Thursday, March 3, 2011

Strange Line of Micro-quakes in the Imperial Geothermal Volcanic field


We just had a 3 point plus just north of here, in the Landers area, and I felt it slightly as a house creak and very mild vibration. Not much really. What really peaks my interest is the strange line of micro-quakes in Imperial County. This is an area of a lot of normal seismic activity as well as hydrothermal and volcanic activity. A line of micro-quakes like seen on this map pops a few questions to my mind. Is this just some adjustment along the existing transform fault there, or is it movement of super heated water or other material? Are these micro-quakes a sign of shifting seismic strain? Is there a transition of strain from one fault system to an adjoining one, such as the San Andreas Fault system? These are good questions to think about. We had a couple of days of relative quiet, here in Southern California, and now we're having some interesting activity. It's not a big deal, but it interests me because I'm always curious about the rifting zone just south of me.

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