Tag Archives: Earthquake

Uzbekistan Earthquake

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Strong earthquake in Eastern Uzbekistan damages buildings

Last update: May 25, 2013 at 3:38 pm by By

– Many buildings in Toy-Tepa were damaged by this quake. Witnesses report cracks in many houses there, some of the houses were completely destroyed, as local newspapers are reporting. So far there are no information about injuries.

– From user input, there has been 2 reports of major cracks in houses, and 1 that the power is out. Internet however not.

– Good news – the earthquake has been felt IV-V in Tashkent. This means that there will be likely less damage than first thought.

– According to Uzbekistan Seismology, the earthquake occurred 32km south of Tashkent, and 7 km from Toy-Tepa.

Screen Shot 2013-05-25 at 17.37.05

Expected shaking based on the M5.6 Magnitude of USGS. The final Magnitude was set by the Uzbek seismologists to M5.2, seriously weaker and having a lesser impact than this image shows

– A strong earthquake occurred in Eastern Uzbekistan. It is expected that there will be damage.
It has been given a M5.2 locally, at a depth of 12km.
This earthquake is a bit to the south of Tashkent according to the hypocenters.

Screen Shot 2013-05-25 at 17.36.40

Expected shaking values of the most important locations near the epicenter

Expected shaking values of the most important locations near the epicenter

It has hit right by Tashkent. We should remind viewers of the 1966 earthquake which destroyed much of Tashkent and had the same magnitude but was 3-8km in depth and right under Tashkent – 10 were killed, 1000 injured, 100000 homeless where 28000 buildings collapsed. It is important to note that the USSR figures of this event have never been properly corrected.

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 5.3

Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-05-25 03:18:35

GMT/UTC Time : 2013-05-24 22:18:35

Depth (Hypocenter)  : 10 km

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2013/05/24/strong-earthquake-eastern-uzbekistan-on-may-24-2013/

Northern California Earthquake

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Strong earthquake in an merely unpopulated are in northern California

Last update: May 24, 2013 at 8:19 am by By

A couple of aftershocks up to M 4.9 occured. There are so far no reports of any structural damage.

The populated areas Greenville, Westwood and Chester (5000 inhabitants in total) may have felt a MMI V moderate shaking.
39000 people may have felt a light shaking.

Shaking map of the epicenter are

Shaking map of the epicenter are

9000 people may have felt a moderate shaking based on USGS experience reports, this means that this earthquake can be labeled “harmless” for serious damage and injuries.
The many I Have Felt It reports which can be read in this site are confirming the USGS numbers.

11km (7mi) WNW of Greenville, California
43km (27mi) SW of Susanville, California
60km (37mi) NE of Magalia, California
67km (42mi) NE of Paradise, California
159km (99mi) NW of Carson City, Nevada

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 5.7

Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-05-23 20:47:07

GMT/UTC Time : 2013-05-24 03:47:07

Depth (Hypocenter)  : 10 km

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2013/05/24/strong-earthquake-northern-california-on-may-24-2013-2/

Huge Earthquake — Russia

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Massive earthquake in Russia’s far east – Felt in Moscow and parts of China, India and Japan

Last update: May 24, 2013 at 11:25 am by By

– A large crack also appeared in a bridge in Jakutsk in eastern Siberia, only 1500 km west of the epicenter. Samara and Moscow are more than 6000 km east of the epicenter.

– Some damage reports arrive from Moskow and Samara, where a few buildings cracked. One building in Samara suffered major damage.
In St. Petersburg, one person was sick due to the shaking of the office tower.

– An other country, feeling this quake, is Kazakhstan. 20 people in Uralsk in western part of the country reported authorities they felt it.

– Seems that this quake was felt over the whole Eurasian plate. Russian media report that also some people in Romania felt it. We received reports from Finland and Denmark and a perso from Italy gave their report to ESMC.
In St. Peterburg one more building was evacuated. Both towns, Moscow and St. Petersburg, usually do not have any earthquakes. So people are frightened if it happenes.
There are still no news about damage from Kamtchatka. But usually those buildings widestand larger intensities than V, so no heavy damage is expected.

– Many parts of China were also affected by the quake. People from different provinces said they felt the quake, among them Heilongjiang, Gansu, Hubei, Chongqing, Jiangsu and Sichuan. No damage was reported from China.

– In Moscow at least two offica buildings were evacuated due to the quake. Several hundred people had to leave their workplace for some time. There are no damages reported, but some people in Moscow said they experienced an aftershock. No quake was registered around Moskow.

– Now a reader from Finland told us that this quake was felt there.

– No tsunami was registered on russian coast so far and the tsunami warning was lifted.
Russian newspaper confirm that this quake was also felt in St. Petersburg on Baltic Sea.

– We also received reports of people in Alaska and Canada who might have felt this quake. If you also felt it, please tell us.
So far, there are no reports of damage from Kamtchatka. There it was felt with moderate intensity. Also parts of western Siberia experienced a moderate shaking. People in Moskow and Tomsk report a weak shaking.
India and Japan also experienced only a weak shaking.

– In Petropavlosvsk this quake caused panic. People ran out of their buildings, schools were evacuated.

– The earthquake was felt in many parts of Russia, including Siberia and Moscow. Also people in Japan and India felt this quake. There is a tsunami warning for the russian pacific coasts.

– There exists a very very low tsunami threat from this M8.2 off Kamchatka if the 600km depth is correct.

– The cool subducting plate off the Pacific, slowly moves down into the mantle, and these bits of old crust can still be brittle enough to make big earthquakes, even 600km down.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

   ORIGIN TIME - 0745 PM HST 23 MAY 2013
   COORDINATES - 54.7 NORTH  153.4 EAST
   LOCATION    - SEA OF OKHOTSK
   MAGNITUDE   - 8.2  MOMENT

EVALUATION

 BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI IS
 NOT EXPECTED AND THERE IS NO TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII. REPEAT. A
 DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI IS NOT EXPECTED AND THERE IS NO
 TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII.

THIS WILL BE THE ONLY STATEMENT ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS
ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED.

USGS gives this massive earthquake with M 8.2, luckily in a relatively safe depth of more than 600 km.

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 8.3

Local Time (conversion only below land) : Unknown

GMT/UTC Time : 2013-05-24 05:44:48

Depth (Hypocenter)  : 605 km

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2013/05/24/massive-earthquake-sea-of-okhotsk-on-may-24-2013/

Strong Earthquake Off Chile

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Very Strong earthquake far out of the Chile coast

Last update: May 20, 2013 at 12:03 pm by By

Screen Shot 2013-05-20 at 2.01.11 PMA very strong earthquake struck in the transform zone of the West Chile Rise. No danger for a tsunami.

590km (367mi) WSW of Puerto Quellon, Chile
600km (373mi) WSW of Chonchi, Chile
610km (379mi) WSW of Castro, Chile
618km (384mi) W of Puerto Aisen, Chile
1532km (952mi) SSW of Santiago, Chile

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 6.8

Local Time (conversion only below land) : Unknown

GMT/UTC Time : 2013-05-20 09:57:53

Depth (Hypocenter)  : 10 km

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2013/05/20/very-strong-earthquake-west-chile-rise-on-may-20-2013/

Honshu, Japan Earthquake 4/12

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Very dangerous earthquake hits Sumoto, Honshu, Japan

Last update: April 12, 2013 at 9:09 pm by By

 

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 5.7 ; M6.0 JMA

Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-04-13 05:33:18

GMT/UTC Time : 2013-04-12 20:33:18

Depth (Hypocenter)  : 10 km

Update 21:11 UTC : Based on our experience with Japanese earthquakes, earthquake-report.com considers JMA 5+ intensity as a potentially dangerous shaking. This earthquake has been labeled with an intensity 6-, which is clearly above the ER damage level.
6-    Awaji-shi Gunge*, Awaji-shi Shizuki*
5+    Minami-awaji-shi Hirota*, Minami-awaji-shi Minato* and Awaji-shi Kuruma*

Update 21:08 UTC : NO tsunami alert is called by JMA Japan

Update 21:06 UTC : The full Awaji Island area has 157,000 people.
Kobe was obviously the most famous earthquake that was around this area in 1995.
With M6 and 5.3km depth, the USGS shakemap shows intensity VIII shaking and around $10 million damage.

Update 20:57 UTC : Sumoto, the city very close to the earthquake epicenter has approx. 50000 inhabitants

A strong earthquake has hit onshore of M6.0 and shallow.
JMA intensities of up to 6- are possible – which would cause damage near the epicenter. More to follow.

Dangerous intensity locations as provided by JMA Japan

Dangerous intensity locations as provided by JMA Japan

9km (6mi) NW of Sumoto, Japan
20km (12mi) NNE of Fukura, Japan
28km (17mi) SSW of Akashi, Japan
32km (20mi) NE of Naruto, Japan
465km (289mi) WSW of Tokyo, Japan

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2013/04/12/strong-earthquake-near-s-coast-of-western-honshu-on-april-12-2013/

3/14 California Earthquake Near Geysers Geothermal Project

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Moderate earthquake close to Cobb Mountain and The Geysers geothermal project, Northern California

Last update: March 14, 2013 at 6:22 pm by By

Preliminary Magnitude M4.6 at a shallow depth of 2 km.
The epicenter area is mainly a wilderness area, with only some isolated houses.
We do not expect any damage because of the relatively big distance to the nearest villages (considering the Magnitude).
This area has no historic record (since 1900) of a major earthquake.
Cobb (2000 inhabitants) is expected to have experienced a light shaking and Cloverdale (9000 inhabitants) a weak shaking. Other locations in the area a very weak shaking, probably only felt by a very limited number of people.
Santa Rosa : a (theoretically) “not to be felt” shaking

Northern California earthquake March 14 2013

5km (3mi) WSW of Cobb, California
21km (13mi) SW of Clearlake, California
23km (14mi) NNE of Healdsburg, California
29km (18mi) N of Windsor, California
115km (71mi) WNW of Sacramento, California

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 4.2

Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-03-14 02:09:00

GMT/UTC Time : 2013-03-14 09:09:00

Depth (Hypocenter)  : 4 km

Update 18:20 UTC : We have pulled the following “I Have Felt It” report out of the many we received as it came from the epicenter area itself :

March 14, 2013 I awoke to the worst shaking and rumbling I have felt in the 8 and half  years that I have been living in Cobb California.  I am used to the shaking but this was different.  For the first time I wondered if I should get out of the house. There was a second shaking 5 to 10 seconds later and rumbling in the distance for 30 seconds more.

Update 11:41 UTC : It looks like this earthquake has some links with the geothermal project at the nearby The Geysers. The extremely shallow location of the hypocenter (2 km) is another indication of this theory.
Read carefully the text of The Geysers below as we might have set a record today.

The Geysers
The Geysers is a complex of 22 geothermal power plants, drawing steam from more than 350 wells, located in the Mayacamas Mountains 72 mi (116 km) north of San Francisco, California. The largest in the world, the Geysers has 1517 MW[1] of active installed capacity with an average production factor of 63% (955 MW).Calpine Corporation operates and owns 19 of the 22 active plants in the Geysers and is currently the United States’ largest producer of geothermal energy. Two other plants are owned jointly by the Northern California Power Agency and the City of Santa Clara’s municipal Electric Utility(now called Silicon Valley Power). The Bottle Rock Power plant owned by the US Renewables Group was expected to be reopened in 2007. Another plant is under development by Ram Power Corp, formerly Western Geopower, with operation set to begin in 2010. Since the activities of one geothermal plant affects those nearby, the consolidation of plant ownership at The Geysers has been beneficial because the plants operate cooperatively instead of in their own short-term interest.

Seismicity at The Geysers
Current studies of The Geysers Geothermal Field seismicity have reached the conclusion that deep-well injection in the field produces mostly microseismic events between magnitude 0.5-3.0 on the Richter Scale (M).
Worldwide, the largest induced seismic event to date linked to Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) activity was M3.7 in the Cooper Basin of Australia. However, research based on maximum fault lengths indicates that a M5.0 is the largest possible (but not probable) event in the Geysers.
A concern to the residents is not only the amount of seismicity but the magnitude of the largest seismic event likely to occur. Although no one can accurately predict earthquakes, the magnitude of an earthquake is dependent on the surface area that can slip — the length times the depth or width of the fault. Therefore, a large earthquake can occur only on a large fault. There are no mapped faults of large length in The Geysers, so it is extremely unlikely that induced seismicity caused by activities in The Geysers will lead to a large earthquake.

Future
The Geysers electrical plant reached peak production in 1987, at that time serving 1.8 million people. Since then, the steam field has been in gradual decline as its underground water source decreases. Currently, the Geysers produce enough electricity for 1.1 million people.
Techniques developed from Enhanced Geothermal Systems research will increase the production of the region in the future. By reinjecting greywater from the nearby city of Santa Rosa, existing wells will be recharged. This water will be naturally heated in the geothermal reservoir, and be captured by the existing power plants as steam. The project should increase electrical output by 85 MW, enough for about 85,000 homes. (source Wikipedia)

One of The Geysers geothermal plants - Image courtesy Wikipedia

One of The Geysers geothermal plants – Image courtesy Wikipedia

Update 09:36 UTC : Contrary to what we wrote below, this quake may have been felt a little stronger than expected as we received a readers experience from Santa Rosa, stating : “i was watching tv and i felt everything slightly moving. It was a surprise for me”

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2013/03/14/moderate-earthquake-75-miles-w-of-sacramento-california-on-march-14-2013/

Borrego Range, Southern California Earthquake

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Strong earthquake in the Borrego range near Anza, Southern California

Last update: March 12, 2013 at 10:23 am by By

Update 18:10 UTC :  The earthquake was on the San Jacinto Fault, the most active in Southern California, said Lucy Jones, USGS science adviser for risk reduction. Aftershocks are expected.

Screen Shot 2013-03-11 at 19.19.27

Update 18:01 UTC :  Based on theoretical calculations 393,000 people will have experienced a light shaking (MMI IV) and 6.5 million people a weak to very weak shaking. Nothing special for Southern California, but the main difference in this case is that it was felt in such a huge area.

Update 17:46 UTC :  On the picture below you have a view of the desert mountain range where the earthquake struck. Except for some wildlife nobody will be around.

Anza Borrego Desert Wilderness State Park where the epicenter is - image courtesy and copyright West Coast Sharon

Anza Borrego Desert Wilderness State Park where the epicenter is – image courtesy and copyright West Coast Sharon

Update 17:39 UTC :  Many Californians may have the same problems than we have : impossible to enter the USGS site.  The I Have Felt It Reports below will give you at least a good overview of how the people have experienced this earthquake.

Update 17:37 UTC :  Earthquake-report.com does not expect serious damage or injuries as the maximum theoretical shaking has been set to IV MMI (light shaking). This is mainly because the epicenter is in rocky mountainous area. Earthquake waves are not propagated very well in such ground.

Screen Shot 2013-03-11 at 18.57.28

Update 17:33 UTC :  The earthquake was felt from Los Angeles down to Northern Mexico (ie Mexicali). This is definitely one of the stronger earthquakes in California since the last couple of years.

Update 17:23 UTC : As you can see on our bottom map, the area had some very big earthquakes in the past.

Update 17:23 UTC : We have the impression that we are not the only ones having trouble with our servers as some USGS maps cannot be reached neither.

Update 17:20 UTC : USGS has updated his report and mentions now a M4.7 Magnitude at a depth of 12 km. 8 seconds later another one with the same Magnitude, but this may be changed again later on.

We have a hard time to write as we have too many readers in the site at the moment. Our apologies for this.
A lot of aftershocks are currently reported.
Luckily the epicenter is in a wilderness area but the valley to the east is of big concern.

Screen Shot 2013-03-11 at 18.08.14

 

19km (12mi) ESE of Anza, California
23km (14mi) SW of La Quinta, California
25km (16mi) SSW of Palm Desert, California
26km (16mi) SSW of Rancho Mirage, California
409km (254mi) W of Phoenix, Arizona

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 4.7

Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-03-11 09:55:50

GMT/UTC Time : 2013-03-11 16:55:50

Depth (Hypocenter)  : 12.1 km

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2013/03/11/moderate-earthquake-southern-california-on-march-11-2013/

Taiwan Earthquake

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Strong earthquake near Nanhu Mountain (Xiulin), Taiwan on March 7, 2013

Last update: March 8, 2013 at 12:15 am by By

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 5.5

Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-03-07 11:36:46

GMT/UTC Time : 2013-03-07 03:36:46

Depth (Hypocenter)  : 15 km

Update 08:41 UTC : 16 M3+ aftershocks since the mainshock. Strongest aftershock so far : 4.5 (4 above M4). No evidence of damage so far. If we would track even some minor damage, we will report it here.

Update 05:52 UTC : NO reports of damage yet (more than 3 hours after the mainshock). This is a good sign as the earthquake has occurred during daylight, earthquake response and assessment is generally much faster during daylight than during the night.

Update 05:45 UTC : Taiwan is generally well prepared for earthquakes. After many cruel earthquakes in the past, building code has been improved a lot and earthquake drills are a common issue in education. To prove their building skills, Taiwan had during relatively long time the highest building in the world, the 509 meter high Taipei 101 Tower.

Update 05:37 UTC : Below the list of aftershocks of M3 or more as reported by CWB Taiwan, the strongest one being a M4.1. Epicenters are located in the same area as the mainshock.

Screen Shot 2013-03-07 at 06.36.18

Update 05:13 UTC : Today’s earthquake was mainly normal faulting (see beachball below). Taiwan has very complicated tectonics with all kind of focal mechanisms. The Philippine Sea plate is sliding 82 mm/year from the East to the West, which is an impressive speed and which explains at the same time the many earthquakes Taiwan has.
A good tectonic overview of Taiwan can be read here  (also the University who did publish the map below).

Taiwan tectonics - image courtesy Ludwig Maximilians University Munchen Germany

Taiwan tectonics – image courtesy Ludwig Maximilians University Munchen Germany

Update 05:13 UTC : The picture below gives an impression of the earthquake’s epicenter area, the Central Mountain Range.

Taiwan earthquake March 7 2013 - epicenter area

Image courtesy Tai2

Update 04:58 UTC : We are currently scanning our many sources but have luckily not found any trace of damage as yet. Let’s hope it remains like this.

Update 04:48 UTC : Based on the reports from our readers we do not think that serious shaking damage will be inflicted, secondary impact from for example landslides are a real possibility however. The picture below shows a landslide in April 2010 after a M6.5 earthquake struck the island.

Image courtesy Central News Agency, Taiwan - landslide after a M6.5 earthquake in 2010

Image courtesy Central News Agency, Taiwan – landslide after a M6.5 earthquake in 2010

Update 04:45 UTC : Taiwan has often damaging landslides during similar earthquakes. People in this area are somewhat used to earthquakes but strong ones like this do not happen very common. The area is well known for strong earthquakes however (see map below which shows the earthquakes near todays epicenter since early 2012 only).

Update 04:36 UTC : CWB Taiwan reports somewhat better numbers with the same Magnitude of M5.6 but with a deeper hypocenter of 15.6 km. The shaking intensity was max. 5 CWB in Yilan County and Taichung City. Other intensities : see below.
An intensity CWB 5 should be read as : Strong     Indoors : Most people are considerably frightened. Walls crack; heavy furniture may overturn. Outdoors : Noticeably felt by drivers; some chimneys and large archways topple over.
A CWB 5 can be compared with an MMI VII – The JMA (Japan) and CWB (Taiwan) intensity scales are rather similar.

Screen Shot 2013-03-07 at 05.37.36

Update 04:34 UTC : The epicenter is also close to Nanhu mountain. Nanhu Mountain is a mountain in Taiwan with an elevation of 3,740 m (12,270 ft). It is one of the highest mountains in Taiwan.

Update 04:27 UTC : ER calls this earthquake moderately dangerous mainly because the epicenter is below a wilderness area, otherwise we would call it very dangerous. The earthquake was felt in a wide radius and based on the reports from our readers below, objects fell from shelves in Taipei which illustrates the strength of the shaking.

Taiwan March 7 2013 earthquake

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2013/03/07/strong-earthquake-taiwan-on-march-7-2013/

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Kuril Islands Strong Earthquake

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Very Strong earthquake – Kuril Islands on February 28, 2013

Last update: February 28, 2013 at 2:45 pm by By

This earthquake will be well felt in the Kurils. The earthquake depth has not been finalised meaning that we cannot rule out the possibility of a tsunami.

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 6.8

Local Time (conversion only below land) : Unknown

GMT/UTC Time : 2013-02-28 14:05:46

Depth (Hypocenter)  : 46 km

– See more at: http://earthquake-report.com/2013/02/28/very-strong-earthquake-kuril-islands-on-february-28-2013/#sthash.Z7zAvTDN.dpuf

Argentina Earthquake

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Strong earthquake in Argentina

Last update: February 22, 2013 at 6:39 pm by By
Due to the large depth of this strong earthquake, it was felt in a wide radius around the epicenter. USGS received felt reports from Brazil, more than 1000 km away. But the earthquake had everywhere luckily only a weak intensity, so that we do not expect any damage from this earthquake.

402 km N Córdoba (pop 1,428,214 ; local time 09:01:59.7 2013-02-22)
296 km SW Presidencia roque sáenz peña (pop 81,879 ; local time 09:01:59.7 2013-02-22)
109 km E Santiago del estero (pop 354,692 ; local time 09:01:59.7 2013-02-22)

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 6.1

Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-02-22 09:01:58

GMT/UTC Time : 2013-02-22 12:01:58

from:     http://earthquake-report.com/2013/02/22/very-strong-earthquake-santiago-del-estero-prov-argentina-on-february-22-2013/