Home » Posts tagged 'global earthquake'
Tag Archives: global earthquake
2024-04-21, M5.3, Iceland
On April 21st, 2024, at 06:37:22 UTC, an earthquake measuring M5.3 struck central Iceland, at a depth of 10 km (refer to the map below for the location). The earthquake occurred near the Bárðarbunga stratovolcano, about 200km east of the capital Reykjavik. This was the largest earthquake to occur in this region of Iceland since 2015. Overall seismic activity at the volcano has been increasing since February 2024, and this earthquake could mark the beginning of a new phase of unrest at the volcano. The previous eruption of the Bárðarbunga volcano began in August 2014 and ended in February 2015.
The event was recorded by seismic stations operated by DIAS in the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN), see figure below.
For additional information, visit the following links:
https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake_information/earthquake.php?id=1649429
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000mdlk
2024-04-02, M7.4, Taiwan
On April 2, 2024, at 23:58:11 UTC, a powerful earthquake measuring M7.4 struck the eastern coast of Taiwan, at a depth of 35 km (refer to the map below for the location). 13 minutes later, a strong aftershock of M6.5 also occurred. This seismic activity was caused by reverse faulting near the boundary where the Philippine Sea Plate is subducting beneath the Eurasian Plate. At the time of writing, there have been 7 confirmed fatalities and numerous injuries reported. The earthquakes resulted in significant damage to buildings and widespread power outages.
The event was recorded by seismic stations operated by DIAS in the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN), see figure below.
More information is available at the below resources:
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000m9g4/executive
https://emsc-csem.org/Earthquake_information/earthquake.php?id=1641639
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.
2024-01-01, M7.5, Japan
On the 1st of January, 2024, a M7.5 earthquake occurred on the west coast of Japan, at a depth of 10 km (see map below). A series of aftershocks have also occurred. At the time of writing 48 deaths have been reported with major damage to roads and houses on the the west side of the island.
Japan experiences high seismic activity due to the subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath its eastern coast. However, the recent event occurred along the less seismically active western coast, where certain shallow faults accommodate broader plate movements. Shallow earthquakes, such as this one, typically lead to more pronounced surface ground shaking compared to deeper earthquakes, as the energy is released closer to the Earth’s surface.
The seismic stations of the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN), which is managed by the geophysics section in the School of Cosmic Physics at DIAS, detected the M7.5 earthquake, see figure below.
More information is available at the below resources:
https://www.data.jma.go.jp/multi/quake/quake_detail.html?eventID=20240101162429&lang=en
2023-12-18, M5.9, China
On the 18th of December 2023 at 15:59:30 UTC a M5.9 earthquake occurred in north-central China at a depth of 10km. The map below shows the earthquake epicentre (marked with a red circle). Over 100 deaths have been reported with rescue efforts ongoing.
The earthquake struck in the Gansu-Qinghai border region which is in north-central China. The Gansu province is within an intraplate region, but situated on the north-eastern margin of the tectonically active Tibetan Plateau. Seismicity in the Tibetan Plateau largely results from the continental collision of the India and Eurasia plates. Within 250 km of the Gansu province event, there have been 23 M5.5 and larger earthquakes since 1900. The largest of these was a M7.7 earthquake that occurred in May 1927 which resulted in approximately 40,000 fatalities.
The seismic stations of the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN), which is managed by the geophysics section in the School of Cosmic Physics at DIAS, detected the M5.9 earthquake, see figure below.
Further information can be obtained at the following links:
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000ljvg/executive
https://emsc-csem.org/Earthquake_information/earthquake.php?id=1594055
2023-10-07, M6.3, Afghanistan
On the 7th of October 2023 at 07:12:50 UTC an M6.3 earthquake occurred in Afghanistan at a depth of 10km (see map below for the earthquake epicentre, marked with a red circle). The earthquake struck in western Afghanistan near the city of Herat, close the Iranian border. Media reports estimate hundreds of deaths and thousands of causalities with rescue efforts still ongoing.
Afghanistan and the Middle East are prone to earthquakes due to the interaction of several large tectonic plates (Arabia, Eurasia, India and Africa). These interactions result the region experiencing several major geological processes such as subduction, faulting, mountain formation and stretching of the Earth’s crust.
The M6.3 earthquake was recorded by seismic stations operated by DIAS in the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN), see figure below.
Further information can be obtained at the following links:
https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake_information/earthquake.php?id=1563081
2023-09-08, M6.8, Morocco
On the 8th of September 2023 at 22:11:01 UTC a M6.8 earthquake occurred in southwest Morocco at a depth of 19km. See map below for the earthquake epicentre, marked with a red circle. The earthquake struck in Morocco’s High Atlas mountains, about 75 km southeast of Marrakech. At the time of writing media outlets report of at least 600 fatalities mainly in mountain areas that are hard to reach.
This earthquake occurred within the Africa Plate, approximately 550 km south of the plate boundary between the Africa and Eurasia plates. The USGS estimates the fault area over which slip occurred to be about 30 by 20 km (length x width).
The M6.8 earthquake was recorded by seismic stations operated by DIAS in the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN), see figure below.
The earthquake was also detected by Raspberry Shake seismometers operated in Ireland by citizens and schools. The diagram below shows the data recorded by the station operated at St. Columba’s College in Stranorlar, Co. Donegal.
Further information can be obtained at the following links:
https://emsc.eu/Earthquake_information/earthquake.php?id=1550978
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000kufc/executive
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.
2023-03-21, 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.
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
2023-02-06, M7.8, M7.5, Turkey
On the 6th of February 2023 at 01:17:35 (UTC) an M7.8 earthquake occurred in South-Eastern Turkey (see map below). The event effected Turkey, Syria and surrounding areas. The earthquake struck 30 km WNW of Gaziantep, Turkey and 108 km NNW of Aleppo, Syria, both of which are densely populated areas. Several strong aftershocks have also been observed in the region, notably a magnitude M7.5 about 100km north of Gaziantep at 10:24:49 (UTC) the same day. Over five thousand deaths and many injured, largely due to building collapse, have been reported. The M7.8 and M7.5 earthquakes occurred at depths of 18km and 10km respectively. Such large, shallow earthquakes produce significant ground shaking.
For a radio interview on RTE Radio 1 titled “Why is Turkey so prone to earthquakes?” with Chris Bean, Head of Geophysics at DIAS follow this link: https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22208567/
Chris Bean also talked on The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk radio, the clip can be accessed here: https://www.insn.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/The-Paty-Kenny-Show-7th-Feb-2023-Chris-Bean.mp3
The event was recorded by seismic stations worldwide, including stations in the Irish National Seismic Network (INSN), see figure below.
More information about the M7.8 earthquake is available at the following resources:
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000jllz
https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=1218444
Information about the M7.5 earthquake is available at these sites:
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000jlqa
https://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=1218771
VAL - Kerry
IMAY - Mayo
