Magnitude 6.1 - NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN 2005 June 19 16:15:15 UTC (Sunday 6-19-05)

USGS Earthquake Hazards ^ | June 19, 2005

[bd476]

Magnitude 6.1 - NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
2005 June 19 16:15:15 UTC
Preliminary Earthquake Report
U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center
World Data Center for Seismology, Denver

A strong earthquake occurred at 16:15:15 (UTC) on Sunday, June 19, 2005. The magnitude 6.1 event has been located in NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN. The hypocentral depth was estimated to be 49 km (30 miles). (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)

Magnitude 6.1
Date-Time Sunday, June 19, 2005 at 16:15:15 (UTC) = Coordinated Universal Time
Monday, June 20, 2005 at 1:15:15 AM = local time at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location 35.595°N, 140.456°E
Depth 48.7 km (30.3 miles)
Region NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

Distances

65 km (40 miles) E of TOKYO, Japan
85 km (55 miles) S of Mito, Honshu, Japan
155 km (95 miles) SE of Maebashi, Honshu, Japan
170 km (105 miles) SSW of Iwaki, Honshu, Japan


Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 5.9 km (3.7 miles); depth +/- 12.3 km (7.6 miles)
Parameters Nst=126, Nph=126, Dmin=228.2 km, Rmss=0.72 sec, Gp=112°,
M-type=moment magnitude (Mw), Version=7
Source USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

[Strategerist]

Seems to be all around the Pacific Plate not just daily, almost hourly

As it is 365 days of the year, every single year, and has been for the past 40 million years or so.

[Strategerist]

ANOTHER ONE?
Californian had another one this morning!

They're called "aftershocks" and the aftershocks to the 7.2 quake a few days ago will go on for YEARS.

Still mystified why people are surprised by this.

[nmh]

How do you KNOW they are after shocks?

Couldn't it be just a plausible that they are new earthquakes?

Unless you can see them, you really can't distinguish between the two - at least that is what I have been told.

[nmh]

How do you KNOW they are after shocks?

Couldn't it be just a plausible that they are new earthquakes?

Unless you can see them, you really can't distinguish between the two - at least that is what I have been told. Japan and Californian aren't exactly next door neighbors.

[BIGLOOK]

I know. People are jumpy since the Sumatran subduction and its aftermath. A great number of Cassandras and Jeremiahs are dancing in the streets.......probably adding to the events.

[Strategerist]

They're within a fault length distance of the 7.2, and are following a normal aftershock pattern. A 5.0 today in that location today is precisely what you'd expect as a routine aftershock of the 7.2 earthquake of a few days ago.

USGS calls them aftershocks; good enough for me.

[nmh]

OKay, you know more than me!

[Plutarch]

Seems like the whole planet is shaking- is this normal seismic activity?

6.1, that don't impress me much.

[Strategerist]

I was referring to the 5.0 quake off California this morning as an Aftershock.

The 6.1 quake off Japan has nothing to do with the 7.2 or 5.0 quakes off California; just basically normal activity for Japan.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Let's get the 8.0 quake California is due over with, and move on for the next 150 years.

Since I am out here and you aren't....I say we need to wait another 20 years...

[nmh]

Okay!

Any idea what's causing California to be so active lately?

My husband said that Californina is moving towards Alaska - at about an inch or so a year. Do you agree with that?

[djl_sa]

My family and I just got back last night from Japan (leaving through Tokyo). My kids were bummed that they didn't feel an earthquake while they were there (missed this one by half a day).

Saw a stat at an exhibit in Japan that, as a country, they have more earthquakes then any other country in the world.

[Strategerist]

The strip of land west of the San Andreas is in fact slowly moving towards Alaska. However this motion is carried on a variety of faults in addition to the San Andreas, and areas east of the San Andreas all the way to Utah are also moving northwest, though at a much, much slower speed than the sliver of land West of the San Andreas.

This motion can be directly measured year by year by GPS units on either side of the fault, and on either side of the fault the rocks "match up" if you move the west side southwards several hundred miles..indicating they've moved that far.

Depending on the time frame you look at California isn't really all that active; the area where the 7.2 hit is very seismic, had a series of very similar quakes in 1992 and in several other years, and Magnitude 4-5 quakes in Southern California are pretty common; probably just a random fluke you had one of each within a few days

[nmh]

Thanks for explaining that. As you can see, I tax his patience ;)

I have one other question, as the area west moves up, could it go into the ocean?

Try not to laugh at my ignorance.

[Bear_Slayer]

My husband said that Californina is moving towards Alaska - at about an inch or so a year. Do you agree with that?

Damned Californians. They first ruined Montana - now Alaska?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

CNN just mentioned another quake off N. California...???

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Recent Earthquake Activity in the USA

Update time = Sun Jun 19 18:00:05 UTC 2005

Here are the earthquakes in the US10/37.47.-130.-120 map area, most recent at the top.
(Some early events may be obscured by later ones.)
Click on the underlined portion of an earthquake record in the list below for more information.

---

 MAG    DATE     UTC-TIME    LAT     LON    DEPTH    LOCATION

        y/m/d     h:m:s      deg     deg     km

 3.9  2005/06/19 14:12:12  40.973 -126.200  10.0  169 km (105 mi) WNW of Ferndale, CA

 2.0  2005/06/19 11:57:44  38.805 -122.768   2.3    3 km (  2 mi) ENE of The Geysers, CA
 5.0  2005/06/19 09:27:19  40.320 -126.538  10.0  191 km (119 mi) W   of Petrolia, CA
 1.3  2005/06/19 09:22:20  38.390 -122.680  10.2    5 km (  3 mi) NNE of Rohnert Park, CA
 1.2  2005/06/19 09:13:34  38.743 -123.896   5.0   26 km ( 16 mi) SW  of Point Arena, CA
 1.9  2005/06/19 06:59:17  38.893 -122.448   6.8   14 km (  8 mi) NE  of Hidden Valley Lake, CA
 2.1  2005/06/19 05:36:46  37.938 -122.758  23.4    7 km (  4 mi) NW  of Bolinas, CA

 4.0  2005/06/19 05:35:49  40.623 -126.405  10.0  181 km (112 mi) W   of Ferndale, CA
 1.9  2005/06/18 17:13:34  38.393 -123.692   5.0   41 km ( 26 mi) WSW of Fort Ross, CA
 1.0  2005/06/18 14:50:02  37.650 -121.948  12.9    6 km (  4 mi) WSW of Pleasanton, CA
 1.5  2005/06/18 14:12:26  38.795 -122.763   2.7    4 km (  2 mi) E   of The Geysers, CA
 1.6  2005/06/18 13:05:16  37.803 -122.222   0.2    1 km (  1 mi) NNE of Oakland, CA
 2.3  2005/06/18 13:04:53  41.066 -123.251   2.5   39 km ( 24 mi) SSE of Somes Bar, CA

 4.2  2005/06/18 11:44:59  40.776 -126.346  10.0  177 km (110 mi) W   of Ferndale, CA

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

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Update time = Sun Jun 19 18:00:00 UTC 2005 Here is a list of the earthquakes located by the USGS and contributing networks in the 10/245 -25 map area. Most recent events are at the top. (Some early events may be obscured by later ones on the map.) Click on the underlined portion of an earthquake record in the list below for more information. MAG DATE UTC-TIME LAT LON DEPTH region y/m/d h:m:s deg deg km 5.4 2005/06/19 02:01:07 -23.973 -111.951 10.0 EASTER ISLAND REGION 4.8 2005/06/16 14:08:53 -27.412 -113.181 10.0 EASTER ISLAND REGION 5.0 2005/06/13 09:20:45 -25.408 -116.170 11.9 SOUTHERN EAST PACIFIC RISE

[Strategerist]

Well, as an island; the Gulf of California will keep propagating northwards, getting longer, and Baja California and the part of California west of the San Andreas will eventually be an Island; however, most geologists believe the San Andreas will eventually track east of the Sierra Nevada through the State of Nevada making basically all of California an island as well.

This takes tens of millions of years, mind you.

Nothing "falls" into the ocean though as there's nothing to fall into; they're integral pieces of crust down to the mantle.

[Strategerist]

You probably should go to your local library or bookstore and check out or buy "Assembling California" and "Basin and Range" (about Nevada) by John McPhee, where all of this is explained to a general audience; he has a series of four books (also can be bought togther as "Annals of the Former World") covering his travels on Interstate 80 across the country with a series of prominent geologists ("In Suspect Terrain" dealing with Pennsylvania is now somewhat dated, however....the other three are quite good. There's also "Rising From the Plains" about Wyoming)