Wednesday, December 25, 2019

BC Quakes

We interrupt my blog snooze to report a series of earthquakes off BC, the largest being six-ish.





These are strike-slip (shear) earthquakes in a zone of tremendous complexity.  I think they have gotten up to 7 in the last few years.  There were a bunch of 7's that worked their way up north, and I had 'predicted' a 7 way up in the Alaska armpit.  No such luck.

You will notice there is a wonderful 'clean' subduction zone up by Alaska.  This will shoot off M9's every couple of hundred years or so.  There is no such zone around these earthquakes.

In general, if the geology is a big mucky mess, then you get 'distibuted' earthquakes, and none get very high.  So, there should be no anxiety.  Lower down, towards Vancouver, it looks a bit smoother, but this is not high on world list of big, smooth subduction zones.

Enjoy your Christmas.  I'll get back to test edibles.  :)


These are shear earthquakes along a nice line.  Within the next week, there should be a 7 along the line, or maybe not....


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