Seismology: Earthquakes - The Science and Updates on Current Activity

Is there a site where we can find current faultlines?

The quick answer is there is no good one that I know of but have sent the request to my family expert. Usually they appear as a line of earthquakes as in http://www.geophys.washington.edu/CNSS/us.epi.gif I will search it further. At this URL you will find links to your area which is about as stable as it is possible to get. Water is your enemy, not the earth beneath it! http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/QUAKES/CURRENT/current.html

For my current seismic activity for my location Check out the zoomable map at the bottom of the page. http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/quake/tako.wr.usgs.gov/db=usa/river=1/fed.=1 YY MM DD HH MM SS Lat Long Depth Mag Q Point of Reference || || || || || || ||.|| |||.|| ||.| |.| | 99/07/08 02:55:54 19.32N 155.09W 5.1 2.6MGN B* 5 mi. S of Puu O'O 99/07/08 03:04:16 19.33N 155.09W 2.3 2.6MGN B* 4 mi. S of Puu O'O 99/07/08 07:49:36 19.19N 155.45W 18.3 2.0MGN C* 2 mi. ESE of Pahala 99/07/08 16:38:48 19.73N 155.80W 0.9 2.4MLG B* 15 mi. ENE of Kailua-Kona 99/07/10 09:27:57 19.34N 155.13W 0.3 2.3MGN A* 4 mi. SSW of Puu O'O 99/07/10 12:53:58 19.33N 155.12W 3.3 2.2MGN C* 4 mi. SSW of Puu O'O 99/07/10 13:09:45 19.70N 155.82W 31.3 2.2MLG B* 13 mi. ENE of Kailua-Kona 99/07/10 15:52:23 19.36N 155.08W 1.4 2.3MGN B* 2 mi. SE of Puu O'O 99/07/10 22:44:05 19.49N 155.35W 14.7 2.0MGN A* 18 mi. WNW of Puu O'O 99/07/10 23:09:06 19.35N 155.07W 1.8 2.5MGN B* 3 mi. SE of Puu O'O ---------------------------------------------- <> Last update was on 10-JUL-1999 23:11 HST ------------------------------------------------

David has come through for me and here are his suggestions for fault maps: There are several related sources. You may like the ABAG site with forecast damage estimate maps: http://www.abag.ca.gov/bayarea/eqmaps/eqmaps.html and http://www.geophys.washington.edu/seismosurfing.html The best simple fault map is on the CA quake pages at: http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/ Be sure to check the Bay Area version cause it has lots of what folks will want to see.

Marcia, there was some seismic activity in Central America this weekend. Can you find the particulars? I had conflicting reports.

There were two Earthquakes in Honduras: 99/07/11 20:09:21 15.71N 88.51W 10.0 4.4Mb B HONDURAS 99/07/11 20:17:25 15.29N 88.38W 10.0 4.3Mb B HONDURAS Maps and more information is available at http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/quake/

There were two Earthquakes in Honduras: 99/07/11 20:09:21 15.71N 88.51W 10.0 4.4Mb B HONDURAS 99/07/11 20:17:25 15.29N 88.38W 10.0 4.3Mb B HONDURAS Maps and more information is available at http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/quake/

Lisbon is in a seysmic zone, and after the "big one" in 1755 that was followed by a tidal wave and fires that dertroyed most of the city, we have never felt quite safe again. There was a reasonably strong earthquake in 1968 (I'm writing from memory and haven't checked the particulars so cannot give you any numbers)but people say it "wasn't it", they still fear a bigger one! I was very young and living in Madeira in 68, but woke up in the night and felt the quake.

when my father was stationed in san francisco, we had an earth tremor. just a baby at the time, so i remember nothing about it.

You need to move to a more active place than you are now...You have just about no chance of feeling a really fun Earth quake in La Belle Lousiana

no thanks, that's one experience i think i'll pass on (i mean, no guarantees, right?)

The only guarantee is No Guarantees!

kind of like posting on the Spring...

so true, we're lucky to stay on topic!!

we're lucky if we can still keep it in sight while we're straying away!

That's odd. I thought we were posting on the Spring (as I drag my seismograph and stand along behind me...)

any conclusions yet?

You have just about no chance of feeling a really fun Earth quake in La Belle Lousiana Now hold your beignets! They could probably feel something from that New Madras fault. A long, long time ago, when I was visiting older sis in college down at U ofI, I got woken up by earth tremors coming from that region. Chicago can get them, so they probably head south as well.

...unless it's too soggy down there

(Karen)...unless it's too soggy down there That's my guess. It mostly depends on your substrate. If you are on the same plate and the same portion of the bedrock, you will be able to feel a strong one from quite far away. It is on this principle that seismographs work. The ones at the epicenter are knocked off-line almost instantaneously with a local earthquake, so the magnitude and epicenter have to be extrapolated from the data obtained from the network of Seismic stations around the world. At the Hawaii Volcanoes Observatory, where ours are located, the Good Friday quake in Alaska some years ago made a very impressive readout. I think it is still on display. However, that said, the New Madrid Fault quakes have changed the course of the Mississippi, so it just might have been felt in Lousiana, despite the dampening effect of the bog on which it sits.

New Madrid, well, I knew it started with an M!! Strange though that I did a search on Yahoo! and an article there talked about the New Madras Fault as well. According to these two site, the fault cuts across 5 states, but none mentioned affecting Louisiana, excepting as you said Marcia the course of the Mississippi!! http://www.ceri.memphis.edu/www/public_info/faultfacts.html http://quake.ualr.edu/public/nmfz.htm

Oh Karen..thanks for the links. For those not knowing, Madrid in Spain is not the way they pronounce it for the New Madrid Fault. This case is pronounced MAA-drid (accent on the first syllable.)

I was going to mention the difference in pronunciation (as all foreign place names in the Midwest), but didn't think Geo was the place. ;-D Although, I would add another D in there. MAAD-drid. My fav is upriver in Cairo, Il. You know how that's pronounced? BTW, we're relevant here as Cairo is along the fault line.

Wolf could add the La. versions of French words, like the street names in Nawlins.

KAY row we all have our regional peculiarities. In Maine Calais is pronounced Callous (like on the bottom of your foot!)

WoW! I like to learn these things to. To talk of such places with the right pronunciation makes one sound *very* cool! (Like one has been there) ;-)

(Fun, is it not!!) In Pennsylvania they are very capricious with their French place-names. Charleroi (Charles-le-Roi) is pronounced the French way (excepting the roi part which is pronounced roy), but DuBois is DOO bose. Amazing!

In Wisconsin (or is it Michigan or maybe it's Illi-NWA), there is a Charlesvoix, pronounced: SHAR-le-voy. A little bit of both.

Another: in Illi-NWA, we have a lot of French place names because of Joliet and Champlain--one of them was a Pere, forget which). South of Chicago, is Bourbonnais. Have heard it pronounced: Bur-BON-is and Bur-bon-aze.

and Marseilles, which is of course: Mar-SAILS

well, and then there's nacogdotches and nacodetches (or something like that). in LA, it's nack-ah-dish and in texas, it's nack-ah-doe-chez. i think they're even spelled the same way!

Ok, people, admit it. When you wear the cloth of kings (whether wide wale or narrow) you call it Cor-doo-roy or Cor-der-roy ...not Cord-Du-Roi

i call it yucky! *smile*

oops, and it was Pere Marquette in that little canoe... you call it Cor-doo-roy or Cor-der-roy ...not Cord-Du-Roi depends on if it's been good or bad and if it's going to get any supper that night! ;-p

*lol* how do you think up these comments! Especially after a ziooion hours a day doing this - like me - but I am almost brain-dead at this point.

Being brain-dead is a requirement. ;-p

You know, I wondered about those electrodes they afixed to my scalp before turning this Conference over to my care. No business going on in here - I think I'll go up to the observatory and jump up and down on their seiso-cables. You see tourist and little kids doing that all the time. Very funny! And quite undetectable.

Here is an excellent source of information for teachers (which also means parents) This particular issue is about Natural Disasters and overcoming science myths (that is what they said!) http://www.earthsky.com/Teachers/Booklet/natural_disasters.html

I wonder if ratthing heard that...and what he'd have to say on the topic of "science myths"...?

I wondered about that, too. I was busy today so I did not check out the URL as thoroughly as I usually do...shall report tomorrow...stayed tuned!

We have just experienced a 4.5 Earthquake. I thought a hurricane would be about all I needed to make my day complete...until now!

Nothing on the 7.1 earthquake in Turkey? Get out of the Bath, Marcia! ;-o

I was waiting to see if anyone else was aware of it while I waited for Cal Tech to update their stuff and give me something more substantial to post. Willl check in again and post what I can find.

msn on line is reporting 1000 dead but the news says 2000 and thousands missing. they're having aftershocks and fear an even bigger quake during the night. let's pray not.

Since the Earthquake resources are still not reporting anything, I went to The Times of London for information: http://www.sunday-times.co.uk:80/news/pages/Times/frontpage.html?1319194 bul toll rises to more than 2,000 � A young girl is carried out of the wreckage of her demolished home in Istanbul after the quake yesterday Photograph: AP Turks call for earthquake aid BY ANDREW FINKEL IN IZMIT TURKEY was counting its dead yesterday after a major earthquake devastated western parts of the country. More than 2,000 people are believed to have been killed over a wide area from the extreme western Istanbul suburb of Halkali to Asia and the industrial city of Izmit about 60 miles to the east. At least 11,000 are thought to have been injured. Survivors tore at mangled steel and concrete to free loved ones, and officials asked the international community to send sniffer dogs and lifting equipment to help in the rescue. The whole region shook for 45 seconds at 3.02 am local time (1.02 BST) yesterday, driving millions of people from their beds out into the street. Turkish seismologists calculated the initial tremor at 6.7 on the Richter scale. But the British Geological Survey, Harvard University and other centres around the world later calculated the magnitude as at least 7.5. The tremor was felt with violent intensity in the capital Ankara, some 270 miles from the epicentre in a fault segment running from Izmit to Lake Sapanca. Bulent Ecevit, the Turkish Prime Minister, appeared close to tears during a visit to devastated towns. "The loss is huge," he said in a trembling voice."It is the biggest natural disaster I have witnessed. May Allah help our state and our people." Most of the those who died were killed as they slept when substandard buildings collapsed. The Istanbul neighbourhood of Avcilar, far from the epicentre, was badly hit. The stricken region also includes Yalova, Bursa, Adapazari, Bolu and Eskisehir - an area which defines the industrial and commercial heartland of Turkey and to emphasise the point smoke billowed from the country's main oil refinery at Izmet. The naval base at Golcuk across Izmit Bay was also badly hit. A handover of command ceremony had taken place on Monday and many high-ranking officers had decided to stay overnight. Twenty bodies were recovered and more than 200 were missing feared dead. While most of the structural damage was to blocks of flats, the early 16th-century Beyazid Mosque in Istanbul was one of the few historical buildings to suffer substantial damage. Along the highway approach to Izmit, some apartment blocks looked as if someone had taken an axe to split them in two, and the force of the quake turned one five-storey block in the town of Korfez on to its side. Other buildings simply collapsed one floor on top of the other with mattresses and carpets sticking out at the end to define the layers. The minaret on the town's mosque lay draped over the building like a limp sock. Many of those trapped under the rubble were taken to Izmit state hospital, which presented a scene reminiscent of the Inferno. A car park littered with bandages and surgical gloves was converted into an emergency ward with relatives holding up pieces of cardboard to shade loved ones as their wounds were being stitched. Inside, three of the four operating theatres were in constant use, even although there was no city water and the emergency electrical generator was not working. The corridors of the hospital were filled with the injured, while those not in a critical condition were taken to the park across the street. "I don't know if I should be thinking of myself or my family," said a dazed 20-year-old sitting outside, a saline drip suspended from a railing and his face still caked in blood. He was one of the lucky ones who had been rescued within the first hour and brought in to have his arm, broken in three places, mended. He had no knowledge of the fate of his parents or younger brother, still missing in the rubble. Turkey has in the past been unwilling to accept international assistance after an earthquake, but Mr Ecevit, who was manning a special crisis centre, made clear that there would be no such reluctance this time. He urged international organisations to be patient as there might be logistical problems in getting aid to where it was needed most. He also urged Turks to refrain from using bulldozers to clear the wreckage, warning them that such powerful intervention might kill those trapped in air pockets. "Some of our citizens who lost their loved ones under wreckage demand heavy machinery to clear it and save their relatives. But if we do this we can lose more people than we save. So we have to be patient and wait," he said. Britain sent a team of 42 experts including firefighters and those trained in search-and-rescue operations, and other countries - including some that have been at odds with Turkey - promised help. Greece offered crews experienced in recovering survivors from ruined buildings. Bill Richardson, the US Energy Secretary, who was in Istanbul, consulted his Turkish counterpart about American assistance, and President Clinton said: "Turkey has been our friend and our ally for a long time now. We must stand with them and do whatever we can to help them get through this terrible crisis." Two Britons were among the wounded, neither of them with life-threatening injuries. A schoolboy who had been listed as missing was found safe. Next page: Andrew Finkel reflects on the tremor aftermath

i believe we're sending in search and rescue troops out of virginia. the best in the country (not military). i can only imagine what contracting must be like over there right now (i.e., the military bases etc.) and i have a friend who will be moving there with his family next week. :(

You don't want to know...Those search and rescue teams with the sniffer dogs are veterans of the Mexico City quake and numerous others. They are the best in the world at that unhappy task. We can all be grateful that they are willing to do it.

indeed, so!

My son reports that a rode out a 5.0 earthquake in central California MAG DATE LOCAL-TIME LAT LON DEPTH LOCATION y/m/d h:m:s deg deg km 5.0 99/08/17 18:06:18 37.91N 122.69W 6.9 0 mi SSW of BOLINAS More information is available at this URL: http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/quakes.big.html

the numbers in turkey are over 3500 dead and still 10's of thousands missing. from what i understand, none of the us military bases were hit.

That is my understanding at this hour. Two sniffer-dog rescue units are there from the US...one from Virginia and one from Florida - to be joined by units from Japan and other countries, including Greece, its arch-enemy. In times like this, national disputes seem very petty, indeed!

eh, eh, eh. Last night on the news, they said the largest contingent to come over was from Israel. Having been to Turkey fairly recently (less than 2 yrs ago) I think the US AF bases are northeast from this area, along the Black Sea--as close as they dared to the former Soviet Union. Am amazed that those historic buildings in Istanbul are still standing. 7.4 on the scale, they say.

http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/990817000138.HTML 99/08/17 00:01:38 40.69N 29.82E 10.0 7.4Mw TURKEY The following is a release by the United States Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center: A major earthquake occurred about 55 miles (90 km) east-southeast of Istanbul or about 165 miles (270 km) west-northwest of Ankara at 6:02 PM MDT, Aug 16, 1999 (Aug 17 at 3:02 AM local time in Turkey). A PRELIMINARY MAGNITUDE OF 7.8 WAS COMPUTED FOR THIS EARTHQUAKE. The magnitude and location may change slightly as additional data are received from other seismograph stations. At least 2,000 people killed, 10,000 injured, many missing and extensive damage in the Istanbul-Adapazari area. Much of the damage and casualties occured in the provinces of Kocaeli and Sakarya. Felt as far east as Ankara. There is discussion that the California quake David felt was the compression wave travelling around the earth (see diagram in above url.) Turkey is on a plate boundary, and any movement on a plate boundary makes all of the other plates move. The San Andreas fault quake yesterday in California is the result.

amazing when you look at the mileage! turkey being so far away from california.

I guess this big blue marble is not all that big. I have heard Earthquakes described as striking a bell or a gong. It reverberates for a long while before all of the oscillations fade into the background.

i'm sure it does, just like ripples in the water...

Exactly analagous...

Do you have anything on Lisbon's fault and seismic history, Marcia? Apart from the 1755 earthquake.

I shall look it up - I am sure data is available, and with luck a plot of mapping of the faulting. Gives me something to do besides wring my hands over this hurricane about to assault Texas. Thank you for asking.

You won't believe this but I give you my word it's true. Earlier today there was a warning issued by the Maritime Authority that a giant ocean wave about 40 metres high was going to hit the Algarve (southern Portugal) coast. The beaches were evacuated, as were some restaurants and private homes. People gathered at high points to watch it appear. I didn't hear of it until about an hour ago, found it peculiar (but exciting, I admit) and asked my DH to call the "Civilian Protection Service" to find out more. Here's what we learned: the CPS had told the Maritime Authority to issue a warning that a heat wave of about 40�celsius would hit the Algarve this afternoon. Someone must have drunk a little to much at lunch and the warning came out as it did...

Too scary but funny! That is like the 40' lava wave that was going to sweep over Hilo as reported in mainland US newspapers. That is impossible. Lava moves pretty rapidly down slopes fresh from the vest, but not at 40' high and not sweeping...more like creeping. We did get a lot of phone calls, though. That is highly irresponsible reporting!!! Thanks for sharing, and stay cool!

The current information on the Greek Earthquake has not hit The Times of London yet, and am waiting for more information from Geological sources. Updates as soon as I can find them. 99/09/07 11:56:50 38.13N 23.55E 10.0 5.8Mb A GREECE

From the BBC: Tuesday, September 7, 1999 Published at 19:29 GMT 20:29 UK Earthquake rocks Athens An earthquake has shaken the Greek capital Athens, killing at least 20 people and leaving more than 100 trapped inside collapsed buildings. Three children are said to be among those who died in the tremor, which struck around 1500 local time (1200 GMT) and was followed by a series of strong aftershocks. Thousands of Athenians who were taking an afternoon siesta, fled into streets when the tremor occurred. People were hit by falling glass, concrete and marble slabs. At least three were killed when a building collapsed in the northern working-class surburb of Menidi. Emergency services are trying to free 70 people trapped under a collapsed detergent factory in the northern Tatoi suburb, one of the worst hit areas. A further 20 people were reported trapped in the ruins of a flattened apartment building. Reports say up to 100 buildings have been destroyed in the tremor. A government spokesman said many people were trapped inside buildings and several dozen had been transported to hospital. Cracks appeared in buildings in the historic Plaka district, but there was no apparent damage to ancient sites, including the Acropolis and the Temple of Zeus. The Athens Seismological Institute said the quake registered 5.9 on the Richter scale, and its epicentre was 20km (12.4 miles) north of the capital. Experts said the seismic shift occurred 5 to 10km below the ground.

Is there a site where I can find a sort of map of the earth's seismic faults, Marcia?

Still looking for that map. There are several with local locations - like around San Francisco, or California in general. Will check for one for Lisbon for you (Portugal? Elsewhere?)

Thanks! What I really want to know is the relationship between Lisbon's fault and others. If there is such a thing.

I will keep checking for the world-wide system, but All of the European coastline on the Atlantic is along the plate boundaries of the European Plate and the Atlantic Plate. By their very nature they grind and slide past one another as the earth fluctuates with celestial tugging by moon and sun. That is what caused the great quake in Turkey, recently.

...And in Greece? And two years ago in Italy? why one place and not another? Shall we be next? Stupid questions, I know, but we are worried. I guess only the events in East Timor have taken our collective mind away from that worry.

I could answer your question better if I knew if they had strain meters along your part of the plate boundary, and whether or not there was evidence of strain building up in the rock beneath. I trust it is being monitored and you will hear far before it becomes life-or-death time. The problem with that is the panic factor. The powers that be in places like New York City, have said that fewer people would die from the earthquake they did not know was coming than from the panic ensuing trying to leave the city if they did know one was imminent. Terrible though it might seem, that may be the only viable option with the populations centered as they are. Alas, anything bordering the Mediterranean is a natural for earth upheavals. Your only sure bet would be to move to the less populated outskirts of the city, and away from the coast.

Ah, and your question, why in one place and not in another: Some places the rock is more fragile and fractures more easily...in others it is just a case of when one large piece of something past another, each with great inertia. It hops rather than slides along, resulting in a big quake at the point of the hop. Sometimes this is entirely arbitrary where it occurs, but others have had the way paved by smaller ones which tend to lubricate the slide and make that area more prone to quakes. It is an imprecise science at best.

There has been an EarthQuake swarm on Kilauea today so I am hoping to get up there to look around and see what is happening: From Quake Map:

that's a first for me, what's an earth quake swarm?

They occur when magma is moving down the rift zone (a network of cracks in the volcano's structure)under the surface. It usually precedes an eruption by a little while (hours to days), and the park service closes off access to the public for their protection. As soon as the eruption takes place and stabilizes itself in a specific area, they open it to the public for viewing. It is one of the most exciting things I can think of doing - anywhere, any time.

Must be! Thank you, Marcia, for looking for my "fault information". There has been a new earthquake in Turkey this afternoon - have you heard?

I had not. Thanks for the update. I just posted information about the ongoing activity at Kilauea volcano on Geo 2. Will post updates on both sites as the day progresses.

A 7.6 EarthQuake has been reported in Taiwan. A tusnami Alert has been issued. More news as it becomes available.

From http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/finger?quake@gldfs.cr.usgs.gov 99/09/20 17:47:19 23.78N 121.09E 33.0 7.6Ms A TAIWAN 99/09/20 17:57:16 23.80N 121.34E 33.0 6.0Mb B TAIWAN 99/09/20 18:03:44 23.65N 121.36E 33.0 5.9Mb B TAIWAN 99/09/20 18:11:53 23.75N 121.19E 33.0 6.1Mb B TAIWAN 99/09/20 18:16:18 23.69N 121.31E 33.0 6.1Mb B TAIWAN 99/09/20 20:40:08 24.09N 121.95E 33.0 5.1Mb C TAIWAN 99/09/20 21:46:44 23.56N 121.10E 33.0 5.8Mb B TAIWAN Looks like they have had a bad couple of hours...all of the earthquakes have been over 5.0 which is pretty lively.

From the BBC ONline news: A powerful earthquake has hit Taiwan, killing at least 20 people and causing the partial collapse of a 12-storey hotel in the capital, Taipei. Most northern parts of the island felt the effects of the quake, which has been estimated at 7.6 on the Richter Scale. But it struck in the early hours of the morning, so the full extent of the damage and casualties is still unknown. An official from the Ministry of the Interior told the AFP news agency: "I'm afraid [there will be] more casualties as many people are trapped in collapsed buildings." Taiwan's weather centre says it is the strongest earthquake ever to have hit the island. In Taipei, rescuers are working at the 78-room Sungshan Hotel, trying to pull survivors from the rubble. At least two other buildings in the capital are reported to have collapsed. The US Geological Survey gave the preliminary magnitude of the quake as 7.6 on the Richter scale. Its epicentre is believed to be Nantou, an active earthquake zone in central Taiwan. The earthquake which devastated Turkey last month, killing more than 15,000 people, was measured at 7.4. Warnings of tsunamis - tidal waves which often follow earthquakes - have gone out for Taiwan, Japan and other islands in the region, the Geological Survey said. The quake, which struck at 1.47am on Tuesday (1747 GMT on Monday) caused severe damage to infrastructure and buildings in several cities. Power has been lost in large parts of northern and central Taiwan. But the extent of the damage, especially in remote and mountainous areas, is not yet known. Witnesses in Taipei spoke of continuing aftershocks, buildings collapsing, objects falling off apartment blocks and people fleeing their homes. Radio reports said the central city of Taichung might be the worst hit. The city's mayor said: "This is one of the strongest earthquakes I have felt in my life. Many buildings collapsed and there is damage to roads and other infrastructure". The authorities have warned that, because of the magnitude of the earthquake, aftershocks and tremors may be felt for the next two weeks.

The picture from the air of the collapsed hotel on the news was terrifying. I am hoping this was the only multi-storey building that collapsed, because if the hotel was just symptomatic, the Taiwan situation would look worse than Turkey. Amazingly, only 100 people were apparently in a 12-storey hotel overnight - seems strange? In terms of comparisons with Turkey, if the numbers given so far as dead and injured are correct, I guess the buildings are constructed with quakes in mind.

Mark, thanks for posting! Those who know about these thing - structural engineers - say the difference between Turkey and Taiwan damage is due almost entirely to buildings on Taiwan being built to stricter codes. That hotel bent and torqued as seen from the air is an amazing and terrifying sight. I can imagine how terrible, having ridden a 7.2 quake here which lasted more than 30 seconds. It was like walking on the heaving deck of a ship as the ground undulated beneath my feet. It is an incredible f eling, and one I do not need to have repeated in my lifetime, thank you!

According to the news, teams from Fairfax, Virginia complete with sniffer dogs and fiber-optics cameras are on their way to help search for victims. Teams are also in Taiwan from Japan and mainland China and other parts of the US. Karen, has Israel sent their top-notch team there, too? Have not heard as yet. Again, what a terrible job, and I am very thankful such competent people are willing to go and do it.

Earthquakes and aftershocks continue for Taiwan, and another for Turkey plus one in Portugal just after Gi has gone on holiday, and one for my son in Calidfornia 99/09/20 21:46:43 23.49N 120.93E 33.0 6.5Ms B TAIWAN 99/09/20 21:54:32 38.61N 9.34W 10.0 3.7Lg A PORTUGAL 99/09/20 21:54:49 23.64N 120.94E 33.0 5.4Mb C TAIWAN 99/09/21 07:06:06 23.85N 121.63E 33.0 4.8Mb C TAIWAN 99/09/21 11:49:46 44.84N 149.74E 33.0 5.6Mb A KURIL ISLANDS 99/09/21 14:11:36 13.80N 90.68W 33.0 4.5Mb A NEAR COAST OF GUATEMALA 99/09/21 14:21:03 33.16N 141.42E 33.0 4.6Mb B OFF E COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN 99/09/21 15:42:48 35.80N 121.26W 5.6 3.6Ml CENTRAL CALIFORNIA 99/09/21 17:38:39 23.90N 121.29E 33.0 5.1Mb A TAIWAN

Wonderful plate boundaries map, Marcia! Does your previous list of today's shocks show Richter measures (Ms, Mb, Lg) or are the A, B or C for seriousness)? How come Hawaii gets shocks - is it not safe in the middle of the Pacific plate? What happens to the faultline in the Mediterranean, and the one that heads into Northern Siberia and stops there, do you think?

The right-hand column is magnitude of the earthquakes on the Richter Scale. According to the source page of those statistics: DEPDepth in kilometers MAG Magnitude, with method used to calculate it: Ml local, the original Richter magnitude Lg mblg or Mn, local or regional magnitude for the area east of the Rocky Mountains Md duration Mb body wave Ms surface wave Mwmoment Q Earthquake Location Quality: A is good, B is fair, C is poor, D is bad

Since they remove the plate boundary EQ map when they update it, I am posting another one which is static, but still shows all of the boundaries: As to why Hawaii has Earthquakes in the middle of a plate...we are unique in the world for that fact and that we have volcanoes. It seems to be a "hot spot" (as the technicians call it) and as the plate moves across it to the northwest, new islands are formed. Another is forming off of our southeastern flank, but don't contact your real estate agents just yet. It will be several thousand years before it shows above the suface of the sea. The earthquakes we feel are just from the settling of the rock m sses after magma has left a void, or new magma is forcing its way to the surface. Having said that, the strongest EQ that I have been through - 7.2 mag - was from the plate movement across the hot spot. I truly think a lot of the dynamics of the Hawaiian situation is not yet known and GPS, laser measured inflation rates (the mountains actually swell when fresh magma enters the upper levels), and other new techinques may shed new light on the causes. We KNOW all about the effects!

Checking other sources about what happens to the Mediterranean plate boundary, it is there, but dives under other strata which have been forced onto it. I think it is the same for the Siberian boundary, as well. Close inspection of the map reveals the continuation of the boundary a few miles in front of the obstruction. (...at least, so it appears!)

For a comparison of plate boundaries map above and global vulcanism, please check http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/2.58

Marcia, wonderful maps. I'm saving this one as well as the vulcanism one.

I think they compliment each other...It would be great to have a wall-sized on for reference, I think...

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 001 PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS ISSUED 30 SEP, 1659 UTC THIS BULLETIN IS FOR ALL AREAS OF THE PACIFIC BASIN EXCEPT CALIFORNIA, OREGON, WASHINGTON, BRITISH COLUMBIA, AND ALASKA. . . . A TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH ARE IN EFFECT . . . A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR: MEXICO, EL SALVADOR, ECUADOR A TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR: PANAMA, PERU FOR OTHER AREAS IN THE PACIFIC, THIS MESSAGE IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY. AN EARTHQUAKE, PRELIMINARY MAGNITUDE 7.6, OCCURRED 30 SEP, 1631 UTC. COORDINATES: LATITUDE 16.0 NORTH, LONGITUDE 96.8 WEST VICINITY: OAXACA, MEXICO. EVALUATION: IT IS NOT KNOWN THAT A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. THIS WARNING AND WATCH ARE BASED ONLY ON EARTHQUAKE EVALUATION. ESTIMATED TIMES OF INITIAL WAVE ARRIVAL AT LOCATIONS WITHIN THE WARNING AND WATCH AREAS ARE: ACAPULCO,MEXICO 1703Z 30 SEP MANZANILLO,MEXICO 1801Z 30 SEP ACAJUTLA,EL SALVADOR 1828Z 30 SEP SOCORRO,MEXICO 1849Z 30 SEP BALTRA IS,ECUADOR 1949Z 30 SEP BALBOA HTS,PANAMA 2150Z 30 SEP LA PUNTA,PERU 2233Z 30 SEP BULLETINS WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER IF CONDITIONS WARRANT. THE TSUNAMI WARNING WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. RECIPIENTS OF THIS MESSAGE LOCATED IN CALIFORNIA, OREGON, WASHINGTON, BRITISH COLUMBIA, AND ALASKA SHOULD REFER ONLY TO ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER MESSAGES FOR INFORMATION ABOUT ANY TSUNAMI THREAT IN THOSE AREAS. David N. Little Geologist IT Corporation Martinez, California

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 3 WEST COAST AND ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS ISSUED SEP 30 AT 1836 UTC ...THIS IS THE FINAL TSUNAMI ADVISORY BULLETIN FOR ALASKA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, WASHINGTON, OREGON, AND CALIFORNIA ONLY... NO, REPEAT NO, WATCH OR WARNING IS IN EFFECT. AN EARTHQUAKE, PRELIMINARY MAGNITUDE 7.6, OCCURRED AT 0831 ADT ON SEP 30, OR 0931 PDT ON SEP 30, OR 1631 UTC ON SEP 30. THE EARTHQUAKE WAS LOCATED IN THE GENERAL AREA OF: SOUTHERN MEXICO NEAR 16.1N, 96.8W. EVALUATION: NO DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI HAS OCCURRED. NO TSUNAMI WAS RECORDED AT MANZANILLO, MEXICO. NO TSUNAMI DANGER EXISTS FOR ALASKA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, WASHINGTON, OREGON, OR CALIFORNIA. HOWEVER, SOME AREAS MAY EXPERIENCE SMALL SEA LEVEL FLUCTUATIONS. THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER IS CLOSING ITS INVESTIGATION AND WILL ISSUE A FINAL BULLETIN. THIS WILL BE THE LAST WEST COAST AND ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER ADVISORY BULLETIN ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT. THIS INFORMATION IS ALSO POSTED AT HTTP://WWW.WCATWC.GOV. David N. Little Geologist IT Corporation Martinez, California

In Hilo, we do not take Tsunami warnings lightly. This is what Hilo looked like the day after the 1960 Tsunami. Information and more pictures from Hilo's very own Tsunami Museum: http://planet-hawaii.com/tsunami/ Suddenly I heard a shout, �Big wave!� The streetlights around us exploded almost in the same instant. I looked up and saw a locally well known fishing boat coming up over the Wailoa Bridge" -- Susan Maeda Veriato on the 1960 tsunami in Hilo, as told to her son Travis [PTM Photo: Polhemus collection]

Wow! So this is what we would have had if our Giant Wave had been real... As it was, it didn't even fill the pool ;-)

Indeed! What you cannot see is the human toll. People were washed out to sea, rescued and told terrifying stories to me. Others lost realtives. Our roofs were mostly sheet iron in those days, and the sheets slashed through the water slicing up houses, animals and people. Parking meters on sturdy metal posts were laid flat against the concrete in which they were set. That whole area in the picture has been made into parkland and soccer fields along the bay front and looks lovely. There is a memorial set in the middle background to those whose lives were lost that April 1, 1960. Many more could have been saved had they not thought the warning sirens were an April Fool's Day joke!!!

It is never just one huge wave. Like the pebble dropped into a pond creates a series of wavelets around its impact zone, so does an Earthquake. It was the third or fourth wave that did the most damage in Hilo. The surging water does more damage as it moves inland, only to suck back out to sea whatever is loose and movable. The next wave deposits it far inland from whence it came. They are terrible waves, indeed!

Indeed they must be. It is like those aftershocks in Taiwan, almost as ugly as the first quake. I had no idea there had been a quake in Portugal just after I left for Tunisia... Read it here and then had it confirmed... After so much earth motion this year I admit I am a bit worried.

It is difficult to live in a place with a history of Earthquakes and NOT be concerned... That one in Portugal was minor and north of Lisbon, if I recall correctly...Was there much damage reported? I have seen no follow-up information.

I think not much. It was felt in Sintra and thereabouts. Since I am now in the south I don't really have access to people from that area, but will check when I go back to Lisbon.

Thanks - it would be interesting to know what the cause might have been, or was it just settling and creaking of the mantle or crust...?!

***** UPDATE OF PREVIOUSLY REPORTED EVENT ***** == PRELIMINARY EVENT REPORT == Southern California Seismic Network operated by USGS and Caltech Version 8: This report supersedes any earlier reports about this event. This solution has been reviewed by KNK Magnitude : 7.0 ME Time : 16 Oct 1999 02:46:44 AM PDT : 16 Oct 1999 09:46:44 UTC Location : 32 mi. N of Joshua Tree, CA : 47 mi. ESE of Barstow, CA : 14 mi. SE of HECTOR (quarry) : 4 mi. NE of the Pisgah Fault Coordinates : 34 deg. 35.73 min. N, 116 deg. 16.09 min. W Depth : 3.7 miles ( 6.0 km) Quality : Fair Event ID : 9108645 More information is available on the Worldwide Web at: http://www.trinet.org/scsn/scsn.html

Recommended reading this site has three maps and a brief description of the earthquake early this morning in Southern CAlifornia: http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/991016094644.HTML ************************* From http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/quakes.big.html Below is a list of earthquakes recorded by the California and Nevada Seismic Networks during the last week. Times are local (PST or PDT). Most recent earthquakes are at the top of the list... Click on the word "map" or "MAP" to see a map view. Click on a "DATE" to get additional text information. Magnitude 3 and greater earthquakes are printed in bold type. The top three magnitudes greater than or equal to 3 are in red. MAG DATE LOCAL-TIME LAT LON DEPTH LOCATION y/m/d h:m:s deg deg km --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAP 3.1 99/10/16 16:52:10 34.67N 116.34W 5.9 37 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.0 99/10/16 16:51:40 34.81N 116.33W 6.0 35 mi SSW of BAKER MAP 3.0 99/10/16 15:55:38 34.67N 116.33W 0.0 37 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 4.6 99/10/16 15:53:41 34.71N 116.36W 6.0 39 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.1 99/10/16 15:25:28 34.44N 116.26W 2.0 21 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.5 99/10/16 14:55:44 34.70N 116.29W 5.8 39 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.1 99/10/16 14:53:57 34.41N 116.20W 2.7 20 mi NNE of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.0 99/10/16 14:46:15 34.85N 116.36W 2.7 34 mi SSW of BAKER MAP 4.1 99/10/16 14:10:50 34.67N 116.34W 6.0 37 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.3 99/10/16 13:22:30 34.60N 116.32W 6.0 32 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 4.7 99/10/16 13:13:37 34.69N 116.28W 6.0 38 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.0 99/10/16 13:08:07 34.48N 116.27W 6.3 24 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.6 99/10/16 12:39:55 34.68N 116.31W 2.3 37 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.5 99/10/16 11:13:09 34.54N 116.28W 6.0 28 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.6 99/10/16 11:10:20 34.79N 116.34W 0.0 37 mi SSW of BAKER MAP 3.8 99/10/16 11:05:22 34.57N 116.26W 0.0 30 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 4.3 99/10/16 11:01:52 34.65N 116.41W 9.2 36 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.1 99/10/16 10:55:16 34.53N 116.25W 0.9 28 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.5 99/10/16 10:48:31 33.27N 115.72W 0.7 6 mi S of BOMBAY BEACH MAP 5.0 99/10/16 10:38:48 34.44N 116.24W 0.1 21 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.1 99/10/16 10:37:04 33.21N 115.65W 1.7 3 mi NNW of OBSIDIAN BUTTE MAP 3.0 99/10/16 10:21:56 34.55N 116.27W 0.0 29 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.5 99/10/16 10:02:46 34.64N 116.37W 6.0 35 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.1 99/10/16 09:57:29 34.59N 116.26W 5.9 32 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.7 99/10/16 09:55:58 33.79N 116.11W 13.5 8 mi NE of INDIO MAP 3.6 99/10/16 09:55:21 34.40N 116.29W 0.0 18 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.6 99/10/16 09:54:27 34.50N 116.36W 5.8 26 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.2 99/10/16 09:48:39 34.70N 116.30W 6.0 39 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.1 99/10/16 09:38:59 34.57N 116.26W 0.0 30 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.6 99/10/16 09:22:58 34.68N 116.30W 0.0 37 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.8 99/10/16 09:12:09 34.52N 116.27W 5.8 26 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.4 99/10/16 09:12:09 34.52N 116.26W 6.0 27 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.0 99/10/16 09:05:02 34.35N 116.24W 0.2 15 mi NNE of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.0 99/10/16 08:54:20 34.60N 116.31W 6.0 32 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.1 99/10/16 08:42:29 34.48N 116.27W 2.3 23 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.2 99/10/16 08:41:41 34.59N 116.28W 6.0 31 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.8 99/10/16 08:38:33 34.38N 116.14W 0.5 17 mi NNW of TWENTYNINE PALMS MAP 3.6 99/10/16 08:31:47 34.55N 116.34W 6.0 29 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.0 99/10/16 08:18:55 34.40N 116.27W 0.4 18 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.8 99/10/16 07:52:35 34.45N 116.27W 0.6 22 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.0 99/10/16 07:48:45 34.47N 116.28W 2.5 23 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.7 99/10/16 07:44:25 34.56N 116.36W 6.0 29 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.8 99/10/16 07:43:44 34.45N 116.24W 0.0 22 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.8 99/10/16 07:43:11 34.44N 116.24W 5.8 21 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.5 99/10/16 07:20:45 34.70N 116.32W 6.0 39 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.7 99/10/16 07:07:05 34.37N 116.14W 0.0 17 mi NNW of TWENTYNINE PALMS MAP 4.2 99/10/16 06:59:16 34.84N 116.34W 0.1 33 mi SSW of BAKER MAP 3.6 99/10/16 06:56:43 34.68N 116.35W 6.1 38 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.5 99/10/16 06:55:23 33.23N 115.69W 0.2 6 mi NW of OBSIDIAN BUTTE MAP 4.2 99/10/16 06:51:17 34.45N 116.23W 1.5 22 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.6 99/10/16 06:42:49 33.79N 116.12W 10.8 7 mi NE of INDIO MAP 3.2 99/10/16 06:37:02 33.79N 116.12W 6.0 8 mi NE of INDIO MAP 3.7 99/10/16 06:34:57 34.54N 116.31W 6.0 28 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.7 99/10/16 06:32:22 34.35N 116.22W 0.0 15 mi NNE of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.6 99/10/16 06:23:55 34.59N 116.30W 6.0 31 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.0 99/10/16 06:23:09 34.36N 116.14W 0.0 16 mi NNW of TWENTYNINE PALMS MAP 4.0 99/10/16 06:22:10 34.55N 116.28W 0.0 29 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.0 99/10/16 06:14:56 34.45N 116.23W 0.6 22 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.1 99/10/16 06:09:09 34.42N 116.26W 4.0 20 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.9 99/10/16 06:05:20 34.69N 116.31W 6.0 38 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.9 99/10/16 06:01:08 34.77N 116.33W 6.0 37 mi SSW of BAKER MAP 5.8 99/10/16 05:57:21 34.44N 116.25W 1.0 21 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 4.5 99/10/16 05:55:09 34.49N 116.26W 2.4 24 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.8 99/10/16 05:51:50 34.37N 116.13W 0.3 17 mi NNW of TWENTYNINE PALMS MAP 3.9 99/10/16 05:37:22 34.43N 116.35W 6.0 21 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.8 99/10/16 05:15:09 34.61N 116.33W 6.0 33 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 4.4 99/10/16 05:03:19 34.72N 116.32W 6.0 40 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.6 99/10/16 04:52:24 34.68N 116.39W 16.0 38 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 4.1 99/10/16 04:49:59 34.72N 116.35W 6.0 40 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 4.0 99/10/16 04:47:44 34.69N 116.35W 6.0 38 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.8 99/10/16 04:38:49 34.53N 116.30W 6.0 27 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 4.4 99/10/16 04:27:39 34.68N 116.22W 12.0 38 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.9 99/10/16 04:21:40 34.40N 116.29W 6.1 18 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 4.0 99/10/16 04:04:33 34.37N 116.21W 6.0 17 mi NNE of JOSHUA TREE MAP 4.0 99/10/16 03:49:50 33.23N 115.67W 0.1 5 mi NNW of OBSIDIAN BUTTE MAP 4.6 99/10/16 03:20:52 34.38N 116.13W 6.0 17 mi NNW of TWENTYNINE PALMS MAP 4.5 99/10/16 03:09:54 34.65N 116.29W 0.2 35 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 4.3 99/10/16 03:04:52 34.58N 116.18W 3.9 31 mi NNE of JOSHUA TREE MAP 4.7 99/10/16 03:02:41 34.58N 116.37W 6.0 31 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.7 99/10/16 02:59:51 34.19N 117.26W 8.1 6 mi NNE of SAN BERNARDINO MAP 5.3 99/10/16 02:51:52 34.41N 116.56W 6.2 22 mi NNW of YUCCA VALLEY MAP 7.0 99/10/16 02:46:44 34.60N 116.27W 6.0 32 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.8 99/10/15 19:41:04 34.59N 116.27W 0.0 32 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.4 99/10/15 17:17:38 39.02N 123.07W 1.8 8 mi W of LAKEPORT MAP 3.0 99/10/15 08:00:56 36.63N 121.23W 1.7 8 mi NW of PINNACLES MAP 3.1 99/10/15 08:00:16 36.62N 121.23W 6.2 8 mi NW of PINNACLES MAP 3.0 99/10/15 07:22:43 34.59N 116.27W 0.0 31 mi N of JOSHUA TREE MAP 3.3 99/10/13 12:35:56 36.00N 120.56W 4.3 10 mi NW of PARKFIELD MAP 3.0 99/10/12 21:56:10 33.21N 115.98W 9.1 5 mi SSW of SALTON CITY MAP 3.0 99/10/10 09:44:04 38.53N 122.29W 5.3 9 mi ESE of ANGWIN MAP 3.3 99/10/10 08:46:14 37.40N 117.08W 6.0 55 mi N of STOVEPIPE WELLS

The above statistics are easier to read on the web page...and the maps are hot linked for those who are really interested in it. They have had a bumpy ride today! Some of the aftershocks have been pretty strong, as well. http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/bulletin.html Gives the statistics of earthquakes world wide for this date.

The continuing strong earthquakes beneath Taiwan has spawned a group of interesting theories recently published in the journals of record for the science. Here is one such which explains the quakes as being the result of the zone of subduction (where the Pacific Plate it being dragged beneath the Asian Plate) activity. AUTHOR: Lin, C. H.; Roecker, S. W. TITLE: Deep earthquakes beneath central Taiwan; mantle shearing in an arc-continent collision AUTH AFFIL: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences; Troy, NY; United States PUBLISHER: American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, United States SOURCE: Tectonics, v.12, n.3, p.745-755 REFERENCES: 10 YEAR: 1993 LANGUAGE: English PUB TYPE: Serial, Analytic FORMAT: illus., 2 tables, sketch maps ISSN: 0278-7407 CODEN: TCTNDM DESCRIPTOR: arrival time; Asia; body waves; central Taiwan; compression tectonics; deep-focus earthquakes; displacements; earthquakes; elastic waves; Eurasian Plate; Far East; faults; focal mechanism; focus; island arcs; mantle; models; P-waves; Philippine Sea Plate; S-waves; seismicity; seismology; shear; Taiwan; tectonics; tomography LATITUDES: N220000; N251000 LONGITUDES: E0122000; E0120000

Marcia, I finally had time to stop by and visit. Wow! Fascinating stuff, particularly for a California native like myself. I was sitting here writing up some of my earthquake experiences for you, and after a few loooong paragraphs my finger accidentally brushed the Escape key. Poof! It all disappeared. I took that as an omen that I was being long winded and boring and gave up :-). But I did want you to know that I enjoyed your site!

Pleeeeeeeease try again on a page like wordPad and paste it here. I am delighted to see you *big smile* Check our updating weather maps in Geo 14.

It was reported to me that Wales had a 3.5 earthquake...would the person who sent me the information please email me again...I cannot find your original letter. Thanks! Wales has a base of very old rock - Precambrian, which is odd for Cambria to have since it implied the rocks were there before the country was there - and that is probably correct.

Hi Marcia, I sent in the Wales report, it was on the BBC news, I think that's the second or third this year.

I thought you had, but going through your emails yeaterday I could not find it. And, I am most happy to credit my reporters. Thank you Maggie! I will check with the Beeb today since the Cal Tech equipment is not reporting it and none of the other world-wide reporting is, either. I shall go directly to BBC for Wales and get the scoop! Thanks, again!

Hi Marcia, I have to head over to Taipei for business next week. Do you know if they're still having lots of aftershocks there? Ever since the fright of 1994 I'm a nervous nellie about earthquakes so am not looking forward to it!

I got this one from an online newssheet: "At Police Headquarters of a developing country a telegramm arrives from the Geophysics and Meteorology National Institute. It says: URGENT STOP Possible seismic activity in the capital in the next two days STOP Very dangerous Richter 7 STOP Epicenter 3 km from town center STOP Take precautionary measures STOP Urgently report back STOP Three months later the Institute receives the following telegramm: This is Police Headquarters STOP Seismic activity completely under control STOP Richter 7 tried to escape was shot dead STOP Epicenter and three gang members arrested STOP Could not answer earlier because an earthquake destroyed everything here STOP"

Jana, They have been having incredibly strong and frequent aftershocks on Taiwan. The most recent stron one was 6.1 a few days ago. Check this URL frequently and scroll to the bottom for previous quakes. Good Luck!!! http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/bulletin.html

Gi, *LOL* Thanks for the "update"...

Thanks for the website, Marcia!

You are most welcome. This is my "thing" and digging up information and sharing it is most interesting and rewarding to me. Thanks for your interest. Take notes and report back when you return from your Taiwan trip...and, Good Luck! (Most EQ's happen in the dark of the moon or at full moon...!)

Do they now? A tidal thing?

David came up with a theory (about the same time others did) that having both the sun AND the moon on the same side of Earth caused abnormal gravitational tugging on the crust, thereby causing more frequent volcanic eruptions. It sure seems to work that way It turns out that Earthquakes happen at that same time more frequently. The thing which confounds me is that it also happens at full moon when those forces should cancel out each other. I think we do not know all there is to this...

This news from Maggie: A strong earthquake shook Northern Pakistan, including the capital islamabad, last night. the quake measured about 6 on the Richter sclae and was centred aboout 220 miles north of the northwestern city of Peshawar in the Hindu Kush mountains on the Afghan border. There were no immediate reports of casualties. (Reuters, Islamabad, in The Guardian 9.11.99) I checked the near-real-time recorders at USGS and they reported it as 6.5. It is in a very remote ares (caused by the Himalayas being shoved up even higher) and any resulting damage or loss of life will be a long time filtering out. Many aftershocks noted, as well.

There are still strong aftershocks from the EQ on the Afghan border This just happened in Turkey... 99/11/11 14:41:24 40.80N 30.26E 10.0 5.6Ms A TURKEY

88 people reposted injured from the Western Turkey Earthquake

Turks rush to help quake survivors By Amberin Zaman in Ankara RESCUE workers were last night struggling to help survivors of an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale that shook western Turkey yesterday, three months after the devastating tremor that left 17,000 people dead. The quake centered on the town of Duzce, in a hilly region of Bolu province, 115 miles east of Istanbul. Main communication lines with Duzce were cut, including the main highway linking Istanbul and Ankara. Yahya Gur, the Governor of Ankara, said: "A great number of buildings have collapsed in the town. There are dead, and people are asking for help." Bolu province was also hit by the quake in August, which measured 7.4 on the Richter scale, but suffered relatively little damage. President Suleyman Demirel said: "We are face to face with a new disaster." Turkey's Prime Minister, Bulent Ecevit, said: "The aftershocks are still continuing. God protect us." Hundreds of terrified residents poured into the streets as fires erupted across the town. The local hospital was reported to be overflowing with injured. They were being treated in the hospital garden after the hospital was evacuated. Sadettin Cakmakoglu, a doctor, said the hospital was in urgent need of pain killers and medicine. He said: "I am calling out an SOS for Duzce." Television pictures showed men and women weeping and crying out the names of loved ones trapped under the rubble of collapsed homes. People were shown tearing away at mounds of rubble as they frantically tried to uncover buried relatives. One man kept shouting "Allah, Allah, why, why?" as he pounded his chest in anger. A television reporter in Duzce said: "There is utter helplessness here at the moment. Hundreds of buildings have collapsed but there is no one who can help." The pictures showed shocked residents, wrapped in blankets, huddling together on the streets. Doctors were quoted as saying that at least 1,000 people were injured in the quake. In the town of Bolu, women stood at the foot of a pile of rubble weeping. A young man in tears was shown walking around his collapsed home, shouting for his sister trapped in the rubble to talk to him, while a woman was shown desperately pouring water on flames around the rubble of her home. Bolu province's police chief, Ugur Gur, appealed for help, saying that Duzce was in desperate need of ambulances and doctors. He said: "We can hear the moans of people trapped under the rubble," he said. "Please tell Ankara to send us doctors and ambulances . . . please." One television station broadcast appeals for blood donations. Mr Ecevit said rescue teams had been rushed to the area and a crisis management centre formed in Ankara to coordinate relief efforts. Turkish military helicopters were ferrying the wounded to hospitals in Ankara. The government's swift response contrasted sharply with its sluggish reaction to the earthquake on Aug 17, which prompted an outpouring of national anger. Hundreds of thousands of victims left homeless in the earthquake are still sheltering in tents despite government pledges to provide all weather protection ahead of the harsh Anatolian winter, which is beginning to set in. Yesterday's earthquake was felt in Ankara, where terrified residents fled from their homes. It was also felt in Istanbul and as far south as the Mediterranean resort of Antalya. President Clinton is scheduled to arrive in Ankara on Monday on a two-day state visit. He was expected to visit areas affected by the previous quake. 17 October 1999: 1999: the year that seismic shifts killed 20,000 across the world 22 September 1999: World stunned by third disaster 29 August 1999: Istanbul fails to heed the fearful lesson of tremors 28 August 1999: Turkish quake homeless total rises to 600,000 19 August 1999: Refinery fire threatens earthquake survivors

This has been a terrible year for Turkey.

It has been a bad geological epoch. Since Turkey straddles the Eurasian plate boundary Earthquakes have plagued the region as long as history has been written and rock upthrust and deformation could tell the story. It will continue to be one of the most unstable areas on earth.

Since the above was written a 7.2 aftershock has occurred and taken many more lives in Turkey. For some idea of what they are experiencing and pictures as well check http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/study/turkey/#Nov12_1999_aftershock ANATOLIAN FAULT MAP MOLETRACK IN FIELD - WHERE THE EARTHQUAKE FAULT TORE ACROSS TURKEY EARTHQUAKE CRACKS IN THE GROUND NEAR THE EPICENTER

That was very impressive!

There is a part of the roadway in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park which looks just like the bottom picture. One afternoon, some high school girls had crept under the barriers and were jumping up and down on a piece ready to fall into the crater - a 300 foot (52 M) drop!

*shiver*

Indeed! The park rangers went out very slowly and casually chatting with the girls and talked them safely back onto more stable ground. Crazy !

Quake Forces Cult Out of Tunnels TACLOBAN, Philippines (Reuters) - A quake on Wednesday forced out more than 2,000 followers of a Philippine cult hiding in tunnels for fear of the sky raining down fire at the start of the new millennium. The tremor struck at 1:12 p.m. (0512 GMT) and measured 4.8 on the open-ended Richter scale, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said. The institute said it did not expect aftershocks or major damage. The quake was centered near the coastal town of Ormoc, 570 km (355 miles) southeast of Manila. Officials said followers of cult leader Ceferino Qunito were hiding in dozens of tunnels in the central province of Leyte. A spokeswoman for the municipal office told reporters police had been deployed around the tunnels, which were considered unsafe. The tremor cracked walls and pavements in the town, she said. Schoolchildren were also sent home early. The earthquake-prone Philippines was hit by a quake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale on Sunday. Officials reported three deaths and 24 injured but only minor damage.

Moderate Earthquake Shakes East Caribbean Islands CHARLESTOWN, Nevis (Reuters) - A moderate earthquake with its center about 12 miles east of Antigua jostled residents of the Leeward Islands early on Monday morning. On Nevis, people sleeping about 6:45 a.m. when the quake hit were rattled awake and on Montserrat lamps sitting on dresser tops shook for about 10 seconds, one resident said. ``We haven't had any reports of damage. Strong shaking but nobody's said anything was damaged,'' said Joan Latchman, a seismologist with the Seismic Research Unit in Trinidad. The tremor had a magnitude of between 4.8 and 5.7 on the open-ended Richter scale, meaning it could have been strong enough to cause heavy damage in populated areas. Its epicenter was located at 17.09 degrees north and 61.59 degrees west at a depth of 11 miles under the sea, according to the Trinidad unit. It shook Antigua quite strongly and was also felt in Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, and St. Kitts and Nevis. Latchman called the quake moderate. Different readings have been reported from various seismographic centers. The 4.8 magnitude was registered in Guadeloupe but the U.S. Geological Service recorded it as a 5.7. The Trinidad unit, which monitors all seismic activity for the English-speaking Caribbean islands, listed it at 5.2. There were no reports of injuries related to the tremor. Latchman said that quakes of this magnitude occur more than once a year but one so close to an island happens less often. Others of similar size in recent years occurred north of Antigua last year and one off Tobago in 1997. An earthquake of this size in a populated land mass can be devastating, she said. The earthquake was not related to nearby Montserrat where the Soufriere Hills volcano is quiet, said Chelston Lee, spokesman for the Montserrat Volcano Observatory.

Algeria Quake Death Toll set at 22 AIN TEMOUCHANT, Algeria (Reuters) - Algeria said on Thursday that 22 people were killed when an earthquake flattened several buildings in the western town of Ain Temouchant. A government statement carried by state-run radio also said 47 people remained in hospitals, including seven in critical condition. Scores had been treated for minor injuries, it said. Hundreds of people were left homeless when the quake struck on Wednesday and they, along with others who feared aftershocks, spent the night in the open. Scores of women could be seen huddled in corners, covering themselves with blankets as they waited for relief workers to set up tents in open areas. Other residents carried mattresses and other household items which they had salvaged from beneath the debris of mud bricks, all that remained of their homes. The government said it would distribute 600 housing units and had set up tents to accommodate displaced people. SCHOOLS DEMOLISHED ``I saw several collapsed buildings, including three schools which were completely demolished,'' said schoolteacher Amina Kali. ``Scores of families have been left homeless and spent the night outside in freezing temperatures.'' An earlier official statement put the death toll at 28 with 181 injured in the quake, which measured 5.8 on the Richter scale and shook several western provinces of the North African country at 6:37 p.m. on Wednesday. There was no immediate explanation for the revised figures. ``Fortunately, we don't have tall buildings. Otherwise the death toll would have been much higher,'' a local official told Reuters. ``It was also relatively easy for rescue workers to reach trapped people quickly. We don't have any missing people.'' State radio said the earthquake's epicenter was in Tissalat mountains where Ain Temouchant is located. But the impact of the quake was still evident in the rubble and on the faces of many people wandering the streets of Ain Temouchant, a town with a population of 56,000, some 45 miles west of the Mediterranean city of Oran. Several expressed anger at what they saw as the government's slow response to deal with the disaster. ``Many buildings are completely demolished. I've lost my two sisters here,'' Abdelhadi Mohammed, 30, said pointing to the rubble of what used to be his home. ``But instead of rushing to our help, the authorities appear more concerned about the prisoners who escaped from jail.'' CONVICTS FLEE AS PARTS OF JAIL COLLAPSE Residents said many inmates fled after parts of the jail collapsed. At least three prisoners died under the rubble, they added. Energy officials have said the quake caused no damage to a major oil and gas export terminal and refinery at Arzew, just a few miles east of Oran. There had been no interruption at both facilities, the officials added. Arzew, one of Algeria's two main export terminals, also has a refinery with a processing capacity of 60,000 barrels a day. Algeria's western region has been hit by several earthquakes in the past, the deadliest of which was in 1980 when at least 2,590 people were killed in an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale. The quake devastated the Algerian town of El Asnam, leaving 330,000 people homeless. The town was subsequently rebuilt and renamed Chlef.

Earthquakes are terrifying and people dying or being injured or losing property is not a laughable matter, but Marcia, some of those headlines had me LOLing! Sorry. Had to tell.

The made me laugh, as well, and I do know how terrifying earthquakes can be. But some of these stories are amazing...Glad you enjoyed it as much as I did.

My dear Marcia, I know you are enjoying your weekend, so I'll await your report on the quake in China...I heard on the news that fortunately there were not too many casualties.

Just peeking in here for a second before hitting the road with the relatives. Had no idea there was an EQ in China...More when I get home...and some sleep! Thanks for posting Lidya - you are a friend extraordinarie. Bless you! *hugs*

Apparently there were two tremors; the aftershock being stronger than the eq. I don't in which area it occurred. Perhaps when you have time you can show us a map?

What is wrong with my English tonight? Mayhap the weekend in the paternal home and the language of the cradle are corrupting my understanding of the lingua franca...

The earthquakes in Yunnan Province: 00/01/14 22:09:04 25.58N 101.15E 33.0 5.2Mb B YUNNAN, CHINA 00/01/14 23:37:08 25.60N 101.14E 33.0 5.9Ms A YUNNAN, CHINA

Great work dear!

Unfortunately I have not yet found an Earthquake map which updates automatically, but I have not given up on it most certainly. The hunt for just the right graphics for Geo is part of the fun!

Yes, I did...it is posted on EARTHQUAKE!!! Geo topic 26.

Ok, there is a smashing map of the fault lines in San Francisco Bay at this location http://www.sfbayquakes.org/ I would post it but at 178KB, it is far too big and slow. Enjoy! (courtesy of David's surfing for things needed at work.)

Nothing much happened in here since April --I don't believe it!!!! Earthquake hits Warwickshire, England The biggest seismic event in Britain for 10 years .... SEISMIC ALERT: WARWICK, WARWICKSHIRE 23 SEPTEMBER 2000 04:23 UTC 4.2 ML http://www.gsrg.nmh.ac.uk/alert_info.htm BGS have received many reports, from the Police, the media, the Emergency Planning Officer and residents in Cheadle (85 km to the north), Gloucester (65 km to the south), Peterborough (95 km to the east), Birmingham, Coventry, Warwick, Rugby, and Leamington Spa, of a felt event at 04:25 UTC this morning (23 September 2000). Felt reports describe "we were alarmed", "the bed moved", "the whole house shook", "we were woken from sleep" and "the whole building trembled". The BGS rapid-access networks detected an event at 04:23 UTC. The following preliminary information is available for this earthquake: DATE : 23 September 2000 ORIGIN TIME : 04:23 45.8sUTC LAT/LONG : 52.28o North / 1.61o West GRID REF : 426.5 kmE / 265.0 kmN DEPTH : 13.1 km MAGNITUDE : 4.2 ML INTENSITY : 5+ LOCALITY : Warwick, Warwickshire Historically, a similar earthquake occurred near Tewksbury, some 50 km to the south west with a magnitude of 4.1 in 1768. More recently, a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was felt at Stratford-upon-Avon in May 1994, 17 km to the south west. The largest earthquake within 100 km occurred at Bishops Castle near the Welsh border in April 1990, with a magnitude of 5.1 (almost 10 times the ground movement and 30 times the energy of the Warwick earthquake). It was felt over the whole of Wales, most of England and into Ireland and Scotland Here's the list from the British Geological Society of EArthquakes in the UK this month http://www.gsrg.nmh.ac.uk/recbrit.html YearMoDy HrMnSecs Lat Lon kmE kmN Dep Mag Locality Int 20000923 042345.8 52.28 -1.61 426.5 265.0 13.1 4.2 WARWICK,WARWICKSHIRE 5+ 20000921 073048.3 56.99 -5.47 189.0 794.2 6.4 1.2 LOCH NEVIS,HIGHLAND 20000915 035724.7 52.96 -4.36 241.3 342.6 23.3 0.7 LLEYN PENIN,GWYNEDD 20000914 214946.3 52.96 -4.36 241.3 342.7 22.6 0.7 LLEYN PENINSULA 20000912 014225.6 50.11 -5.18 172.6 28.0 7.2 -0.2 CONSTANTINE,CORNWALL 20000912 001419.5 54.63 -2.43 372.3 525.7 4.8 0.8 APPLEBY,CUMBRIA 20000911 032127.2 54.81 -3.59 297.9 547.6 3.6 1.0 SOLWAY FIRTH 20000910 065255.2 52.97 -4.41 238.3 343.8 22.0 0.4 LLEYN PENINSULA 20000906 002612.3 57.58 -5.49 191.7 860.3 5.2 0.6 TORRIDON,HIGHLAND 20000830 235340.7 56.20 -2.96 340.2 700.8 3.7 1.4 EXPL-LARGO BAY,FIFE 2+ 20000824 074921.1 55.39 -5.23 195.2 615.0 19.0 2.1 ARRAN,STRATHCLYDE 20000823 071515.2 53.06 -4.55 229.0 354.5 13.2 0.6 CAERNARVON BAY,GWYNEDD

What to do if you feel an earthquake in the UK Go to the British Geological Society site and fill in this form .... http://www.gsrg.nmh.ac.uk/hazard/quest.htm

Maggie, general earthquake lists are posted in Geo 26. This is the place for discussion of other bigger results. I post them regularly in 26 but thanks for posting here!!!

Oops!! sorry, missed that! (I get muddled without enough coffee in me!) Hey, 4.2 is MASSIVE for the UK!!!

You are very old rock...your plate boundary is pretty far from the 'dry land' and 4.2 for those not used to having the earth move under their feet under usual circumstances, it must have been frightening!

The 20th Century had it's share of damaging earth all around the globe and the Pacific Ring of Fire was no exception Below is an incomplete list of the DEADLIEST earthquakes experienced. Location Country Year Deaths Tangshan China 1976 650,000 Kansu China 1920 200,000 Tokyo Japan 1923 140,000 Kansu China 1932 70,000 * Peru 1970 67,000 * = Location unknown The next list is of the most POWERFUL earthquakes to occur during the 20th Century Location Country Year Magnitude Puerto Montt Chile 1960 9.5 P.W Sound USA 1964 9.2 * Chile 1906 8.6 Kansu China 1920 8.5 San Fr. USA 1906 8.3 The size of the 1960 and 1964 events are disputed but these figure I hear most frequently. Thanks, Rob

The 76 quake in China was devastating, almost a million people! It must have hit in a very heavily populated area. And Kansu China as two megaquakes within 12 years of each other.

On January 23 1855 an earthquake measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale ruptured the Wairarapa Fault east of Wellington causing massive uplift west of the fault across 20,000km2 of the lower North Island. Only 5 people were killed simply because the 500,000 people living in and around Wellington now were not there then. The earthquake raised the land that Wellington sits on now and also the land that the airport is sited on between Cook Strait and the harbour. With more than 3 active faults in or near Wellington it is a deadly guessing game figuring out which one will rupture next, though the most likely candidate is the Wellington Fault running a mere 700 metres from Parliament. This fault has classic sag ponds on it in the hills near Karori and those ponds are now reservoirs for the Wellington water supply system. Another dangerous faultline is the Ohariu Fault. Although this fault moves less frequently than the other two it is expected to produce an earthquake up to 7.5 on the Richter Scale. It crosses Porirua harbour giving it the disjointed look near the highway bridge and the North-South railway.

China never wanted outside help so they just let the people die. All of the mass devastation is just now being discovered. Truly tragic!!

The explanation on the varying magnitudes given for the greatest earthquakes is a matter of advancement in the science of calculating quake magnitudes. The reason we hear conflicting magnitudes is often because a seismologist is speaking through the press to the public in the terms they understand, as they are accustomed to Richter Magnitude, and most are unaware of the other scales that are now in use. You will often hear the press ask, "What was the Richter magnitude?" The seismologists simply ignore the "Richter", will not take the time to explain the various scales being used, and simply answer with the appropriate magnitude, no matter which scale was used to measure it. I understand their reason for doing this, but frequently find this factor irritating, as for example, when a seismologist had the chairman of our EPC confused and extremely hyper, as he was about to compare the 1857 Fort Tejon quake, not above Mw 8.0 (formerly given as ML 8.25), to the 1964 P. W. Sound megaquake of Mw 9.2, that he had seen a video of the destruction of! We are in no less danger where we live on the San Andreas Fault Zone, but that is due to a difference in our environment. For earthquakes up to, let's say, M 5.5, this isn't a problem, because the magnitudes given for quakes will not differ significantly, whichever scale is used. The different scales are each most useful within a given magnitude range. It becomes more significant above M 6.0, and greatly significant for great earthquakes. The EQ magnitude scale that was first introduced was the Richter scale in 1935. It is based on the logarithm of the peak amplitude recorded on a short period seismometer, corrected for distance. This scale, now called Local Magnitude (ML) was developed using local recordings of earthquakes in Southern California. In order to study earthquakes on a global scale, with recordings at great distances from the focus, it was necessary to develop other magnitude scales. These scales were calibrated to give numbers similar to the Local Magnitude, but since the waves being measured differ, the magnitudes may vary slightly. There are others, but these four are the most important to remember, as you will see them being use most frequently: (ML) Richter (Local) Magnitude - Essentially, Dr. Richter's scale, still quite useful for smaller local quakes, but not useful for quakes classed as "Great". (Ms) Surface Wave Magnitude - Formulated by Dr. Guttenberg to describe distant quakes with surface waves with a 20-second period. (Mb) Body Wave Magnitude - Formulated by Dr. Guttenberg, for waves that pass through the interior of the planet, and that have a shorter period. (Mw) Moment Magnitude - Formulated by K. Aki and Hiroo Kanamori, among others. It is the best representation of the largest earthquakes on the planet, as it takes much more into consideration. It is based on more than just the logarithm of the peak amplitude, corrected for distance. It combines a measurement of total energy release with the amplitude of the waves; and takes into account the surface area of the fault, the average displacement of the fault plane, and the rigidity of the material of the fault. This is the Seismic Moment, Mo, from which the Moment Magnitude is calculated. [You may also often see (Md) - duration magnitude, used on smaller events.] (thanks Yahoo Clubs and Sandi)

More from Sandi: I don't remember the source of this online quote: "A more systematic problem occurs for large earthquakes. The signals for earthquakes of different sizes are not simply scaled by some multiplicative factor. The shape of their frequency spectra changes because larger earthquakes have larger source dimensions and therefore longer source durations. If these durations are larger than the period at which the magnitude determination is made, then the number will be systematically too low. In the last decades, it has become common practice to analyze earthquakes by modeling the waveforms over a broad frequency range. This gives a more accurate number for the size of the earthquake (seismic moment) and the mechanism." If the moment tensor solution is not yet available, the magnitude for a significant quake, as reported by the USGS/NEIS is either a surface wave magnitude or a body wave magnitude. The reason the different scales are each most useful within a given magnitude range, is because they become saturated at a certain magnitude, and fail to measure any magnitude above the magnitude they become saturated at. The 1960 Chile and the 1964 Alaska quakes were so enormous that they saturated the traditional magnitude scale. With the introduction of the Moment Magnitude Scale, they were revised upward to Mw 9.5 and Mw 9.2, respectively. These are the appropriate magnitude for these events. The 1906 San Francisco quake was also revised downward, from the traditional M 8.25 - M 8.3 to Mw 7.7. I have formerly seen an Ms 7.9 for this event, but the Moment Magnitude is the best measurement. I don't have information on the Moment Magnitude of these other two quakes you mentioned; Chile 1906 8.6 Kansu China 1920 8.5 This a good site that discusses the magnitude of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. http://www-socal.wr.usgs.gov/wald/1906/1906.html

Thank you, Rob The Alpine Fault is the largest faultline in New Zealand, running a distance of 550km from the entrance to Milford Sound in the south to the Pacific coast north east of Blenheim. Geological records and samples of fallen vegetation suggest that the last earthquake to occur on it was in 1720 and prior to that it had moved at least 3 times. Each earthquake had a magnitude of roughly 8 and a gap of 140-260 years existed between individual events. Because of its location this fault is a particularly severe threat to Wellington and Christchurch both of which are less than 150km away. The time is now due for a damaging event to occur on this fault which has several branches running north of Kaikoura. The Hope Fault runs through the Hope river valley near Hanmer which is famous for it's hotpools supplied by hot springs on the fault. It moved in 1888 and damaged the Cathedral in Christchurch with a magnitude 7.0-7.3 event (no one has given a definite figure). Further north a fault runs through the Clarence valley, and although it has not moved in recent times it is judged as active. Through the Awatere valley you have a fault crossing farmland and entering the sea just north of the Awatere river mouth. It is also active. The northern-most fault is the most dangerous. It is the Alpine Fault and it runs within 7km of Blenheim (Population 25,000)and dominates the geology of the Wairau River valley, along whose length it runs almost the entire distance.

Is New Zealand a fairly recent land mass? What I mean is relation to the age of the continents, such as Iceland is a recent land mass in relation to the ages of the continents. (I hope I got that out right?)

It is more about plate tectonics. New Zealand is astride the Pacific Ring of Fire. The plate is subducting there - It goes BOOM!!! Iceland is astride the Mid-Atl;antic Ridge where it is expanding, the lavas as very fluid like Hawaii's are, and it just flows with a few fountains. Iceland is much newer since it is new lava.

Thanks Marcia.