Two strong quakes strike off Canada's west coast (both Mw 6.5)

[Ediacara]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two strong 6.5-magnitude earthquakes struck off Canada's west coast early on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The quakes were both at a depth of 10 km in the Queen Charlotte Islands region, and followed a smaller earlier 5.3-magnitude temblor in the area. The larger quakes were 221 km and 235 km west north-west of Port Hardy, British Columbia, the USGS said on its Web site.

Read more: http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-31260420080105

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Quake #1: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/us2008lvaw.php

Magnitude 6.5
Date-Time

* Saturday, January 05, 2008 at 11:01:05 UTC
* Saturday, January 05, 2008 at 03:01:05 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location 51.299°N, 130.713°W
Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
Region QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS REGION
Distances

* 413 km (257 miles) WNW (293°) from Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada
* 430 km (267 miles) S (172°) from Metlakatla, AK
* 451 km (280 miles) S (172°) from Saxman, AK
* 583 km (362 miles) WNW (296°) from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 5.3 km (3.3 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters Nst=189, Nph=189, Dmin=491.5 km, Rmss=1 sec, Gp=137°,
M-type=moment magnitude (Mw), Version=7
Source

USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Event ID us2008lvaw

Quake #2: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/us2008lvay.php

Magnitude 6.5
Date-Time

* Saturday, January 05, 2008 at 11:44:48 UTC
* Saturday, January 05, 2008 at 03:44:48 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location 51.171°N, 130.556°W
Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
Region QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS REGION
Distances

* 398 km (247 miles) WNW (291°) from Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada
* 445 km (277 miles) S (171°) from Metlakatla, AK
* 467 km (290 miles) S (171°) from Saxman, AK
* 568 km (353 miles) WNW (295°) from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 4.7 km (2.9 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters Nst=238, Nph=238, Dmin=508.5 km, Rmss=1.05 sec, Gp= 68°,
M-type=moment magnitude (Mw), Version=7
Source

USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Event ID us2008lvay

[bananas]

1. MWe or MWt?

[Ediacara]

3. moment magnitude

M_w is the abreviation for the moment magnitude scale. For small earthquakes, it's essentially the same as the (unused since the 60s) Richtor Scale, but because of inherent flaws the Richtor Scale wouldn't give accurate readings above magnitude 8 (essentially every big earthquake stopped growing in magnitude at 8.5 no matter how big it actually was). The moment magnitude scale, like the Richtor Scale, is logarithmic so that every integer increase is an increase of 32x the energy release and every 0.2 increase doubles the energy release.

[Ediacara]

2. Both appear to be at the far northern end of the Juan de Fuca Plate,

Also an earlier Mw 5.3 was in the same area:

[SpiralHawk]

4. Don't make a wave

Hmmmm?

[rockybelt]

5. How far is that

from the fault line that lies just off our coast close to Washington? If the canadian quake could trigger that fault, it could be catastrophic.

[progressive_realist]

7. That's the northern end

Of the same subduction zone. Nothing to panic about, because if the plate slips, very few of our structures could survive the estimated 9.0 earthquake. So there aren't any steps you could take to protect yourself, other than having a survival kit and an evacuation plan, which you should already have anyway.

I'm sure the geologists are having a busy day, though.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

6. Now 4 earthquakes, 5.6. 6.5, 6.5, 5.0 n/t

[Lisa]

8. my former college roomie works with the Emergency Measures group on the Queen Charlottes ...

I guess I'll hear from her soon, if they put any of their precautionary plans into effect.

The last time they had a big quake nearby, everybody had to evacuate the coastal areas ...

She told me that she had to go out and yell at some of the residents, who were driving down to the beach "to see if there were any big waves". Sheesh!

[bahrbearian]

9. Why did she yell at them ?

Didn't she realize she was interfering with "Intelligence Design"

[Lisa]

11. well, one of the guys owed her money ... (n/t)

[roamer65]

10. The Pacific plate has been moving on its western side quite a bit...

over the last few years. I have been wondering when the eastern side would start to move in compensation. Notice how the quakes are near the northern Pacific - Juan de Fuca subduction zone joint?

[TrogL]

12. Don't be silly

There's no such thing as plate tectonics. It's not in the Bible.