I´ve gotten abit behind on my earthquake posts, and apologize. I will try to do better.
Had a busy day - earthquakewise- earlier this week. On the night of the 15th and morning of the 16th we had at least three quakes. The first was at 10:53 p.m. on the 15th. It was a 5.0 with a depth of 39 km. At 12:16 a.m. on the 16th we had a second quake that measured 3.0 with a depth of 12 km. Both of the quakes were due to movement of a local fault. There was another quake around 4:16 a.m. that woke me up, and although the seimographs in several locations registered the tremor, there has been no official reporting of it.
In the first week of December there have been 85 tremors/quakes.
In the month of November there were 469 tremors/quakes.
Showing posts with label tremors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tremors. Show all posts
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Earthquake in Costa Rica This Morning
Geologically speaking, it has been an exciting day so far here in Costa Rica. According to the USGS and OVSICORI (Observatorio Vulcanologico y Sismologico de Costa Rica) a 6.2 magnitude quake hit near the Costa Rica/Panama border, a few miles north of Puerto Armuelles, Panama, at 12:11 a.m. Location coordinates are 8.295 degrees North and 82.928 degrees West. Depth was approximately 30 miles. It lasted for over 2 minutes.
Being a geologist by profession, I checked out the seismograph reading for the 5 active volcanoes here in Costa Rica before publishing this post (which is why the post was not up earlier). Four of the five seismographs located on the volcanoes registered a quake at midnight, 11 minutes before the 6.2. Volcanoes Arenal, Rincon de la Vieja, Poas, and Irazu all had registered tremors at midnight. Volcano Turrialba did not register the earlier quake. Haven't been able to determine their magnitudes as of yet, but would make an educated guess of a high 3 or low 4. All five seismographs (Arenal, Rincon de la Vieja, Poas, Irazu, and Turrialba) all registered the 6.2 and the 4.7 that occurred around 1 a.m. Since then we have experience at least 4 more tremors: 3:38 a.m., 5 a.m., 5:53 a.m., and 7:54 a.m. (these times are approximate). These last 4 tremors, again an educated guess, were 2.5 to 4.0 in magnitude.
Someone recently asked, "How many quakes does Costa Rica have per day?" The answer is somewhere between 30 and 40 a day. Many are too light to be felt. We have somewhere between 25 to 35 large quakes per year (4.0 magnitude or above).
Blessings
Being a geologist by profession, I checked out the seismograph reading for the 5 active volcanoes here in Costa Rica before publishing this post (which is why the post was not up earlier). Four of the five seismographs located on the volcanoes registered a quake at midnight, 11 minutes before the 6.2. Volcanoes Arenal, Rincon de la Vieja, Poas, and Irazu all had registered tremors at midnight. Volcano Turrialba did not register the earlier quake. Haven't been able to determine their magnitudes as of yet, but would make an educated guess of a high 3 or low 4. All five seismographs (Arenal, Rincon de la Vieja, Poas, Irazu, and Turrialba) all registered the 6.2 and the 4.7 that occurred around 1 a.m. Since then we have experience at least 4 more tremors: 3:38 a.m., 5 a.m., 5:53 a.m., and 7:54 a.m. (these times are approximate). These last 4 tremors, again an educated guess, were 2.5 to 4.0 in magnitude.
Someone recently asked, "How many quakes does Costa Rica have per day?" The answer is somewhere between 30 and 40 a day. Many are too light to be felt. We have somewhere between 25 to 35 large quakes per year (4.0 magnitude or above).
Blessings
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Earthquake Update
Well, the week of June 27 through July 4 was rather quiet. Only 76 tremors. The largest was a 4.7. Barely enough to rattle the windows.
Most of the quakes (tremors) that occur here are 3's or less, and unless you are either lying down or sitting down and are perfectly still, you would never notice them. A 4.5 will make the roof rafts groan abit. A 5 will gently rattle the windows. A 6 will vibrate things off their shelves and make the chandelier over the dining room table swing back and forth.
Quite often I can hear them before feeling them. Especially a 5 or higher. Sound waves travel at a faster speed then the ground waves. It is a low pitched rumbling almost like distant thunder. Sometimes the neighborhood dogs will set up a real din before I feel it. Sound apparently hurts their ears.
The most interesting quake I've experienced actually happened in Granada, Nicaragua. We were having lunch at an open air cafe on the main plaza when a 5.2 occurred. You could actually see the ground rolling like gentle waves on a lake. It was really weird, and of course, being a geologist, I loved it.
Most of the quakes (tremors) that occur here are 3's or less, and unless you are either lying down or sitting down and are perfectly still, you would never notice them. A 4.5 will make the roof rafts groan abit. A 5 will gently rattle the windows. A 6 will vibrate things off their shelves and make the chandelier over the dining room table swing back and forth.
Quite often I can hear them before feeling them. Especially a 5 or higher. Sound waves travel at a faster speed then the ground waves. It is a low pitched rumbling almost like distant thunder. Sometimes the neighborhood dogs will set up a real din before I feel it. Sound apparently hurts their ears.
The most interesting quake I've experienced actually happened in Granada, Nicaragua. We were having lunch at an open air cafe on the main plaza when a 5.2 occurred. You could actually see the ground rolling like gentle waves on a lake. It was really weird, and of course, being a geologist, I loved it.
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