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2024-03-14, M5.4, Montenegro

On the 14th of March 2024 at 03:06:47 UTC, a M5.4 earthquake occurred in Montenegro, near the border with Bosnia-Herzegovina, at a depth of 7 km (see map below). Dozens of aftershocks have occurred in the hours since, with magnitudes ranging up to M3.4. No casualties have been reported at the time of writing. The earthquake located approximately 80 km northwest of the capital Podgorica, which in 1979 experienced a M6.9 earthquake that caused widespread damage and hundreds of casualties.

The event was recorded by seismic stations operated by DIAS in the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN), see figure below.

2024-01-22, M7.0, Western China

On the 22nd of January 2024 at 18:09:05 UTC, a M7.0 earthquake occurred in the western Chinese province of Xinjiang, near the borders with Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, at a depth of 9 km (see map below). A series of aftershocks up to magnitude M5.5 have also occurred. As many as 50 buildings have collapsed as a result of the earthquake, with dozens of injuries reported in the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan. No fatalities have been reported at the time of writing.

Large magnitude earthquakes (greater than M6.0) occur regularly in China, of which the largest in modern history occurred the central Chinese province of Sichaun in May 2008, causing 90,000 fatalities and several hundred thousand injuries.

The event was recorded by seismic stations operated by DIAS in the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN), see figure below.

2023-12-10, M1.3, Donegal

At 06:48:00 UTC on the 10th of December 2023 an M1.3 earthquake occurred on the Fanad peninsula in northern Co. Donegal, Ireland. The earthquake occurred at a depth of approximately 5 km, and the epicentre was approximately 5 km east of Kerrykeel (see map below). The Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) operated by DIAS has received several reports that the earthquake was experienced by members of the public near Kerrykeel, whereby most stated that they heard a loud, thunder-like noise. The Fanad peninsula experiences regular seismic activity; the most recent earthquake to occur near Kerrykeel was M1.4 in August 2017, and the largest earthquake on the Fanad peninsula was M2.4 in January 2012.

The map below shows the location of felt reports from the public.

The event was recorded by the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) and can be seen in the waveforms plotted below:

2023-06-16, M5.7, France

On the 16th of June at 16:38:29 UTC (18:38:29 Local time), a M5.7 earthquake occurred in western France, at a depth of 14km (see map below; the red circle denotes the earthquake epicentre). The earthquake occurred approximately 20km east of the city of La Rochelle, situated along the western coast of France. At the time of writing, no fatalities had been reported, however the earthquake caused damage to several hundred buildings in the region. Although earthquakes are frequently recorded within France and its surrounding offshore regions, earthquakes of magnitude M5.0 or greater do not occur very often. The previous M5 event recorded in France occurred on the 20th of March 2019, approximately 60km north of Bordeaux in western France.

The event was recorded by seismic stations operated by DIAS in the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN), see figure below.

2023-05-10, M2.4, Goban Spur, North Atlantic

On the 10th of May 2023 at 16:21:53 UTC, a magnitude M2.4 earthquake occurred near the Goban Spur, in the Porcupine region of the North Atlantic ocean, locating approximately 350km south-south-west off the coast of Kerry. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 km. The location of the epicentre is indicated with a red circle in the map below. While earthquakes are known to occur in this region, it is not often that they are detected. As almost all seismometers are land-based, only larger magnitude events (M > 2) are seen from this region. Several earthquakes of similar magnitudes (between M2.0 and M4.4) have been detected in this region since 1980. Previously, the most recent earthquake detected from this area occurred on 2022-03-10 (M3.4, in the Porcupine Abyssal Plain), and the largest earthquake detected (since 1980) in the Porcupine region was M4.4, occurring on the 17th of February 1980.

The event was recorded by the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) and can be seen in the waveforms plotted below:

2023-03-21, M6.5, Afghanistan

On the 21st of March 2023 a M6.5 earthquake occurred in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan (see map below). The earthquake occurred at 16:47:24 UTC (21:17:24 local time) an occurred at a depth of 193 km. At least 13 people died (at the time of writing), with reports of damaged buildings and landslides in northern Afghanistan and Pakistan as a result of the earthquake. Seismicity in this region is largely due to the continental collision of the India and Eurasia plates, with several major earthquakes (>M7) occurring regularly.

The event was recorded by seismic stations worldwide, including stations in the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN), see figure below.

More information is available at the following resources:

https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=1240146

https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000jln7/executive

2023-03-04, M3.0, Rockall Plateau

On the 4th of March 2023 at 03:45 UTC a magnitude M3.0 earthquake occurred in the Rockall Plateau in the North Atlantic, approximately 600km northwest of Donegal. The earthquake located with a depth of 10 km. In the map below the epicentre of the earthquake is indicated with a red marker. Major fault zones in and around Ireland are shown with red lines. While earthquakes in the Rockall Trough are regularly detected by the INSN, only one previous event has been detected from the Rockall Plateau – a M3.5 earthquake from the 10th of January 2016. As the nearest land-based seismometers are 500km from the Rockall Plateau, only larger magnitude (M2.5+) events are expected to be detected from this region. Earthquakes with magnitudes up to M4 are known to occur in the Rockall Trough.

The event was recorded by the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) and can be seen in the waveforms plotted below:

2022-09-29, M5.7, Reykjanes Ridge

On the 29th of September, 2022, at 15:32:32 UTC a magnitude M5.7 earthquake occurred along Reykjanes Ridge in the North Atlantic. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 10km and locates approximately 1700km west of Ireland, with the red circle indicating the epicentre on the map below. Earthquakes with magnitudes up to M7 have been recorded in the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge, of which the largest was M7.1, occurring on the 13th of Feb 2015 in the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture zone.

The event was recorded by seismic stations worldwide, including stations in the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN), see figure below.

2022-09-19, M7.6, Mexico

On the 19th of September, 2022, at 18:05:08 UTC a magnitude M7.6 earthquake occurred in the Michoacan region of Mexico. The earthquake struck approximately 110 km SE of the city of Colima (pop: 150,000), with the red circle indicating the epicentre on the map below. USGS reports the earthquake originated at a depth of 15 kilometers. At the time of writing the earthquake caused at least 2 deaths.

Tectonically, southern Mexico lies along the boundary between the North American plate and Cocos plate to the south. The subduction of the Cocos plate beneath the North American plate results in many large earthquakes in this region. Coincidentally, two other major earthquakes occurred in this region on the same date: the devastating M8.0 Mexico City earthquake on Sept 19th 1985 in which over 5,000 people died, and M7.1 Mexico City earthquake on Sept 19th 2017 which caused 360 fatalities.

The event was recorded by seismic stations worldwide, including stations in the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN), see figure below.

2022-08-12, M2.5, Celtic Sea

On the 12th of August 2022 at 00:30 UTC a magnitude M2.5 earthquake occurred in the Celtic Sea, approximately 200km south of Mizen Head, Co Cork. The earthquake located with a depth of 10 km. In the map below the epicentre of the earthquake is indicated with a red marker. Major fault zones in and around Ireland are shown with black lines. While earthquakes are known to occur in this region, it is not often that they are detected. As almost all seismometers are land-based, only larger magnitude events (M > 2) are seen from this region. The most recent earthquake detected in the Celtic Sea was M2.5, occurring on the 13th of July 2022, and the largest earthquake detected (since 1980) in the Celtic Sea was M2.9, occurring on the 27th of May 2019.

The event was recorded by the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) and can be seen in the waveforms plotted below:

Past Seismograms
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Live Seismograms
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Filtered versions here
DSB - Dublin
VAL - Kerry

Past Spectrograms
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Live Spectrograms
All stations here
ITIP - N. Tipperary
IMAY - Mayo