Category Archives: focal mechanisms

Earthquake location matters, part eleventy

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Chris Rowan

It’s been a month since the Tohuku earthquake and tsunami rattled then swamped northern Honshu, and Japan continues to be rattled by sizeable aftershocks. A magnitude 7.1 shock last Thursday initially set off further tsunami alerts but the rupture turned … Continue reading →

Categories: earthquakes, focal mechanisms, geohazards, society

Magnitude 8.9 (or 9.0, or 9.1!) Earthquake off the coast of Japan

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Chris Rowan

Around 3pm local time yesterday, there was a massive earthquake about 100 miles off the east coast of northern Honshu Island, Japan. Initially calculated to be a magnitude 8.9, it has since been upgraded: the current CMT solution at the … Continue reading →

Categories: earthquakes, focal mechanisms, geohazards, tectonics

Magnitude 6.3 earthquake rocks Christchurch

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Chris Rowan

[Note: see the bottom of this post for the latest updates and links - last update 26th February]. A few hours ago, Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island of New Zealand, was once again shaken by a large … Continue reading →

Categories: earthquakes, focal mechanisms, geohazards, society, tectonics

Friday focal mechanisms: Chile’s persistent seismic gap

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Chris Rowan

The magnitude 8.8 earthquake that shook Chile in February 2010 occurred within a seismic gap – but new research suggests that it did not fill it. Continue reading →

Categories: earthquakes, focal mechanisms, geohazards