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September 3, 2010 (16:35:46 UTC)
Magnitude 7.0 South Island of New Zealand
This earthquake occurred as a result of strike-slip faulting within the crust of the Pacific plate, near the eastern foothills of the Southern Alps at the western edge of the Canterbury Plains. The earthquake struck approximately 50 km to the west-northwest of Christchurch, the largest population center in the region, and about 80-90 km to the south and east of the Alpine fault, the current expression of the Australia - Pacific plate boundary through the island.
Teachable Moment Presentation
- updated 7 Sept 20 slide Powerpoint presentation (zipped ppt/quicktimes 17.8 MB) - all files together
- updated 7 Sept 20 slide Powerpoint presentation (zipped ppt 3.11 MB)- if above is too large, download Quicktime files separately below
- University of Portland/IRIS Earthquake Notice (pdf 327 kB)
- updated 7 Sept Converted 20 slide Powerpoint (pdf 1.91 MB)
Animations and Visualizations
USGS Resources
En Español
August 12, 2010 (11:54:16 UTC)
Magnitude 7.1 Ecuador
A major earthquake of magnitude 7.1 occurred beneath Ecuador on Thursday August 12. As determined by the US Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC), this earthquake occurred at a depth of 211 km. Although the epicenter was only 175 km from Quito, ground shaking there was light because of the depth of the earthquake.
Teachable Moment Presentation
Animations and Visualizations
En Español
- Universidad de Portland/IRIS Notificación de Terremoto (pdf)
- Propagación de Ondas Sísmicas (Youtube / Animación Quicktime 7.4 MB)
August 10, 2010 (05:23:46 UTC)
Magnitude 7.3 Vanuatu
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurred early Tuesday in the Northern New Hebrides Trench. At this trench, the northeastern corner of the India-Australia Plate subducts beneath the Pacific Plate. This earthquake occurred just 35 km west-northwest of Port-Vila, Efate, Vanuatu. This convergent plate boundary has been quite active during the past year with major earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Teachable Moment Presentation
Animations and Visualizations
En Español
August 4, 2010 (22:01:43 UTC)
Magnitude 7.0 New Britain Region, Papua New Guinea
This magnitude 7.0 New Britain, Papua New Guinea earthquake occurred in the complex zone where the Pacific Plate subducts beneath Papua New Guinea at the northern fringe of the India-Australia Plate.
Teachable Moment Presentation
En Español
July 23, 2010 (22:51:12 UTC)
Magnitude 7.6 Moro Gulf, Mindanao, Philippines
A major earthquake of magnitude 7.6 occurred Friday deep beneath the Moro Gulf, Mindanao, Philippines. The earthquake was too deep to cause a tsunami. Additionally, because of the depth, it was reported to be hardly felt, and no damage has been reported. However, this earthquake was the mainshock of an unusual sequence of three earthquakes between magnitude 7.3 and 7.6 that occurred in a cluster about 600 km deep inside the Philippine Plate within an interval of 67 minutes.
Teachable Moment Presentation
En Español
July 18, 2010 (13:35:02 UTC)
Magnitude 7.3 Papua New Guinea
The M7.3 New Britain, Papua New Guinea earthquake occurred on or near the plate boundary between the Solomon Sea and South Bismarck plates, microplates involved in the accommodation of large-scale convergence between the Australia and Pacific plates. The earthquake's location, depth, and focal mechanism are consistent with the earthquake having occurred as thrust faulting associated with subduction along this plate boundary. This earthquake occurred approximately 10 km to the north and 30 minutes after a M6.9 earthquake. That smaller foreshock was deeper and occurred as a result of reverse faulting in a direction highly oblique to the plate convergence direction.
Teachable Moment Presentation
Animations and Visualizations
En Español
June 16, 2010 (03:16:29 UTC)
Magnitude 7.0 Near the North Coast of Papua, Indonesia
A major earthquake of magnitude 7.0 occurred Tuesday evening Portland time beneath northwest Papua, Indonesia. This earthquake occurred in a region that contains a complex arrangement of plate boundaries between the Pacific, Philippine, India-Australia, and Eurasian plates. This earthquake was preceeded by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake 10 minutes earlier. Two strong aftershocks (magnitude 5.1 and 6.2) were felt within the hour of the main shock.
Teachable Moment Presentation
En Español
June 15, 2010 (04:26:58 UTC)
Magnitude 5.7 Southern California
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake occurred at 09:26:58 PM local time on Monday, 14 June 2010 in Southern California, approximately 36 km west-southwest of the El Centro, CA. The earthquake occurred at shallow depth (approximately 7 km) along the boundary zone between the North American and Pacific plates.
Teachable Moment Presentation
Animations and Visualizations
En Español
June 12, 2010 (19:26:50 UTC)
Magnitude 7.5 Nicobar Islands, India Region
As determined by the US Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC), a major earthquake occurred Saturday 155 km (95 miles) west of Mohean in the Nicobar Islands region north-northwest of northern Sumatra. Light ground shaking was reported in Sumatra, the Andaman Islands, on Sri Lanka, and across the east coast of India.
Teachable Moment Presentation
- Teachable Moment Powerpoint (zipped with animations 13.4 MB)
- University of Portland/IRIS Earthquake Notice (pdf)
- PDF of Teachable Moment (965 kB)
Animations and Visualizations
- Shadow Zone Animation (YouTube / Quicktime 5.67MB)
- Seismic Wave Propagation (YouTube / Quicktime 6.14 MB)
En Español
May 27, 2010 (17:14:48 UTC)
Magnitude 7.2 Vanuatu
The Vanuatu earthquake of May 27, 2010, 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.
