Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Earthquake presents for Christmas

The world has given me some nice presents, in the form of minor earthquakes.  It's pleasant when they are small, yet reveal some interesting fault mechanics.



We've got to love Alaska.  They just had 2 M4+'s.  This is an active escalating zone, but it is quite likely that it might just get to some level, and then fade.  Nearly all the nasty earthquakes of history have given no warning.  I love this zone because there is subduction, which meets strike-slip transform, and it is all under a continent.  I don't know of any other place that is so interesting.


There have been lots of earthquakes in this zone, but almost nothing has broken above M3.  I'm not even sure about the mechanism here, but it is fascinating.  Would be a fun place to visit!


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