Small Quakes Rattle Watsonville

UPDATED: 7/2/07

A new 4.3 quake has been reported in this area. CLICK HERE for our special report.

Residents in Watsonville were shaken by a series of small quakes late this afternoon. The three quakes, measuring 3.0, 3.2 and 3.0, all occurred within 15 minutes of each other.

The earthquakes were felt within the Watsonville and surrounding communities. The shaking has been described as a gentle rumbling ending in a sharp jolt.

If you felt this earthquake and would like to share your story (or read other accounts), please check our message board.

Be sure to check out our 2007 quake map to see other Northern California quakes in 2007. Our list of previous years quakes can be found on the right side of our web site.

Powerful Earthquake Off the coast of Papua New Guinea

A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 has occured off Bougainville Island.

The following is a release by the United States Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center: An earthquake occurred about 220 km (135 miles) SSW of Arawa, Bougainville, PNG or about 825 km (520 miles) E of PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea at 8:52 PM MDT, Jun 27, 2007 (Jun 28 at 12:52 PM local time in Papua New Guinea). The magnitude and location may be revised when additional data and further analysis results are available. There have been no reports of damage.

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WIKI:
The Bougainville Province, also known as North Solomons Province, is an autonomous province in Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Solomon Islands group. The largest island is Bougainville Island, and the capital is Arawa. The province also includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands including the Carterets. The population of the province is 175,160 (2000 census). Bougainville Island is ecologically and geographically, although not politically, part of the Solomon Islands. Buka, Bougainville, and most of the Solomons are part of the Solomon Islands rain forests ecoregion. MORE

Strong quake jolts southern part of Java

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Jakarta - A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck the southern part of Indonesia's Java island Wednesday morning, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, an official said.

The tremblor shook at about 5:23 am (2223 GMT Tuesday) and was centred in the Indonesian Sea 340 kilometres southwest of Cilacap district in southern coast of Central Java, said Anas, an official at the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency in Jakarta. He said the quake occurred at about 33-kilometres beneath the seabed.

Anas, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, said the quake was felt along a wide stretch of the southern Central Java coast, including the cultural city of Yogyakarta, but there were no reports of injuries or damage.

Yogyakarta and nearby regions has been struck by a powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake on late May 2006, killing more than 5,800 people, injuring thousands of others and destroying and heavily damaging tens of thousands of homes and buildings.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation, is prone to earthquakes because the country sits atop Asia's so-called "Ring of Fire" where continental plates collide and earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are frequent.

Earthquake shakes Northern California Coast

The Eureka Reporter - A magnitude 5.1 earthquake rattled parts of the North Coast Sunday at 7:32 p.m. The U.S. Geologic Survey indicated the temblor was located 41 miles northwest of Eureka at a depth of approximately 6.3 miles. There was no indication that the earthquake caused any major damage or injuries. According to the U.S. Geologic Survey’s 24-Hour Aftershock Forecast Map, as of 8 p.m. Sunday, there was a low probability of aftershocks occurring in the region.

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If you felt this quake and have a story to tell, come on over to our "Quake Stories" board to share and to read other stories about this quake.

Also, be sure to check out the 2007 Earthquake map to see this quake along with other signficant quakes of 2007.

Space Shuttle Brings Sonic Boom

Many people accross Southern California reported feeling an earthquake shortly before 12:45 pm (west coast time). As it turns out the culprit was not an earthquake, it in fact was the expected sonic boom caused by the return of the Space Shuttle Atlantis.

The shuttle was expected to land in Florida, but due to bad weather the landing was changed to Edwards Air Force Base in the Southern California desert.

The shuttle's path to the base took it over San Diego and Los Angeles before landing smoothly at 12:49 pm.

Small quake shakes Tennessee

It has been in the works for quite a while: "On the morning of June 19, Tennessee will experience a 7.7 magnitude earthquake inside the New Madrid Seismic Zone near Memphis." What they weren't counting on was a Real quake to strike Tennessee that day.

Tuesday June 19th is the start of one of the states largest emergency response drills. While the main focus of the simulation is the New Madrid Seismic Zone near Memphis, a real earthquake was being felt 170 miles east near the small town of Spencer (about 50 miles North of Chattanooga).

Although the quake was not widely felt, it is a constant reminder that earthquakes can occur at anytime and anyplace and they don't always strike along active fault lines. Tuesdays quake measured 3.3 and occurred at 1:16 PM local time.

If you think that earthquakes never happen in this area, you may be interested in this map which shows all earthquakes in the area (since 1970) with a magnitude of 2.5 or greater.

Here is the map showing the specific location of this quake

Related Links:
New Madrid Seismic Zone
Tennessee Earthquake Information
Tennessee to test earthquake plan

Earthquakes Continue in Northern Oregon

The area between Kent, Oregon and Maupin, Oregon has seen steady quake activity since December of 2006. The quakes have been in a concentrated area about 8 miles ESE of Maupin.

Most of the quakes are small and have not been felt. Quakes of this size usually go unnoticed by most. However, this sequence, now in its seventh month, has raised eyebrows because this kind of consistent quake activity has never been recorded in this location.

On Thursday afternoon, the strongest quake of the sequence was recorded. The 3.9 quake was the strongest in the region since a 4.2 earthquake in November of 1976.

CLICK HERE to view a special report showing all quakes in the area since 1976.

6.8 Earthquake off the Coast of Guatemala

The following is a release by the United States Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center: An earthquake occurred 115 km (70 miles) SSW of GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala at 1:29 PM MDT, Jun 13, 2007 (1:29 PM local time in Guatemala). The magnitude and location may be revised when additional data and further analysis results are available. No reports of damage or casualties have been received at this time; however, this earthquake may have caused damage due to its location and size.

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From the Associated Press
1:43 PM PDT, June 13, 2007


GUATEMALA CITY -- A powerful earthquake shook Guatemala on today, U.S. seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries in the capital.

The magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck at 1:29 p.m. local time (3:29 p.m. EDT) and was centered 70 miles southwest of Guatemala City off the Pacific coast, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Firefighters in Guatemala City said they had no immediate reports of injury or damage.

Radio Sonora reported that houses were damaged along the Pacific coast, with mudslides in several areas. But firefighters in several coastal communities, including Santa Rosa and Escluintla, told The Associated Press they had received no reports of damage.

The quake was felt in neighboring El Salvador, where people ran into the streets in the capital of San Salvador.

Carlos Lopez, a spokesman for the Red Cross in El Salvador, said there were no immediate reports of major damage in that country.

The region is prone to earthquakes. One of Guatemala's most devastating quakes was in 1976 when nearly 23,000 people died.

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This report will be updated as new information is received

Here are two maps showing the location. The first is a wide view, the second a closer view. (click on image full size image)

Moderate Quake Near Mammoth Lakes

Aftershocks continue after a 4.6 earthquake shook the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Central California early Tuesday morning. The quake struck just after 12:20am (Pacific Coast time). So far there have been more than 160 aftershocks. Four of the aftershocks have been 3.0 or higher, with the largest being 3.6. The quake was preceeded by a 3.6 foreshock.

Hundreds of people throughout central California and Western Nevada have reported feeling the quake. Some of the stronger aftershocks have been felt by people in the vicinity of the epicenter.

The map here shows the area affected by this series of earthquakes.

This region of the Sierra Nevada's is very familiar with earthquakes. The last strong quake to register above 5.0 was back on May 15, 1999. When the area experienced a 5.6 quake. Even stronger damaging quakes ocurred in 1980.

Explore our Northern California historical Quake maps located on the right side of our website to see quakes in this area over the years.

3.5 Aftershock West of Frazier Park

Tuesday's 3.5 earthquake was an aftershock to the 3.7 quake which shook the region early Monday morning. Both quakes, along with several smaller aftershocks, are occuring along a segment of the San Andreas fault near the Grapevine.

Anthony Guarino with the Southern California Seismic Network reports that this quake may have been felt in Valencia, Gorman, Castaic, and surrounding communities.

There were no reports of damage or injuries.

This map shows where these quakes occured in relation to the surrounding communties and it's proximity to the San Andreas fault. The orange quake on left is a 3.0 which occured on March 1st of this year.

A closer view of the quake area.

Earthquake in China kills two, injures 200

Asia-Pacific News

Jun 3, 2007, 2:43 GMT

Beijing - A strong earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale struck an area of south-western China's Yunnan province early Sunday, destroying houses, killing at least two people and injuring more than 200.

The epicentre of the quake at 5:34 a.m. (2134 GMT Saturday) was at 23.0 degrees north and 101.1 degrees east near Yunnan's Pu'er city, near the border with Myanmar, state media quoted the China Earthquake Administration as saying.

There were reports of damage and casualties in the old town of Pu'er, and by mid-morning local officials had confirmed two people dead and more than 200 injured, 15 of them seriously, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Rescue teams were sent to the affected area to assess the damage and help victims, the agency said.

The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at a depth of 10 kilometres.

4.2 Quake Hits Southern California Desert

A quake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.2 struck the lower Southern California Desert Friday Night. The quake was widely felt from the deserts to the coast, and even reports that it was felt as far away as Phoenix Arizona, some 250 miles away. Nearly 2,000 felt reports were filed within the first hour of the quake.

If the felt reports are accurate, it's my experience that this quake's magnitude will be upgraded sometime soon.

Click on the picture above to see exactly where this quake struck, along with other quakes in the area that have occurred in 2007.