Today we had an earthquake with magnitude M 6.3 in the Gulf of California (GOC). The GOC is formed by transtension (extension along a strike-slip fault system) along the North-America-Pacific plate boundary. Transtension happens when the plate motion across a…
Earthquake Report: Burma!
There was an earthquake in Burma today! The epicenter plotted very close to the Sagaing fault (SF), a major dextral (right-lateral) strike-slip fault system, part of the plate boundary between the India and Eurasia plates. This fault system accommodates much…
Earthquake Report: Cayman Trough!
Just a couple hours ago there was an earthquake along the Swan fault, which is the transform plate boundary between the North America and Caribbean plates. The Cayman trough (CT) is a region of oceanic crust, formed at the Mid-Cayman…
Earthquake Report: Berkeley, CA (Hayward fault)
There was an earthquake last night (local time) in Berkeley, aligned with the Hayward fault. The Hayward fault is one of the synthetic sister faults to the San Andreas fault, the major player in the dextral (right-lateral, strike-slip) plate boundary…
Earthquake Report: Laytonville (northern CA)!
This morning there was a small earthquake in a region of northern California between two major faults that are part of the Pacific-North America plate boundary. The M 4.3 earthquake occurred between the San Andreas fault (SAF) to the west…
Earthquake Report: Caroline Ridge Update #1
Well, there was an earthquake this morning (my time) that may help us select a fault plane solution. Recall that these fault plane solutions (moment tensors and focal mechanisms) have two possible fault planes. We need additional information (like fault…
Earthquake Report: Caroline Ridge
There was an earthquake sequence beginning 2017.12.08 along the northern flank of Caroline Ridge in the western Pacific Ocean, near the intersection of the Mariana and Yap trenches. The two largest earthquakes, M 6.5 and M 6.4, are both strike-slip…
Earthquake Report: Mendocino fault! (northern California)
I was driving around Eureka today, running to the appliance center to get an appliance (heheh). I got a message from a long time held friend (who lives in Salinas, CA). They asked me if I was OK, given that…
#Earthquake Report: North Bismarck plate
Well, what have we here? We have an interesting crustal earthquake in the North Bismarck plate. Why is it interesting? This is an interesting earthquake because of its orientation and mechanism. This region of the world is one of the…
Earthquake Report: Mid Atlantic Ridge (Chain fracture zone)
If there was an earthquake in the middle of the ocean, and nobody felt it… would it still be an earthquake? Maybe we need to get the Karl Popper out for a good read… There was a good sized shaker…