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Category Archives: Recent Global Seismic Events
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
2021-03-04, 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
2020-12-29, M6.4, Croatia
At 11:19:54 (UTC) on the 29th of December 2020, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake occurred in Croatia about 50km SE of the capital Zagreb, see map below. The earthquake nucleated at a relatively shallow depth of 10km within the Eurasia plate. It occurred after a magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck in the same area on the 28th December 2020 at 05:28 (UTC). At the time of writing at least one fatality was reported, at least 20 injured people and building damage especially in Petrinja, a town with about 25,000 inhabitants. Though earthquakes with magnitude over 6 happened before in Croatia this is the strongest event that was ever recorded in Croatia since modern seismic instrumentation is in use.
The earthquake was recorded at seismic stations worldwide, including stations of the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN), see seismic waveforms below.
Further information is available from the following sources:
https://www.emsc.eu/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=933701
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000d3zh
2020-10-30, M7.0, Greece
At 11:51:26 (UTC) on the 30th of October 2020, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurred 14 km NE of Néon Karlovásion, Greece (see map below). Early reports state that there has been building collapse and a sea surge that flooded streets in the Turkish resort city of Izmir. The Mediterranean region is prone to such events due to the northward convergence of the African plate with respect to the Eurasian plate along a complex plate boundary.
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://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000c7y0/executive
https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=915787
2020-10-19, M7.5, Alaska
At 20:54:40 (UTC) on the 19th of October 2020, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake occurred near the Alaska Peninsula (see map below). The earthquake struck approximately 90 km south of the peninsula at a depth of 40 km. Initially a tsunami threat warning was issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, however it is now thought this threat has passed. The Alaska Peninsula is prone to large earthquakes due to the subduction of the Pacific plate beneath the North American plate in that region.
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=912660
2020-07-22, M7.8, Alaska Peninsula
At 06:12:44 (UTC) on the 22nd of July 2020, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurred near the Alaska Peninsula (see map below). The earthquake struck approximately 100 km south of the peninsula at a depth of 30 km. Shortly after, a tsunami warning was issued by the U.S. Tsunami Warning System. Several aftershocks of magnitude 5 and greater occurred within the hours following the main shock. Large earthquakes are common in this region due to the subduction of the Pacific plate beneath the North American plate. Since 1900, twelve earthquakes with magnitudes greater than 7.5 have occurred in this region, including the 1964 M9.2 Prince William Sound earthquake, the second largest recorded earthquake in the era of modern instrumental seismology.
The earthquake was recorded at seismic stations worldwide, including stations of the Irish Nation Seismic Network (INSN), see seismic waveforms below (select figure to enlarge).
Further information is available from the following sources:
https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=878808
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000asvb/executive
2020-06-23, M7.4, Oaxaca, Mexico
At 15:29:05 (Universal Time) on the 23rd of June 2020, an earthquake of magnitude 7.4 struck in the Oaxaca region of Mexico (see map below). The earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 km, locating approximately 12 km SSW of Santa Maria Zapotitlan, Mexico. Shortly after, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Canter (PTWC) issued a warning that hazardous tsunami waves reaching 1 to 3 m above the tide level along the coast of Mexico are possible.
Mexico is one the earths most seismically active regions due to the relative motions of three large tectonic plates (the Pacific Plate, the Cocos Plate and the North American Plate) in the region. The relatively dense oceanic crust of the pacific plate is subducting beneath the Mexican landmass. This motion can result in large earthquakes such as today’s event. The interaction of the subducting plate and the mantel rock beneath the Mexican landmass also results in volcanism in the area.
The earthquake was recorded at seismic stations worldwide, including stations of the Irish Nation Seismic Network (INSN), see seismic waveforms below (select figure to enlarge).
Further information is available from the following sources:
https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=870434
VAL - Kerry
IDGL - Donegal
