Four major quakes strike South Pacific

[Divine Discontent]

Source: CNN

For the fourth time in less than 11 hours, a major earthquake rocked the South Pacific Ocean near the island nation of Vanuatu on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
Thursday's quakes struck near Vanuatu in the South Pacific.

They were part of a series of 16 moderate-to-major quakes that rattled the region over the same period.

The first three major quakes struck in a 70-minute cluster beginning at 9:03 a.m. (6:03 p.m. ET Wednesday). The fourth temblor hit Thursday evening at 7:29 p.m. (4:28 a.m. ET).

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center on Hawaii issued and then quickly retracted a regional tsunami warning and watch for parts of the Pacific near the first earthquake's epicenter. The quakes that followed prompted no such warnings.

Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/08/pacific.earthquakes/

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6.5, 6.7, 7.3, 7.7 earthquake hits.

can't imagine dealing with that day after day

[SpiralHawk]

1. Whoa, Nelly

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. Massive Earthquakes weaken distant faults

the science and data:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=228x57406

[tekisui]

5. Help me understand.

Weakening distant faults makes them more or less likely to produce a large quake?

[Ichingcarpenter]

6. The wave rumbles through the earth and screws up fault lines

?n=3896



Fenglin Niu from Carnegie, who also took part in the research, said: "So it is possible that the strength of faults and earthquake risk is affected by seismic events on the other side of the world."

For example a comet or astroid hitting the world is like a bullet striking
a brain the real damage is done on the opposite side. That is is an extreme example of the physics involved. The solidest of the earth's crust vs the mantle's interaction is what is considered into the probability of effect on very major quakes on other fault lines.


http://www.rdmag.com/Environment-Recent-tsunami-reflects-the-wake-of-its-distant-ripples/

[Soylent Brice]

3. Mom is PISSED.

[Odin2005]

4. What the hell!?!

WTF is up with the subduction zones down there?

[AlienGirl]

11. Toba's got indigestion again, maybe?

:shrug:

[kestrel91316]

12. Toba or a sibling. I noticed the cluster in CA this week all in the exact same

spot - Toba Jr?? Too close to the Long Valley Caldera for comfort.

[gauguin57]

7. Holy mama ... look at the angry red dots on the earthquake map!

[Divine Discontent]

8. if that hit Melbourne, Paris, Rio, Tokyo, LA we'd have major catastrophe

quite concerned for Cali, imo... I think it's due for even 1 big one, of course, I quite hope I'm wrong.

[Demeter]

9. Overdue, They Said, When I Was There in '89

Since I'm NOT there any more...so long, Hayward Fault!

[Divine Discontent]

10. yikes... it is scary.

I was visiting N. Cali last year, and on my first day, a small tremor hit directly below the small town I was in, first in years in that exact 3-mile area they said - well isn't that nice I thought!

[Xithras]

14. Loma Prieta never had its chaser quake.

One thing many people aren't aware of, including many in the Bay Area, is that large quakes in this region tend to come in pairs. The general assumption is that one massive quake dramatically increases pressure on neighboring faults, triggering a second quake.

An 1836 6.7 Hayward quake was followed by an 1838 7.0 on the San Andreas
An 1865 6.5 on the San Andreas was followed by an 1868 7.0 on the Hayward
An 1892 6.5 on the Midland fault (Vacaville) was followed five years later by an 1898 5.5 quake on the Hayward.
The infamous 1906 8.25 on the San Andreas was followed by a 6.5 on the Calaveras five years later.

The Loma Prieta quake, a 1989 7.1 on the San Andreas should have triggered a 6.0+ secondary quake on the Hayward by 1995, but it never happened. That has a lot of people worried.

[Bearware]

13. You want early warning - this is it - get your earthquake kits together

The monster 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake that generated the tsunami had a magnitude of between 9.1 and 9.3, it is the second largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. I have suspected for a long time that the number of large quakes in the last few years are just the readjustments following the big boy.

It also looks to me like they have been on average moving slowly to the west. It is not a guarantee but it would be a damn good time to get your earthquake stuff in order particularly if you live in California. The San Andreas is locked and loaded so we are due. 2004 has got to have upped the pressure.
:scared:

[Thor_MN]

15. Just pre-shocks to conservative head explosions due to Obama Nobel Peace Prize

[defendandprotect]

16. Global Warming will increase earthquakes . . .

that was reported by the Pentagon quite some time ago to Bush --

among other catastrophic events, such as increased hurricane activity, cyclones,

tornadoes - floods, droughts --

But -- HEY, WE FOUND WATER ON THE MOON SO I GUESS WE'RE ALL GOING THERE!!!!

:eyes: