Domino

For over a year I've been saying we would start to have domino earthquakes, meaning that the plates are so tightly compressed together (due to the up-tick in deep earthquakes that have occurred since 1985) that any change reverberates around the world, quickly. Lately I've noted that they seem to come in bursts, all over the world. I noted it starting about 6 months ago, and now during and after the 7.6 quake in Turkey it seems to be evident, so I did some research. I searched the CNSS Earthquake Catalog for quakes 5.0 Richter or greater, during a comparable time during August of 1998 and 1999.

catalog=CNSS
start_time=1998/08/17,00:00:00
end_time=1998/08/22,23:59:59
minimum_magnitude=5.0
maximum_magnitude=9
minimum_depth=0
maximum_depth=100
event_type=E

Both these 6 day periods conveniently have a 7.0+ quake in them. What the statistics show is that a year ago quakes did not seem to be related, or were only locally related, when they occurred close together in time. The statistics and map for 1998 is below. There was no reverberation around the world.

Offered by Nancy.

Date No. Location Lat. Long. Mag.

8/04/98 1 Ecuador (off shore) -.059 -80.39 7.2

8/05/98 2 Pakistan 29.32 68.74 5.4

3 Brazil (off shore) 5.90 -33.08 5.2

4 Somoa (western) -21.47 -178.03 5.3

5 Kamchatka 56.16 163.36 5.3

6 Indonesia 6.49 125.98 5.3

7 Pacific (near Antartica) -54.67 -135.52 6.2

8 Iraq 33.20 46.25 5.6

8/06/98 9 New Caledonia Is. -21.84 169.81 5.5

10 Pacific (near Antartica) -54.39 -135.95 5.4

11 Bering Sea 51.66 -177.28 5.1

8/07/98 12 Pacific (near Antartica) -59.45 -151.03 5.3

13 Pacific (near Antartica) -59.58 -150.71 5.9

14 Fiji Is. -20.50 -177.72 5.4

8/08/98 15 Indonesia 0.22 122.24 5.2

8/09/98 16 Indonesia 7.34 94.35 5.4

17 Bering Sea 53.00 171.13 5.2

8/10/98 18 Indonesia 7.32 94.30 6.0

19 Dominican Republic 18.64 -70.54 5.2

8/11/98 20 Taiwan (East China Sea) 25.01 123.01 5.4

8/12/98 21 Los Angeles 36.75 -121.46 5.35

8/13/98 22 Uruguay -58.78 -24.87 5.5

23 Bering Sea 53.06 171.10 5.0

8/14/98 24 Solomon Is. -11.43 166.21 5.8

25 South Pole (magnetic) -63.60 147.48 5.5

Date	No.	Location	Lat.	Long.	Mag.
8/04/98	1	Ecuador (off shore)	-.059	-80.39	7.2
8/05/98	2	Pakistan	29.32	68.74	5.4
	3	Brazil (off shore)	5.90	-33.08	5.2
	4	Somoa (western)	-21.47	-178.03	5.3
	5	Kamchatka	56.16	163.36	5.3
	6	Indonesia	6.49	125.98	5.3
	7	Pacific (near Antartica)	-54.67	-135.52	6.2
	8	Iraq	33.20	46.25	5.6
8/06/98	9	New Caledonia Is.	-21.84	169.81	5.5
	10	Pacific (near Antartica)	-54.39	-135.95	5.4
	11	Bering Sea	51.66	-177.28	5.1
8/07/98	12	Pacific (near Antartica)	-59.45	-151.03	5.3
	13	Pacific (near Antartica)	-59.58	-150.71	5.9
	14	Fiji Is.	-20.50	-177.72	5.4
8/08/98	15	Indonesia	0.22	122.24	5.2
8/09/98	16	Indonesia	7.34	94.35	5.4
	17	Bering Sea	53.00	171.13	5.2
8/10/98	18	Indonesia	7.32	94.30	6.0
	19	Dominican Republic	18.64	-70.54	5.2
8/11/98	20	Taiwan (East China Sea)	25.01	123.01	5.4
8/12/98	21	Los Angeles	36.75	-121.46	5.35
8/13/98	22	Uruguay	-58.78	-24.87	5.5
	23	Bering Sea	53.06	171.10	5.0
8/14/98	24	Solomon Is.	-11.43	166.21	5.8
	25	South Pole (magnetic)	-63.60	147.48	5.5