Category Archives: tectonics

Friday(ish) Focal Mechanism: a kinky slab beneath Mexico

A quick look this week at the magnitude 6.5 earthquake that shook southern Mexico last Sunday. It caused a fair amount of shaking in Mexico City, and a few deaths, but apparently no major structural damage. The depth of the … Continue reading

Categories: earthquakes, focal mechanisms, tectonics

The Oklahoma Earthquakes

There was some slight seismic excitement over the weekend in central Oklahoma: a magnitude 4.7 earthquake shook things up early on Saturday morning, which turned out to be the prelude to magnitude 5.6 tremor late Saturday evening. The focal mechanisms … Continue reading

Categories: earthquakes, focal mechanisms, tectonics

M 7.2 earthquake near Van, eastern Turkey

Earlier this morning, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit near the city of Van on the eastern border of Turkey. The BBC reports that at least 45 people have died as buildings collapsed close to the rupture. The most well-known seismic … Continue reading

Categories: earthquakes, focal mechanisms, geohazards, tectonics

Does plate tectonics control magnetic reversals?

Possibly, but this paper will not convince you. Continue reading

Categories: Cenozoic, geophysics, Mesozoic, palaeomagic, tectonics

Proof of earthquake triggering in Christchurch? Not so fast…

When a magnitude 6.3 earthquake scored an almost direct hit on Christchurch in February, I discussed the possibility that rather than being a simple aftershock of

Categories: earthquakes, tectonics