Earthquake!

I was asleep when this one hit... 75 miles away from me here in big sky. But a 2.95 is definitely one to be felt. The fact that this quake happened right by old faithful geyser makes me a little nervous because I am going there today! Maybe another quake will hit and I'll get to feel a shaker. Or maybe the super volcano will explode and everyone within a thousand miles will die? Nah, I'm sure scientists are monitoring it. Hopefully.

Volcanic Earthquakes

I woke up this morning to several alerts from my Earthquake app because of nearby seismic activity at Mt Hood... I only get alerts with 2.0+ magnitude shakers so this was significant. Mt Hood is understood to be dormant so it's perplexing that there is a swarm happening. Perhaps it is related to the nearby Mt St Helens swarm? There has also been sightly elevated seismic activity near Mt Rainier over the past couple of months. 

From Wikipedia:

Mount Hood is considered the Oregon volcano most likely to erupt,^[9] though based on its history, an explosive eruption is unlikely. Still, the odds of an eruption in the next 30 years are estimated at between 3 and 7 percent, so the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) characterizes it as "potentially active", but the mountain is informally considered dormant.

 Magma chambers must be filling up and one of these volcanoes might have a little eruption at some point in the near future!

Gerlach Swarm

A swarm in the past 24 hours over in Gerlach, NV! Including a 4.4!

2.5 Earthquake in Seattle

A 2.5 earthquake just hit right in downtown Seattle at 12:11pm! I'm 3 miles away from it right now and unfortunately I did not feel it. The whole area has been pretty shaky lately, especially a bit north of Seattle with dozens of small (up to 2 magnitude) quakes in the last week or two. Perhaps a precursor of things to come!

Update:

The epicenter was changed to just 3 blocks away from my apartment by 1st avenue and Lenora, which Is where I park. Bummer I wasn't home. I wonder if Rocco felt it!

Update: another earthquake! Small one right by pioneer square in downtown Seattle. A 2.16 magnitude at 1:27pm.

Update: A third earthquake! This time in nearby Issaquah. 2.43 magnitude at 8:38pm. All of these quakes are by the Seattle fault line (SFL).

Great Shakeout

On 10-15 at 10:15am there is going to be a Washington state-wide earthquake drill. Most schools will participate and many coastal towns will hear tsunami alarms. 

How fitting it is, then, that early this morning a mini swarm of quakes hit the seattle area... Near Gig Harbor (24 miles away from Seattle). 

2.7 12am 

2.8 4:10am

2.16 5:07am

Ranging from 16 to 21 miles deep.

From what I've read, the odds of a big earthquake hitting here are greater in the first half of the year for whatever reason. 

Gerlach Swarm Today

There was a crazy swarm of earthquakes near Gerlach, NV today. 

Check out this map:

Gerlach, NV Gets a Big One 5.16

Update: was downgraded to 4.7 magnitude. 

I am so going to Gerlach on my earthquake chase vacation next summer!

Seismic History Plot

The 3.99 (or 4, pretty much) magnitude earthquake today in Snoqualmie is the largest purple circle. Definitely an outlier, wow. It was also relatively deep, which means less intense shaking. 

Seismic activity since 1990:

Quake!

3.99 magnitude earthquake happened just 31 miles away in Snoqualmie!!! I was just there a couple weeks ago, darn!

Earthquake Preoccupations

Had a little exchange with the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network on what I should do if I'm home and a Cascadia earthquake strikes: