Thursday, January 10, 2013

M4.9 earthquake Virgin Islands



This is my second most interesting cluster after Alaska.  It had been going on for quite some time now with nothing over M3.  Today it broke that pattern with an M4.9.  But unlike Alaska I have no idea as to the mechanism, and whether it is likely to cough up something big.  Around the corner, further to the east we have simple slab subduction, and there have been big earthquakes there.  Further west is pure strike-slip, and we all know about Haiti.

Under this cluster we have a slab strike-slip.  Can it produce the land-forming M8 or M9?  I don't know, but a cluster should produce bigger and bigger quakes, until it decides to shut off, which could be any time.

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