How a 'Huge, Silent' Earthquake Caused a Mysterious Global Tsunami

newsweek ^ | 2/11/22 | ORLANDO JENKINSON ON

[BenLurkin]

In a study published in Geophysical Research Letters on February 8, scientists said that a total of five earthquakes, including one massive, "hidden" tremor, created the tsunami after striking close to the South Sandwich Islands on August 12, 2021, in the remote Southern Ocean off the coast of the continent of South America.

The study showed that tsunami-causing earthquakes such as the August 12 incident had complex patterns that could confound how scientists measure major tectonic activity

Researchers described an initial rupture that happened deep below the oceanic crust in between the South American and South Sandwich tectonic plates at a depth of around 29 miles. This earthquake, which measured 7.5 on the Richter Scale, then triggered other quakes, including a much shallower—and much more violent—third earthquake.

This later 8.2 magnitude earthquake generated most of the energy in the rupture series, the researchers said, and had far-reaching effects, with waves recorded thousands of miles from its source.

Yet for such a huge and globe-spanning event, the earthquake left barely any trace in typical data used by scientists to study such phenomena, puzzling researchers as to what had really happened.

[JimRed]

I read about a rogue wave reading recorded on measuring equipment in the Pacific. Was this event the cause of that?