A 5.9 earthquake off the Oregon Coast (about 200 miles southwest of Newport) on Wednesday April 11, 2012, was the ‘small quake’ of the last 24 hours, relatively speaking.
As this map shows, the quake hit along an underwater ridge line at 3:41pm — it’s a spot where lots of quakes happen.
24 Hours Of Significant Earthquakes
But what makes the Oregon quake more interesting is the list of other major quakes from April 11 & April 12, 2012—during a mere 24 hours:
- 8.6 magnitude quake near Indonesia (plates sliding instead of lifting, so no tsunami)
- 8.2 aftershock near Indonesia
- 6.5 magnitude quake about 200 miles from Acapulco & Mexico City, Mexico
- 6.9 magnitude quake about 200 miles south of Tijuana, Mexico, in the gulf of California
Quite a list of earthquakes for a mere 24 hours, wouldn’t you say?
Are Earthquakes Related, Do Big Earthquakes Trigger Other Earthquakes?
The answer in this case is most likely ‘no.’ As far as geologists can determine, a big quake in one part of the world does not ‘set off’ another quake somewhere else far away. But there’s a caveat: geologists have determined that a big quake on one fault can trigger a quake on a nearby fault. Or perhaps increase the odds of a quake on a nearby fault.
But just remember–someday it will be Oregon and Washington with the ‘big one’ – a subduction zone off the coast ruptured and causing major damage and a very sudden tsunami. I’m glad this wasn’t our turn.
[…] This quake was only about six miles deep–much shallower than most of the quakes we’ve seen in recent times off the Oregon Coast. It was about 180 miles southwest of Newport. As of this writing, it’s one of the 13 strongest earthquakes in the world so far in 2013. I mean, the year is only 29 days old, but it’s still worth a mention. We had a stronger quake off our coast just last year. […]