we thought the fires in Cali and the washouts in Washington were bad. http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_032404_env_sisters_quakes.b9ca9a6a.html
kevin l
She's gonna blow
system
#3
can you past the full story? Is a sister about to lose it? My bet is south sister.
Tha Wookie
system
#6
I am such a loser.
try this
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Sisters/WestUplift/information_statement_24march2004.html
kevin l
system
#7
SISTERS, Ore. – Numerous minor earthquakes have shaken the area outside the small Central Oregon town of Sisters in the past two days, raising new questions about a bulge in the nearby Three Sisters Wilderness Area.
Experts are studying a bulge in the Three Sisters Wilderness Area that they believe is linked to the earthquake swarm. (KGW Photo)
Seismologists with the USGS office at the Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Wash., recorded a swarm of 48 small quakes in the area on Tuesday alone. In some cases, the quakes were mere minutes apart.
Experts said the quakes were too small to cause any damage and it’s unlikely residents even felt them.
But they weren’t too small to record on seismographic equipment. The micro-quakes measured up to 1.5 in magnitude.
Experts said the minor quakes continued on Wednesday with the total number exceeding 100 for the two-day period.
Scientists said the earthquakes were centered three miles west of the South Sister volcano.
Seismologists said a bulgenear the volcano seems to be growing and one theory is that it somehow caused the swarm of earthquakes. They first started detecting the bulge in 1997.
The Cascades Volcano Observatory indicated the quakes started at 10 a.m. Tuesday and hit their peak later that day. As of Wednesday evening, they said the quakes were dying down gradually.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report)
:nerd
Munch
system
#9
Better pack your asbestos hip waders. Looks like the lava could be moving. Could make for some really good pictures.
Gloomy Gus
system
#10
“The micro-quakes measured up to 1.5 in magnitude.”
Those ain’t no quakes. Nothing’s gonna blow. Geezzzzzz, the San Andreas Fault has been bulging for years and has quakes big enough to ACTUALLY FEEL but “The Big One” hasn’t come yet.
***kin media.
:mad
Level Head
system
#11
I lived in earthquake land for 12 years, a 1.5 is nothing BUT large clusters of them are one of the indicators that something major could be happening. Clusters of small quakes usually relive stress on a fault line but if there is an instability (such as the bulge) it could lead to a blow out…How large or small would depend on location and and structure of the bulge.:girl
arttolinda
system
#14
These seismic activities are from Magma movement,not a earthquake along a fault line.These volcanic cones ARE on the pacific rim plate but are not conduction zones where pressure is building between 2 plates.The cones form where there are gaps in the plates and the magma approaches the surface.
newb
system
#15
sorry I wasn’t clearer, I was trying to explain the differance between cluster quakes on a fault line and those on a volanic ridge. You did a better job of it. As Magma moves in unstable areas close to the surface small cluster quakes indicates a build up of pressure that is released when the Magma finds an underground fault line to follow or breaches the surface. Bulges form when there isn’t enough pressure to breach the surface but not enough underground pathways for the Magma to flow either. A lot like sitting on an overblown balloon. They’ll be doing checks of the bulge to see if it’s grown more along with looking for changes in many different things in the area. The cluster of small quakes indicate something is happening, now it’s a question of trying to find out what that something is.
arttolinda
system
#17
The problem with swarms of microquakes is they’re too far remote to predict the end result with accuracy.
Seismic Steve aka steve hiker