5 below the Noto Peninsula.

Read more:

https://earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/tectonics-of-the-january-1-2024-m75

judithgeology, 4 months ago to random

Los Angeles welcomed the new year with M4.1 and M4.2 earthquakes - enough to rattle, but still small. The most recent M4.2 occurred at the junction of the San Jacinto and San Andreas faults. The San Jacinto has been surprisingly noisy - see the zones of red in the map below!

judithgeology, 4 months ago to random

A M7.5 earthquake struck western Japan today, collapsing buildings & triggering a tsunami.

Most large earthquakes occur with no warning, but this fault has been noisy for over 3 years: an evolving swarms and a M6.2 in May. And now a M7.5!

Read more on our blog: https://earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/m75-earthquake-strikes-western-japan

judithgeology, 4 months ago to random

Today's M7.5 earthquake in Japan occurred at the northeast tip of the Noto Peninsula - a location that has been persistently producing earthquakes since 2020, including a M6.2 in May, which we wrote about here:

https://earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/m62-shallow-thrust-in-western-japan

We have removed the paywall on that post, and are working on a new post for this new quake.

judithgeology, 5 months ago to random

A M5.8 earthquake occurred a few hours ago southeast of Mexico City. Not much damage, but interesting tectonics: the subducting slab is flat to the SW and bends down steeply to the NE. That bending seems to be capable of causing large, sometimes damaging earthquakes. Read more on our blog!

https://earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/m58-earthquake-shakes-mexico-city

judithgeology, 6 months ago to random

All eyes are on Iceland - ground deformation reveals that magma is inflating Svartsengi, and seismicity continues.

But what do the earthquakes actually look like down there? We created an animated 3D movie to illustrate.

Blog post: https://earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/animated-3d-model-of-volcanic-seismicity

Model: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/volcanic-earthquakes-near-grindavik-iceland-52b8fc8c74c94dceaeabb852dea4046b

judithgeology, 6 months ago to random

A seismic swarm is ongoing in Iceland; it seems likely that Fagradalsfjall will erupt again. If so, this will be the 4th eruption since 2021.

Why do earthquakes occur here, and what can we learn by mapping seismicity in space and time?

Read our new post: https://earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/volcanic-earthquakes-in-iceland

judithgeology, 7 months ago to random

After the third earthquake in Afghanistan, we wrote: "Doublets are rare, triplets are rarer. There is no reason to think that there couldn’t be a quaduplet."

Well, a fourth M6.3 struck Afghanistan today. Scientific data are limited, but it looks like progressive eastward rupture.

Read more on our blog:

https://earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/fourth-m63-earthquake-strikes-afghanistan

judithgeology, 7 months ago to random

Our blog has reached 1k subscribers! We are excited to continue to share insights into earthquakes and earthquake science with people around the world.

Subscribing is free; paid subscribers can read the archive. We hope to eventually take down the paywall.

earthquakeinsights.substack.com