Aleutian earthquake swarms

[techweenie]

There seems to be a big batch of earthquakes going on now in the Aleutians.

Any seismologists here? Is this preventing the Big One or presaging it?

http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/eventmap.html

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.php

[HardDrive]

There is an active volcano in the Aleutians at the moment. Related?

[charleskieffner]

yes i have a geology background and my close friend has his masters in geology. after visiting st. helens, and on the big island of hawaii, all the latest data is that earthquakes(seismic activity) are a precursor to volcanic activity. this was first found to be the case w/the volcano outside mexico city. all known fault lines in s.calif are set-up now with lasers to detect the slightest movement. and as money is available all volcanos in areas close to major cities are getting lasers. the most dangerous cities in the world for a catastrophic event w/heavy loss of life are..........mexico city, naples and seattle washington. from sat. photos they have found ions ago that the pyroclastic flows from outside seattle all flowed into pudget sound! and guess whats in the way! seattle! flying over mt lassen(active) helens(active)ranier(active)hood(active) you can see how flows over the ions have spread out.

as far as alaska is concerned it to is in the "ring of fire" which runs from chile in s.america up to alaska and down below japan. if an event of say 6.5 -8.5 occurs, the big island of hawaii has roughly 5-6 hrs before possible tsunami occurs with HILO in the cross hairs!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

It's only SEATTLE guys. . .

[charleskieffner]

oh yeah forgot to mention this small tidbit of historical seismic activity for the NW area including SEATAC. on the olympic peninsula evidence of HUGE tsunami washing ashore evidenced by sedimentation found. this lil problem of tsunamis is evident also on the big island of hawaii on the kealakaukua side(west facing) sedimentation reaches almost 4700 ft elevation above sea level. ie. sand shells etc. 4700 ft wave! SURFS UP! bring yer long stick! so for you seattle guys its a triple threat.............pick yer poison! earthquake,volcanic pyroclastic flows, or a tsunami!

[singpilot]

Staying on my boat in SoCal when I am there, I have been a member of the Tsunami Warning Network for many years (long before it bacame popular). I get a cell text message and an email every time the Net is activated. For every 50 messages (usually an earthquake of over 4.0 magnitude somewhere in the Pacific Basin), there are 1 or 2 'alerts', followed pretty quickly by a canc of the alert. Have never had a 'warning'. The alerts always include an expected arrival time in Los Angeles. The note that is included, even in the canc message is that 'small sea level changes could occur'.

The last month or so has actually been quiet by Aleutian standards.

In fact, while typing this, I got one for a 4.0 40 miles NW of Monterey and 65 miles SW of San Fran. No alert, just an advisory.

[charleskieffner]

if you ever get to hilo,hawaii..............a must see is the tsunami museum! real interesting and informative!

[azasadny]

I was out at Mt Hood in Oregon when Mt St Helens went off in 1980. I heard the other day that Mt St Helens is building another rock dome and activity is increasing. I wonder if Mt Hood will get involved this time?

[JTO]

I was on Adak Island in 1997 doing work for the Navy as they decommissioned the base there. While collecting some equipment from a plane, I turned around and saw our Suburban rocking like crazy. I thought, "what kind of giant can rock that Suburban like that", thinking it was one of my coworkers. Then I felt vertigo and realized we were having one heck of an earthquake. It registered 7.7. No real damage but man, that was freaky. The Aleutians are so active that it is extremely common to have earthquakes. Usually there are active volcanoes somewhere along the chain.
Troy

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Hm...too bad we missed the Hilo tsunami museum when we were there. Didn't even know it existed. Next time, I guess!

[scottmandue]

Ring of fire baby... earthquakes every day... SOP.

Nothing to see here, move along, move along...

PBS did a good documentary on Seattle's precarious position.
And the Oregon coast is pretty much "$hit out of luck" in the event of a tsunami... we have a good system to detect them however most of the coast have no place to escape to.

I like Hilo, not much to do there but very laid back and close to the volcano. I remember my first visit there and I wondered why the town was so far away from the ocean, and what is up with all these polls with the sirens? Then you read the signs.

[techweenie]

Originally posted by scottmandue
Ring of fire baby... earthquakes every day... SOP.

Nothing to see here, move along, move along...

Yes and no. There were something like 50 quakes in a 10-hour period yesterday. A bit more than usual.

My suspicion is that more little ones may help prevent a biggie at that site. The question is, to they transfer more stress along to the next spot in the plate?

[charleskieffner]

all depends on fault and what kind of plate slippage. your basic calif. type is one plate being driven under the other and one rising above causing displacement. quakes in chile,alaska,japan have all caused tsunamis in hawaii. calif,oregon,wash, alaska have been hit by tsunami's primarily by undersea quakes at great depths.

kealakakua bay south of kona on big island had its BIG JUAN due to sloughing off of weak lava material into ocean. the killer ones that hit hilo were all caused by seismic activity in alaska and chile.

when in any of these areas, it is not a joke if the siren goes off! if in rural area say camping and suddenly water goes out an incredible distance and BIG FISH ARE FLOPPING EVERYWHERE.................DO NOT GO AFTER BIG FISH!!!! RUN LIKE HELL TO HIGHER GROUND ASAP IF NOT FASTER! a tsunami travels roughly 600mph! if on a ship in the ocean directly in its path, you may feel a sudden rise in the ship, not really noticed. but when wave comes into shallow water thats when it picks up strength and all hell breaks loose!

the before and after pics of hilo are incredible! it is going to happen again.............its just where and when????