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3d earthquakes eq3d map live feed recent real-time realtime free windows usgs emsc geophon geoscience geonet monitor watch list display global earth globe desktop quake world iphone ipad

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EARTHQUAKE 3D Application and Download Information

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A free Real-time global earthquake monitor 3D map display for Windows computers.

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According to the National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC), a tsunami warning was in effect along a large stretch of coastline, from Canada's British Columbia province to Alaska's Aleutian Islands.

In areas where a tsunami warning is in effect, damaging waves, powerful currents and coastal flooding are possible, the alert from the NTWC said.

A tsunami watch, meanwhile, was in effect for the coastal areas of the United States from Washington state south through California, and residents were urged to stay alert and prepare to take action if needed.

In a message posted to Twitter, Alaska's Gov. Bill Walker said his office is "closely monitoring" the tsunami warnings and urged residents to heed local warnings to move inland or to higher ground.

The tsunami advisories were canceled about 3 hours after the earthquake.

"A tsunami was generated by this event, but no longer poses a threat," an update from the NTWC said. "Some areas may continue to see small sea level changes."

The highest tsunami waves recorded in southern Alaska reached 0.7 feet (21 centimeters).

Original article on Live Science.

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Six months have passed since a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Mexico City, toppling 40 buildings and killing over 300, but the memory remains fresh. Condemned structures dot many neighborhoods, their facades crumbling. And after an earthquake 225 miles away in Oaxaca state shook the capital city again on February 16, 2018, the city mayor said hospitals treated dozens of people for panic attacks.

Seismologists, too, are still studying the September 19 earthquake, trying to better understand what's happening underneath Mexico City. Our new paper in Geophysical Research Letters brings critical findings to light.

Since the damaging quake, we have been analyzing data from the national network of seismological sensors, as well as high-quality GPS stations around the country. Together, these instruments measure shaking across Mexico. We wanted to know what caused this magnitude 7.1 earthquake and whether a future shock could strike even closer to this city of 20 million.

Here's what we learned.

The Earth's trembling surface

People in central Mexico are accustomed to the ground shaking. Since 1980, 40 perceptible earthquakes have hit this region. The September 19 quake actually occurred on the 32nd anniversary of the magnitude 8.1 earthquake that killed at least 10,000 people in and around Mexico City in 1985.

That catastrophe marked an entire generation of Mexicans, including ourselves, back when we were just kids.

See all of the best photos of the week in these slideshows

Now, as working seismologists, we have discovered that the 2017 earthquake, called Puebla-Morelos, was fundamentally unlike its 1985 predecessor. In fact, it was different than most big Mexican earthquakes, which typically happen along the country's Pacific coast, where two tectonic plates collide.

The Puebla-Morelos quake occurred well inland-just 70 miles south of Mexico City, in Puebla state. Since the 1920s, only five other large earthquakes have originated in central Mexico.

How earthquakes happen

Most major earthquakes worldwide happen along the unstable intersections in the Earth's crust, where two tectonic plates-that is, the underground slabs that make up the planet's rocky shell-collide, one plate sliding beneath the other.

These are called subduction zones, and continued plate movements in those areas are responsible for the world's largest earthquakes - the kinds that occasionally rattle Alaska, Japan, Chile and Indonesia.

At most subduction zones, after one tectonic plate slides beneath a neighboring plate, it continues on a diagonal downward dive and sinks deep into the Earth's mantle.

Not in Mexico. There, the initial contact between the two tectonic plates - which collide off the country's southern Pacific coast-starts off normally enough, with the subducted plate sinking diagonally downwards.

But then, just as it begins to jut underneath the Mexican mainland, the plate-which is made of dense, heavy rocks-reverses course. It bends upward, sliding itself horizontally beneath the plate Mexico sits on top of. This setup continues for about 125 miles or so.

Then, underneath Puebla state-just south of Mexico City-at a depth of about 30 miles below ground, the subducted plate abruptly changes direction once more. It dives almost vertically downward, plunging itself deep into the Earth's mantle.

What is a 'bending' quake?

When the plate bends downward, some of the rocks in the plate break. Think of a sturdy piece of wood. Flexed lightly, it bends. But when the flexing becomes too strong, it will splinter violently.

This is what causes "bending" earthquakes like Mexico City's. After the bent tectonic plate snaps, seismic waves emanate outwards from the breaking point, causing the Earth to tremble. The closer you are to the epicenter, the stronger the shaking.

This kind of rare Mexican quake typically has a relatively lower magnitude than the more common Pacific coast variety. But that doesn't mean the shaking above ground feels weak. Because "bending" quakes strike in Mexico's densely populated central region, beneath the feet of many millions, the shaking can be very strong indeed.

And when they hit near Mexico City, as September 2017 demonstrated, the consequences can be devastating.

Defining the hazard zones

This same, unstable subducted plate runs underneath all central Mexico. And, thanks to previous studies, we know that it is bent across a large, continuous swath of central and southern Mexico.

It is here-from Michoacán state, part way up the Pacific coast, all the way down to southernmost Oaxaca-that bending earthquakes could occur.

But the tectonic plate's bend, we learned, is only half of the story behind central Mexico's shaking. The plate's texture matters, too.

High-resolution images of the ocean bottom off Mexico's Pacific shore reveal that the seafloor terrain is rugged in a very organized fashion. There, beneath thousands of feet of water, we see high, narrow ridges and deep valleys that run lengthwise in a northwest-to-southeast direction.

This "fabric" was created about 8 million years ago, when the rocks first formed-way before tectonic plates collided to give Mexico its subduction zone. Even so, the plate's texture-marked by this linear fabric of underground mountains and canyons-turns out to be relevant in determining where these rare, bending earthquakes might occur.

Our research found that because its ridges and valleys are oriented uniformly-think of the grain on a sturdy piece of wood-a tectonic plate is far less likely to snap if the force that bends it is at an angle perpendicular to the direction the fabric runs. Like a sheet of plywood, a tectonic plate is more resistant to pressure when bent against the grain.

In other words, large, damaging "bending" earthquakes are most likely to occur where the subducted plate's own texture aligns with the direction of its downward bend.

This is good news for cities like Morelia, in Michoacán, where we believe the plate's fabric runs almost perpendicular to the direction of the plate's break-the wrong setup for a strong earthquake.

But it is bad news for neighboring Puebla and Oaxaca. There, plate texture and plate bend are almost perfectly aligned -off by less than 10 degrees. Under such circumstances, the bent plate can more easily snap and break from continued tectonic movement.

What's in store for Mexico City?

The part of the plate bend near Mexico City, where the September 19 quake occurred, falls somewhere in between. The alignment between texture and plate is not perfect-but they're off angle by just 20 to 30 degrees.

That means the capital could see another large quake. And, based on our analysis, the epicenter could actually be closer to the city: This volatile tectonic band extends as far north as the city of Cuernavaca, 30 miles from Mexico City's southern edge.

These findings are a step forward in understanding Mexico's complex geology. But we still don't know how often "bending" earthquakes might happen-whether once a century or every decade. Seismologists worldwide are still far from being able to predict where, when and how the next big one will strike.

What our new study can do, we hope, is help Mexicans nationwide understand what's happening beneath their feet.

Diego Melgar, Assistant Professor of Geophysics, University of Oregon and Xyoli Pérez-Campos, Professor, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

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Scientists say that the deadly Mexico City earthquake in 2017 was caused by a rare event-and it could happen again

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Six months have passed since a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Mexico City, toppling 40 buildings and killing over 300, but the memory remains fresh. Condemned structures dot many neighborhoods, their facades crumbling. And after an earthquake 225 miles away in Oaxaca state shook the capital city again on February 16, 2018, the city mayor said hospitals treated dozens of people for panic attacks.

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How does the earthquakes effect the community?

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CLOSE

A massive earthquake hit Mexico Friday evening, leaving buildings shaking throughout the southern portion of the country.

The earthquake was first measured as a 7.5-magnitude and later lowered to having a 7.2-magnitude by the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was found along the Pacific coast near Santiago Ixtayutla, a town in the state of Oaxaca in the southwestern area of the country.

There is no tsunami threat from the quake, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

Videos on social media show people in the streets grabbing onto a car as the ground started shaking. Footage inside a building show lights swaying back and forth with people lined up along a hallway.

It's unclear if any damage or injuries were reported.

Mexico is no stranger to earthquakes. The country dealt with two back-to-back quakes in September that left hundreds dead after buildings crumbled, including schools.

More than 90 people died after the first earthquake on Sept. 7, then days later on Sept. 19, another disaster struck in Central Mexico. Several hundred were left dead.

The second tragedy landed on the 32nd anniversary of the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City, which left an estimated 9,500 people dead.

Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2od4LIO

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Mexico struck by massive 7.2-magnitude earthquake

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CLOSE A massive earthquake hit Mexico Friday evening, leaving buildings shaking throughout the southern portion of the country. The earthquake was first measured as a 7.5-magnitude and later lowered to having a 7.2-magnitude by the U.S. Geological Survey.

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Two years after a mysterious “swarm” of earthquakes rattled homes and nerves in a New Brunswick village, they’ve started up again.

Earthquakes Canada has recorded 22 earthquakes in New Brunswick over the last 30 days, with most of those near McAdam, on the western edge of the province, near the border with the United States.

Mayor Ken Stannix said the quakes startle people, often producing a bang that’s louder than a gunshot.

“I know when I first heard it, it sounded like the hot water tank may have exploded in the basement. Then we realized it was these earthquakes,” Stannix said.

“It will wake you up in the middle of the night, but we’ve become accustomed to them. You wake up and say ‘That must have been an earthquake,’ and then you’ll hear a couple softer bangs and then the event is over.”

Stephen Halchuk, a seismologist at Natural Resources Canada, said all of the recent earthquakes have been minor — less than three on the Richter scale.

“Starting on March 27 we had a magnitude 2.6 close to McAdam and then a number of very tiny events,” Halchuk said.

“Most of the earthquakes in New Brunswick are of a magnitude three or smaller. We do on occasion get larger ones with magnitude fives over the last century or so. This low level of activity with the small magnitude two and smaller events is really not out of the ordinary,” he said.

Earthquakes in New Brunswick tend to occur in the northeast and southwest corners of the province, he said.

He said while there have been earthquakes in various parts of the province in the past month, there’s no indication of an increasing trend over the long term.

Halchuk said there have been other swarms of activity in recent years in eastern North America, particularly in neighbouring Maine and Connecticut.

In early 2016, more than 100 earthquakes shook the McAdam area, but a reason was never found.

Halchuk said there is no well defined fault in the area, so it remains a mystery why the area is getting clusters or swarms of earthquakes.

Stannix said concerned residents flooded the village office with calls in 2016 to report shaking homes and broken windows, but this time people are taking the earthquakes in stride.

“This time around people have not been so nervous, I suppose for two reasons — the number, although there have been quite a few in the last 30 days, it wasn’t like the 90-odd quakes that we had in 2016, and the severity hasn’t been there either,” he said.