Oregon's Juan de Fuca Plate Getting Busy

July 19, 2008
Holly Deyo

Very unusual activity is occurring just off the Oregon Coast. Also of interest...

Seismometers closest to an event always chart the quake at a higher intensity that seismic equipment located further away. Isn't it interesting that the USGS' seismometers and the EMSC both show the latest quake at Mag. 5.6, recorded at a mere 2 seconds difference. However, something strange happens with TWO "missing" Richter 5 quakes on the USGS report. Yet they show on the EMSC list. Since the two lists report data in different order, they have been color-coded for your convenience.

When you look at the legend for this USGS earthquake map, keep in mind the time frame of "last hour, last day, last week." This can be confusing because any shaker that occurred even 25 hours ago, falls into the "last week" category since their is no daily breakdown.

Also, some of the Oregon Coast quakes have occurred under the bigger squares and won't show up. For these "invisible" quakes, see the inset.

USGS

Mag. 4.7 July 19 01:00:22 44.332 -129.325 10.0 415 km (258 mi) W of Yachats, OR

Mag. 4.1 July 19 00:49:12 44.385 -129.824 10.0 455 km (283 mi) W of Yachats, OR

Mag. 5.6  July 17 22:51:56  44.381 -129.352  10.0  417 km (259 mi) W of Yachats, OR

Mag. 5.2  July 17 22:36:19 44.391 -129.288 10.0  412 km (256 mi) W of Yachats, OR

Mag. 3.7  July 17 15:03:36 44.684 -128.457 10.0  347 km (216 mi) W of Depoe Bay, OR

Mag. 4.4  July 17 13:32:19 44.451 -129.330 10.0  415 km (258 mi) W of Yachats, OR

Mag. 4.0  July 16 18:48:30 44.362 -129.787 10.0  452 km (281 mi) W of Yachats, OR

Mag. 4.2  July 15 04:29:04 44.435 -129.826 10.0  455 km (283 mi) W of Yachats, OR

EMSC

July 19 01:00:22.7 44.35 N 129.29 W 10 Mag. 4.7  OFF COAST OF OREGON

July 17 22:51:53.3 44.23  N 129.35  W 10 Mag.  5.6  OFF COAST OF OREGON

July 17 22:43:04.4 44.69  N 129.79  W 33  Mag.  5.0  OFF COAST OF OREGON (missing from USGS reports)

July 17 22:36:22.0 44.35  N 129.27  W 51  Mag.  5.2  OFF COAST OF OREGON

July 17 18:21:43.1 44.56  N 129.34  W 50  Mag.  5.1  OFF COAST OF OREGON (missing from USGS reports)

July 17 13:32:19.5 44.31  N 29.50  W 40  Mag.  4.1  OFF COAST OF OREGON