Indonesia was struck by a strong undersea earthquake on Wednesday but there were no reports of immediate injuries or damage.
No tsunami warning was issued.
The U.S. Geological Survey registered the quake at magnitude 6.6. The epicenter was 85 miles northwest of Ternate, the capital of the North Maluku province. It was 25 miles deep.
Ternate residents said they felt strong jolts from the quake but no buildings were destroyed despite swaying.
Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because of their position on the Pacific Ring of Fire.
A new report says that long dormant Oklahoma fault lines are being reactivated and could lead to a massive earthquake.
The study, which includes researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey, says Oklahoma now must be considered possible for “a high degree of potential earthquake hazards.”
‘The majority of the recent earthquakes in central Oklahoma define reactivated ancient faults at shallow depths in the crust’ of less than 3.7 miles (6 km), said the report for the American Geophysical Union.
The study did not involve any research regarding fracking and if it had any impact on the reawakening of the fault lines.
‘Any one of these fault zones that are producing magnitude 3 or 4 earthquakes could rupture into a larger earthquake. There are as many as 12 different fault zones that are capable of producing a large, 5 to 6 magnitude earthquake,’ Daniel McNamara of the USGS stated.
Building codes in Oklahoma are not strong enough for a high earthquake. A major quake would result in mass destruction.
The U.S. Geological Survey has released a new estimate saying that the chance of an 8.0 magnitude or greater earthquake striking California is 7%, up from 4.7%.
The USGS said the increase in the percentage is due to new understanding that quakes aren’t always limited to separate faults. A quake could start on one fault and jump to another causing a simultaneous mega-quake.
“The new likelihoods are due to the inclusion of possible multi-fault ruptures, where earthquakes are no longer confined to separate, individual faults, but can occasionally rupture multiple faults simultaneously,” USGS seismologist Ned Field, the lead author of the report, told the L.A. Times.
“This is a significant advancement in terms of representing a broader range of earthquakes throughout California’s complex fault system.”
Data for the report included the April 4, 2010 quake that triggered aftershocks in at least six different fault lines. The report also found quakes jumping over a gap in the fault of over seven miles, more than double the previously observed three miles.
“As the inventory of California faults has grown over the years, it has become increasingly apparent that we are not dealing with a few well-separate faults, but with a vast interconnected fault system,” the report said. “In fact, it has become difficult to identify where some faults end and others begin, implying many more opportunities for multifault ruptures.”
Residents of Guthrie Oklahoma were shaken up Sunday when a 4.0 magnitude earthquake struck around 10:25 p.m. local time.
The quake was centered around 3 miles south southwest of Guthrie, 25 miles north of Oklahoma City.
The U.S. Geological Survey says that the quake was the eleventh to his the state on Sunday.
The quake comes on the heels of a report in Geophysical Reseach Letters that says Oklahoma could see more frequent and stronger earthquakes.
The study, which is headed by a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survery, says that it’s possible magnitude 6 quakes could strike the state. The report shows 3,639 earthquakes in Oklahoma between late 2009 and 2014, an increase of 300 times previous decades.
Most struck around 3 miles underground along the Nemaha and Wilzetta fault zones.
A major earthquake struck off the coast of Japan early Tuesday causing a small tsunami.
The 6.9 magnitude quake struck around 6 a.m. local time, 6.2 miles deep and 52 miles east-northeast of Miyako, Japan.
The quake did not initially cause a tsunami warning from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center and an advisory from the Japan Meteorological Agency was quickly cancelled. However, residents of Iwate Prefecture reported a tsunami of about three feet in height.
No significant damage was reported as a result of the small tsunami.
Iwate Prefecture is a rural area with a total population around 1.3 million. A nuclear power plant in the region reportedly had no damage. Local train lines have suspended operations until the tracks can be examined for damage.
The location of the quake was on the Pacific Ring of Fire.
The US Geological Survey is reporting a cluster of earthquakes in northern Oklahoma.
The USGS said four earthquakes were recorded around Cherokee and Helena, Oklahoma since late Wednesday. The biggest was a 4.3 magnitude quake centered five miles away from Cherokee at 9:08 a.m. Thursday.
The courthouse in Cherokee reportedly suffered damage as a result of the 4.3 quake.
Amanda Kutz, office manager for the Alfalfa County Sheriff’s Department, said that no one was injured but that plaster is coming off interior walls and that their third floor’s ceiling was damaged.
The USGS says three other quakes between 2.9 and 3.8 have been recorded since Wednesday.
The U.S. Geological Survey reports that Humboldt County California was struck by a 5.7 magnitude earthquake Wednesday afternoon.
The quake’s epicenter was underwater about 40 miles southwest of Eureka.
Lt. Wayne Hanson of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office told NBC that no major damage or injuries were reported but that the shaking was significant. The USGS “Did You Feel It” website had multiple reports from coastal areas of Level VI shaking, designed as “strong”.
Ironically, the quake struck as a “room full of Public Safety Officials” were meeting at the California Office of Emergency Services.
The USGS reported measurements from the quake over 200 miles to the north, east and south.
Oklahoma is being shaken with a series of earthquakes including two towns that had significant quakes in back to back days.
Medford, OK received the stronger of the quakes. The U.S. Geological Survey says that a 4.2 magnitude quake struck 13 miles southeast of Medford on Tuesday around 10 a.m. The same area received a 4.3 magnitude earthquake on Monday.
The quakes coincide with two quakes in the town of Perry. According to the Oklahoma Geological Survey, a 2.5 magnitude quake hit Perry on Monday followed by a 4.0 magnitude quake around dawn Tuesday morning. (The USGS recorded the quake at 3.8 magnitude.)
An earthquake was also recorded in Helena, OK, at 3.0 magnitude, while a 3.3 magnitude quake was registered near Guthrie.
A positive impact from the quake was that it shook Pleasant Vale Elementary School in Enid, Oklahoma where the students were studying plate tectonics and earthquakes.
Compassion International has released a report showing that five years after the massive 7.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated Haiti they are on track to fulfill promises made during rebuilding.
The Christian ministry is on track to build 30 new school buildings by spring. The schools, built with $31.2 million dollars from sponsors and donors, will help get education back on track.
Compassion even created a construction company with engineers from El Salvador to build the 30 schools. The schools will have the unique feature of being built to withstand strong earthquakes like the 7.0 quake of 2010.
The majority of students in the country receive their education from private church run schools because there is no established public school system in Haiti.
Matthew Moore of Compassion told the Christian Post that the schools were a necessity because without them they could have lost 25,000 children from their programs to improve their lives and prepare them for a better life.
The capital of the Philippines was rocked Saturday by a 6.0 earthquake that struck in the early hours of the morning.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the quake was centered 27 miles southwest of San Antonio, Zambales at 3:31 a.m.
A reporter for the Philippine Daily Inquirer said the quake was so strong it shook him and his son out of bed.
“The bed shook, the speaker fell and dogs barked,” Dennis Eroa wrote. “That was the first time I experienced that kind of quake here in Olongapo.”
Officials reported only minor structural damage throughout the region.
Seismologists say that the residents of the area were lucky that the quake struck so far underneath the sea bed that a tsunami was not created and damage on land would be minimal.
