5 earthquakes hit off Northwest US Coast

5 earthquakes hit off Northwest US Coast


Source:Xinhua Published: 2015-6-2 10:28:59

A series of earthquakes hit off the Oregon coast in northwest United States from Sunday through Monday, apparently causing no harm to life and property.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the latest quake, measured at magnitude 6.0, struck at 1:12 pm Monday in the Pacific Ocean about 480 kilometers west of Newport, and another temblor at magnitude 5.8 was near the same location shortly before midnight.

In media reports reaching here, Max Rudolph, a geologist at Portland State University, was quoted as saying that the quakes occurred near the boundary between the Juan de Fuca plate and the Pacific plate as part of "a natural ongoing movement between these two tectonic plates."

No tsunamis were triggered and no damage has been reported to local authorities.

The USGS also said there was a magnitude-4.3 quake about 1:40 am Monday, a magnitude-5.5 quake about 3:45 am Monday and 4.4 quake about 7:45 am Monday in the same area.

Besides that they were nearly 10 kilometers deep, Rudolph said he was "not concerned" about these events because they were far off shore.

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/924890.shtml

Series of 7 earthquakes hit off Oregon coast

At 8:11 p.m., a 4.2 magnitude trembler was felt

By Kohr Harlan and KOIN 6 News Staff
Published: June 1, 2015, 5:46 am Updated: June 1, 2015, 9:12 pm

SALEM, Ore. (KOIN) — A series of earthquakes struck off the Oregon coast early Monday, but scientists said they weren’t strong enough to trigger tsunamis.

The first came at magnitude 5.8. It struck about midnight Sunday and was followed by three quakes early Monday. They were of magnitude 4.3, 5 and 4.4. A fifth struck around 1:13 p.m. and registered at a 5.9 magnitude.

At 7:50 p.m., a 3.9 magnitude earthquake was recorded off the Oregon coast. Then at 8:11 p.m., a 4.2 magnitude trembler was felt.

A ground motion sensor near Mt. Hood picked up all of the ocean quake activity, highlighted by red indicators on screens at the U.S. Geological Survey offices in Vancouver.

https://lintvkoin.files.wordpress.co...pg?w=438&h=248

The wall of earthquake monitors at the USGS monitoring station in Vancouver, June 1, 2015 (KOIN).They struck at a fault nearly 300 miles west of Coos Bay, Oregon. They were relatively shallow, at 6 miles deep.

KOIN 6 News wanted to know if these quakes could mean we’re closer to a big offshore quake, like the one that rattled the region more than 300 years ago.

“These earthquakes are happening in a totally different part of the system and aren’t really relevant in a physical way,” USGS seismologist Seth Moran said.

According to Moran, Monday’s quakes are on a fault line farther out to sea than the much more dangerous fault line right off the Oregon coast. That closer fault line — the Cascadia-Subduction Zone — has caused huge quakes in the past and is currently building up pressure.

“The area where it’s stuck is roughly like this and if that entire patch were to go all at once, that’s the magnitude 9,” Moran said. “It’s a long fault, it’s a wide fault.”

Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey said it usually takes an earthquake of magnitude 7 or better to trigger a tsunami.

They say the fault that produced them generates frequent earthquakes, but it isn’t the type of fault that produces the most violent quakes.

Scientists told KOIN 6 News the action off the coast is an “earthquake swarm,” but they are not connected to the fault line that worries experts.

http://koin.com/2015/06/01/strong-ea...-oregon-coast/