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New Explanation for Slow Earthquakes on San Andreas

By Guest PostJune 28, 2013Environmentcalifornia, continental plate, creep events, fault, fault creep, fault movement, fraction, frictional behavior, geologic hazards, jeff mcguire, matt wei, new explanation, new model, new zealand, per year, post seismic deformation, san andreas, shallower source, short seconds, silent earthquake, slow earthquake, slow slip events, solar powered creepmeter, stable zone, strike slip faults, subduction zone faults, superstition hills, total slip

New Zealand’s geologic hazards agency reported this week an ongoing, “silent” earthquake that began in January is still going strong. Though it is releasing the energy equivalent of a 7.0 earthquake, New Zealanders can’t feel it because its energy is being released over a long period of time, therefore slow, rather than a few short seconds.

These so-called “slow slip events” are common at subduction zone faults – where an oceanic plate meets a continental plate and dives beneath it. They also occur on continents along strike-slip faults like California’s San Andreas, where two plates move horizontally in opposite directions. Occurring close to the surface, in the upper 3-5 kilometers (km) of the fault, this slow, silent movement is referred to as “creep events.” (more…)

WHOI Experts Stress Lessons From Japan Earthquake

By Guest PostMarch 13, 2011Environmentchristchurch, foreshocks, future quakes, japan earthquake, japan quake, japan tsunami, jeff mcguire, jian lin, korean icebreaker r/v araon, mainshock, national earthquake center in menlo park, pacific northwest coast, sanriku, similar quake/tsunami scenario, stress lessons, subduction zone, tokyo and yokohama, vancouver, Vancouver island canada, woods hole oceanographic institution (whoi)

While Japan’s 8.9-magnitude earthquake and accompanying tsunami represent a devastating natural disaster for the country’s residents, scientists should also seize upon the massive temblor as an important learning tool for future quakes around the world, including the Pacific Northwest coast of the United States, according to experts from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

WHOI geophysicist Jeff McGuire said such lessons may be particularly germane to residents of Northern California, Oregon, Washington and Vancouver–a region he said, could be subject to a similar quake/tsunami scenario. “Today’s earthquake happened on a subduction zone thrust fault where the Pacific plate subducts, or dives, under the Japanese islands,” he said. “Japan regularly has large earthquakes and tsunamis all along its east coast due to subduction. (more…)

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New Explanation for Slow Earthquakes on San Andreas

WHOI Experts Stress Lessons From Japan Earthquake