Home » Recent Global Seismic Events
Category Archives: Recent Global Seismic Events
2022-07-27, M7.0, Philippines
On July 27, 2022, at 00:43:24 UTC a magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurred in the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The earthquake struck approximately 84 km SSE of the city of Laoag (pop: 102,000) and 15 km NE of San Ramon (pop: 4,000), see map below. EMSC reports the earthquake originated at a depth of 10 kilometers. At the time of writing the earthquake caused at least 2 deaths and dozens of injuries have been reported.
The tectonics of the region are complex and prone to large earthquakes. Luzon is on the Philippines sea-plate which is bounded to the East and West by subduction zones. According to the USGS the region experiences high seismicity rates and since 1970, 11 other earthquakes of magnitude 6.5 or larger have occurred within 250 km of the July 27, 2022 earthquake. The largest of these earthquakes occurred in 1990 (M7.7) and killed more than 1,600 people.
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://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000i5rd/region-info
https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=1153080
2022-06-21, M5.9, Afghanistan
On June 21, 2022 at 20:54:36 UTC a magnitude 5.9 earthquake occurred approximately 150km south of Kabul near the border with Pakistan (see map below). EMSC reports the earthquake originated at a depth of 10 kilometers. The earthquake caused widesoread damage with at least 300 fatalities and hundreds of injured. The event was felt widely to distances of 500km from the epicentre, including parts of Pakistan and India. Strong earthquakes in eastern Afghanistan result from the India plate moving northward and colliding with the Eurasia plate causing uplift producing high mountain ranges, including the Hindu Kush and the Himalaya.
The event was recorded by seismic stations worldwide, including stations in the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN), see figure below.
For more information please see the links below:
https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=1141004
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000hj3u
2022-03-21, M5.2, North Sea
On the 21st of March 2022 at 06:32 UTC a magnitude M5.2 earthquake occurred in the North Sea, approximately 205 km WNW of Bergen, Norway. The earthquake located with a depth of 10 km and was reported felt from the western parts of southern Norway. The earthquake location is indicated by the red circle in the map below. The North Sea has low to intermediate seismicity with the majority of it occurring along the Norwegian coastline. Events are generally below M3 however a similar magnitude event was recorded in the same region on the 24th January 1927.
The event was recorded by seismic stations worldwide, including stations in the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) (see figure below). The first seismic waves originating from the North Sea earthquake arrived in Ireland ~2 minutes after the event origin.
For more information on the North Sea earthquake please see these links:
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000h6bi/executive
https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=1109087
2022-03-16, M7.3, Japan
At 14:36:33 (UTC) on the 16th of March 2022 a magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurred near the east coast of Honshu Japan, 57 km east-north-east of Namie which is located in Fukushima Prefecture (see map below). The NWS Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially issued a warning for hazardous waves along the coast of Japan but now reports the threat from this event has passed. The Tokyo Electric Power Company reports over 2 million households in nine prefectures have been left without electricity due to the earthquake.
Japans tectonic setting is complex as it is influenced by the North America plate, Pacific plate, Philippine Sea plate, and Eurasian plate. A detailed summary of the region is available from the USGS at the following link https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000h519/region-info.
The event was recorded by seismic stations worldwide, including stations in the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) (see figure below). The first seismic waves originating from the Japan earthquake arrived in Ireland ~15 minutes after the event origin.
For more information on the M7.3 Japan earthquake please see these links:
https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/map.html#5/38.393/143.174/&elem=warn&contents=tsunami&lang=en
http://geofon.gfz-potsdam.de/eqinfo/event.php?id=gfz2022fgid
https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=1107417
2021-08-14, M7.2, Haiti
At 12:29:09 GMT on the 14th August 2021 a magnitude 7.2 earthquake occurred about 125 km west of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, see map below. Extensive damage to buildings have been reported and it is feared that a large number of people died or have been injured. Previously, on the 12th January 2010 an M 7.0 earthquake struck in the same region of Haiti, about 75 km east from the 14th August 2021 event. According to the USGS “the 2010 earthquake caused substantial damage in the city of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding regions where damage from the earthquake and subsequent cascading hazards caused over 200,000 fatalities.”
The event was recorded by seismic stations worldwide, including stations in the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) (see figure below). The first seismic waves originating from the Haiti earthquake arrived ~10 minutes after the event origin. However, another large M7.0 earthquake occurred about 30 minutes before the Haiti earthquake on the Alaska peninsula. The seismic surface waves of the Alaska event dominate the first ~15 minutes of the seismograms shown below.
For more information on the M7.2 Haiti earthquake please see these links:
https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=1023410
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000f65h
Information for the M7.0 Alska earthquake can be found here:
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/ak021adyci6n
https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=1023362
2021-07-29, M8.2, Alaska
On July 29, 2021 at 06:15 UTC (July 28, 2021 22:51 local time) a magnitude 8.2 earthquake occurred approximately 80km south of the Alaska Penninsula (see map below). The USGS report the earthquake originated at a depth of 32 kilometers. Large earthquakes are common in this region as a result of thrust faulting at shallow depth on the subduction zone interface between the Pacific plate and the North America plate.
The event was recorded by seismic stations worldwide, including stations in the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN) (see figure below). The first seismic waves originating from the Alaska earthquake arrived ~6 minutes after the event origin.
For more information please see the links below:
https://www.usgs.gov/news/magnitude-82-earthquake-alaska
https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=1014588
2021-03-04, M8.1, Kermadec Islands
At 19:28 on the 4th March 2021 a magnitude 8.1 earthquake occurred in the Kermadec Islands region. This follows two other strong events in the region today, an M7.3 event which occurred further south close to the North Island of New Zealand (see here) and an M7.4 event that also occurred in the Kermadec Islands region (see here).
New Zealands National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) have issued a statement advising people on the east coast of the north island to move to higher ground. The earthquake had a depth of 10 km, shallow earthquakes like this present a tsunami threat.
The event was recorded by seismic stations worldwide, including stations in the Irish Nation Seismic Network (INSN) (see figure below).
The earthquake occurred along the eastern margin of the Australia plate where it meets the Pacific plate. The convergence of the two plates means the region is prone to large events such as this (there have been 15 earthquakes with magnitude greater than 7.5 since 1900).
For more information see the following:
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000dflf/executive
https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=955088
2021-03-04, M7.3, New Zealand
At 13:27 on 4th March 2021 a magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurred off the East coast of the New Zealand’s Northern Island (see map below). The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) immediately issued a warning for the possibility of hazardous Tsunami waves within 300 km of the earthquake epicenter along the New Zealand coast. Tsunami waves of 0.28 m were then observed on the Northeastern Cape and waves of 0.3 to 3 m have been forecast.
The event was recorded by seismic stations worldwide. The stations in the Irish Nation Seismic Network (INSN), recorded it approximately 20 minutes after it occurred (see figure below).
New Zealand is on the Eastern margin of the Australian plate and the region is prone to large events such as this (there have been 15 earthquakes with magnitude greater than 7.5 since 1900). The convergence of the Australia and Pacific plates make it one of the most seismically active areas in the world.
For more information see the following:
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000dffl/executive
https://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/2021p169083
https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=954885
2021-02-24, M5.7, Iceland
The Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland has suffered a series of earthquakes in the past few hours. This phenomena is known as an earthquake swarm. At the time of writing, there have been 725 quakes in the last 48 hours. The largest of which was a magnitude 5.7 that occurred at 10:05:57 on the 24th February 2021. This event was recorded by the Irish National Seismic Network and can be seen in the waveforms plotted below.
More information is available from the Icelandic Met Office:
https://en.vedur.is/about-imo/news/earthquake-swarm-in-reykjanes-peninsula
and on this webpage:
https://www.ruv.is/frett/2021/02/24/earthquake-alert-level-increased
present earthquake activity on the Reykjanes peninsula is shown here:
https://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes/reykjanespeninsula#view=map
2021-02-10, M7.7, Loyalty Islands
At 13:20:00 (UTC) on the 10th February 2021, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurred southeast of the Loyalty Islands in the Pacific, see map below. The epicenter lies in a very remote region and only few people felt the event. The earthquake struck at a depth of 10 km and according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center a tsunami was triggered. Reported wave heights are 78cm in Vanuatu, 47cm at Norfolk Island, 29cm in New Caledonia and 22cm at the North Cape in New Zealand. At time of writing no fatalities or building damage were reported. The Loyalty Islands region is seismically very active, 15 other earthquakes with magnitudes larger than 7 were detected over the preceding century. This seismic activity is related to the plate boundary between the Australian and the Pacific plate.
The earthquake was recorded at seismic stations worldwide, including stations of the Irish Nation Seismic Network (INSN), see seismic waveforms below.
Further information is available from the following sources:
https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=947612
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000dg77
VAL - Kerry
IDGL - Donegal
