February 4, 2010 (20:20:21 UTC)
Magnitude 5.9 Offshore Northern California
This earthquake occurred north of the Mendocino Transform Fault, inside the Gorda plate, which is deforming as the Gorda Plate and Pacific plate slide past each other. The fault motion during the earthquake was strike-slip (side-by-side like the San Andreas Fault) with the Gorda Plate moving east and while the Pacific plate jumped west along the Mendocino Transform Fault.
Teachable Moment Presentation
En Español
January 12, 2010 (21:53:10 UTC)
Magnitude 7.0 Haiti
A major earthquake occurred Tuesday in the boundary region separating the Caribbean plate and the North America plate. This plate boundary is dominated by left-lateral strike slip motion and compression, and accommodates about 20 mm/y slip, with the Caribbean plate moving eastward with respect to the North America plate.
Teachable Moment Presentations
- 12 slide Teachable Moment Powerpoint (zipped, includes animation)
Set of slides created in the first hours after the earthquake with information to use in middle school, high school or college classes. - University of Portland/IRIS Earthquake Notice (pdf)
- Converted Teachable Moment Powerpoint (pdf)
- updated 20 Jan Follow up: Building Damage in Earthquakes (pdf)
Animations and Visualizations
- Seismic Wave Propagation (Youtube / Quicktime)
- Why didn't the magnitude 7 earthquake in Haiti cause a large tsunami? (Youtube / Quicktime)
- USArray Wave Visualization Globe (Youtube / Quicktime 15MB)
-watch seismic waves from the Haiti earthquake as they cross the USArray's seismometer deployment. Blue circles indicate a seismometer moving down; red circles indicate a seismometer moving up.
Click here to learn more. - Six Month Seismic Monitor Central America Earthquake Activity Map (Youtube / Quicktime 6.7MB)
- updated 20 Jan Seismic Monitor View of the Haiti earthquake and aftershocks (Flash) or with color coded magnitude (Quicktime).
To save the videos above, right click a Quicktime link and choose "Save Target As".
USGS Resources
En Español
- Presentación en Español (ppt 3.28MB)
- Periódico La Jornada - Haití, devastado por un terremoto; el país más pobre del hemisferio clama por ayuda
- Periódico La Nación - Dramática búsqueda de sobrevivientes en Haití tras el devastador sismo
- El Nacional (Republica dominicana) - Miles de muertos; muchos siguen atrapados
- Claridad- Haití: A dos días del terremoto
Additional Haiti Earthquake Resources
- added 1 Feb NSF Geophysicists in Haiti Blog
- added 28 Jan Scientists Return to Haiti to Assess Possibility of Another Major Quake (NSF)
- added 27 Jan USGS Assessment of Aftershock Hazards in Haiti
- added 20 Jan Seismology and Tectonics of Hispaniola (ppt 17.5MB)- Jay Pulliam, Paul Mann, Lisa Gahagen
- added 20 Jan Haiti Earthquake 2010: Facts, Engineering, Images & Maps - MCEER
- added 20 Jan The 10% Solution: How to Respond to the Haitian Earthquake- Brian Tucker (GeoHazards International) January 14th Guardian (UK)
- Recent Geology/Geophysics on Haiti
added 20 Jan Jackson School of Geophysics: The University of Texas at Austin
added 20 Jan Purdue University: Eric Calais - Earthquake 101 video on the Haiti earthquake from NBC Nightly News
- Natural Hazard and Vulnerability Assessment of the Caribbean, Fall 2009 Class Project, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC (ppt 2MB)
-Class project for Geology 213: Natural Hazards which identified Haiti as having the highest risk of damaging future earthquake - Deformation of Jamaica and motion of the Gonave microplate from GPS and seismic data
Authored by C. DeMets and M. Wiggins-Grandison (pdf 1.5MB)
-2006 research paper on the motion of the Gonave microplate using GPS and seismic data gathered on the island of Jamaica. Haiti and Jamaica extend onto the Gonave microplate - Woods Hole Science Center
-Caribbean tsunami and earthquake hazards studies with movies, diagrams and recent research publications - Observed and predicted Caribbean GPS site velocities (pdf) from
"Is There a Northern Lesser Antilles Forearc Block?" López, A., S. Stein, T.
Dixon, G. Sella, E. Calais, P. Jansma, J. Weber, and P. LaFemina, Geophys.
Res. Lett., 33, doi:10.1029/2005GL025293. - Stress, strain and topo maps from UNAVCO site
- US Agency for International Development
January 9, 2010 (00:27:39 UTC)
Magnitude 6.5 Offshore Northern California
This earthquake occurred approximately 35 km WNW of Ferndale, CA in a deformation zone of the southernmost Juan de Fuca plate that is commonly referred to as the Gorda plate. The earthquake's epicenter is northwest of the Mendocino Triple Junction, which is formed by the intersection of the Mendocino fracture zone, the San Andreas fault and the Cascadia subduction zone. (USGS National Earthquake Information Center)
Presentation
University of Portland/IRIS Earthquake Notice (pdf)
12 slide Teachable Moment Powerpoint (zipped)
Converted powerpoint (pdf)
En Español
January 3, 2010 (22:36:28 UTC)
Magnitude 7.1 Solomon Islands
The Solomon Islands earthquake of January 3, 2010, likely occurred at the boundary between the Pacific and Australian plates, where the Australian plate subducts beneath the Pacific towards the northeast at a rate of approximately 95 mm/yr. (USGS National Earthquake Information Center)
Presentation
University of Portland/IRIS Earthquake Notice (pdf)
Individual Files
Seismic wave propagation (Quicktime Animation)
En Español
Propagación de Ondas Sísmicas (Animación Quicktime)
Additional Resources
December 30, 2009 (18:48:57 UTC)
Magnitude 5.9 Baja California, Mexico
The northern Baja California earthquake of December 30, 2009, occurred on the principal plate boundary between the North America and Pacific plate. At the latitude of the earthquake, the Pacific plate moves northwest with respect to the North America plate at 45 mm/y. (USGS National Earthquake Information Center)
Presentation
9 slide powerpoint (zipped, includes animation)
University of Portland/IRIS Earthquake Notice (pdf)
Converted powerpoint (pdf)
Individual Files
Seismic wave propagation (Quicktime Animation)
En Español
Presentación en Español (Archivo Zip)
Propagación de Ondas Sísmicas (Animación Quicktime)
Additional Resources
November 17, 2009 (15:30:46 UTC)
Magnitude 6.6 Queen Charlotte Islands Region
A strong earthquake occurred on the Queen Charlotte transform fault. The Pacific Plate moves north-northwest approximately parallel to the Queen Charlotte transform fault that connects the Explorer Ridge (an extension of the Juan de Fuca Ridge) with the Aleutian Trench.
Presentation
University of Portland/IRIS PDF Earthquake Notice
Seismic wave propagation (Quicktime Animation)
November 9, 2009 (10:44:54 UTC)
Magnitude 7.3 Fiji
The Fiji earthquake of 9 November 2009 occurred at the northern end of the inclined seismic zone that dips to the west beneath Tonga and Fiji. The broad-scale tectonics of the earthquake region are dominated by the relative convergence of the Pacific and Australia plates. At the latitude of the earthquake, the Pacific plate moves westward with respect to the interior of the Australia plate at a velocity of about 86 mm/yr. (USGS National Earthquake Information Center)
Presentation
University of Portland/IRIS PDF Earthquake Notice
Seismic wave propagation (Quicktime Animation)
Novermber 4, 2009 (12:38:29 UTC)
Magnitude 5.3 Off the Coast of Oregon
This moderate earthquake occurred on the Blanco Fracture Zone that is a transform boundary between the Juan de Fuca and Pacific plates. The direction of relative motion between these plates along the Blanco Fracture Zone is right-lateral horizontal strike-slip. Although earthquakes occur frequently along the Blanco Fracture Zone, they are rarely felt in Oregon or Washington because they are moderate magnitude and a significant distance from the coast.
Presentation
October 7, 2009 (22:03:15 UTC)
Magnitude 7.7 Vanuatu
The Torres Islands, Vanuatu earthquake of October 7, 2009, occurred on or near the plate boundary between the Australia and Pacific plates. In the region of the earthquake, the Australia plate moves to the east-northeast with respect to the Pacific plate at a velocity of about 91 mm/year. (USGS National Earthquake Information Center)
Presentation
Powerpoint (zipped files, includes both animations)
Presentación en Español (ppt)
Presentation (PDF)
Individual Files
Seismic wave propagation (Quicktime Animation)
Propagación de Ondas Sísmicas (Animación Quicktime)
Additional Resources
University of Portland/IRIS PDF Earthquake Notice
September 30, 2009 (10:16:09 UTC)
Magnitude 7.6 Southern Sumatra, Indonesia
As the Australia – Indian Plate subducts below the Eurasian Plate at a velocity of about 60 mm/yr (6 cm/yr), earthquake depths increase from southwest to northeast across this plate boundary. The earthquake of September 30, 2009 nicely fits the pattern of depths for earthquakes that occur on the subsurface interface between the Australia – Indian and Eurasian plates. This earthquake did not produce a tsunami because it occurred at a depth of 81 km, far below the seafloor.
Presentation
September 29, 2009 (17:48:10 UTC)
Magnitude 8.1 Samoa Islands Region
This great earthquake occurred near the northern end of the Tonga Trench where the Pacific Plate subducts below the India-Australia Plate. This earthquake occurred about 200km south of the island of Upolu. The rate of convergence at the Tonga Trench is about 80mm/yr (8cm/yr) and this is one of the most seismically active subduction zones on Earth.
Presentation
Zipped Files (includes animation)
Presentación en Español (Archivo Zip)
Presentation (PDF)
Individual Files
Seismic wave propagation (Quicktime Animation)
Propagación de Ondas Sísmicas (Animación Quicktime)
Additional Resources
University of Portland/IRIS PDF Earthquake Notice
NOAA Tsunami realtime movie
September 12, 2009 (20:06:24 UTC)
Magnitude 6.3 Offshore Venezuela
The September 12, 2009 earthquake offshore of Venezuela occurred at a shallow depth as a result of right-lateral strike-slip faulting. The tectonics of this area are dominated by the eastward motion of the Caribbean plate with respect to the South American plate, at a rate of approximately 20mm/yr. (USGS National Earthquake Information Center)
Presentation
Zipped Files (includes animation)
Presentación en Español (ppt)
Presentation (PDF)
Individual Files
Seismic wave propagation (Quicktime Animation)
Strike Slip Animation (Quicktime Animation)
Propagación de Ondas Sísmicas (Animación Quicktime)
May 28, 2009 (08:24:45 UTC)
Magnitude 7.3 Offshore Honduras
The location and focal mechanism of the Honduras earthquake of May 28, 2009, imply that the shock occurred as the result of left-lateral strike-slip faulting on the Swan Islands Transform Fault, a segment of the boundary between the North America and Caribbean plates. In this region the plate boundary accommodates about 20 mm/y slip. (USGS National Earthquake Information Center)
Zipped Files (includes animation)
Presentación en Español (ppt)
Presentation (PDF)
Individual Files
Seismic wave propagation (Quicktime Animation)
Propagación de Ondas Sísmicas (Animación Quicktime)
Additional Resources
April 6, 2009 (01:32:42 UTC)
Magnitude 6.3 Central Italy
The April 6th 2009 earthquake in Central Italy occurred as a result of normal faulting on a NW-SE oriented structure in the central Apennines, a mountain belt that runs from the Gulf of Taranto in the south to the southern edge of the Po basin in northern Italy. Geologically, the Apennines are largely an accretionary wedge formed as a consequence of subduction. (USGS National Earthquake Information Center)
Presentation
Powerpoint
Presentación en Español (ppt)
Presentation (PDF)
