Texas Educational Seismic Project

“Are we having more earthquakes lately?”

Depends – how long of a timeframe does “lately” equal? A month? year? Decade? Era? Many large, powerful earthquakes have been in the news lately…. it does seem like the Earth “is busy” and we should “ask again later.” This month is not yet over, and we have already recorded several large magnitude, global events here in Spring, TX at Raspberry Shake Station R5DDF. Take a look ~ unless otherwise noted, no significant damages or human loss was incurred from these events.

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Why save the best for last (in the month)? These INTRIGUING OBSERVATIONS were made at Station R5DDF; apparently, a few polar degrees does matter to epicentral distance….take these events shown in Figures 1a and 1b – both earthquakes had the same magnitude (M7.0), occurred in the same region of the World AND had similar hypocenter depths – NOTE that one event was detected and recorded at our site location, and the other event was not. How can we explain these observations?

Figure 1a. January 08, 2023, 12:32 UTC – (Vanuatu) A magnitude M7.0 earthquake occurred in this area of the Ring of Fire. A 0.2 to 1.2 Hz BP filter has been applied to the extracted seismogram – no apparent signal is observed. The epicentral distance is approximately 104 polar degrees away from Spring, TX.

Figure 1b. January 18, 2023, 06:06 UTC – (Indonesia) The same magnitude, an M7.0, earthquake occurred in nearby Indonesia. The same 0.2 to 1.2 Hz BP filter has been applied to the extracted seismogram. The epicentral distance of this event is approximately 128 polar degrees away. How can we explain these two observations?

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Figure 2. January 09, 2023, 17:47 UTC – (Indonesia) A very powerful magnitude M7.6 earthquake occurred in Indonesia – not a new geologic experience for the region. A 0.5 Hz LP filter has been applied to the extracted seismogram.

Figure 3. January 20, 2023, 11:23 UTC – (Guadeloupe, Caribbean Sea) a large magnitude M6.2 earthquake occurred offshore this tiny island – the hypocenter was approximately 166km deep. A 0.5 Hz LP filter has been applied to the extracted seismogram.

Figure 4. January 20, 2023, 22:09 UTC – (Argentina) a very powerful magnitude M6.8 (and deep!) earthquake shook this Country. A 0.5 Hz LP filter has been applied to the extracted seismogram.

Figure 5. January 24, 2023, 18:37 UTC – (Argentina) a strong after-shock (also, deep) earthquake occurred near the main shock’s epicenter. The magnitude M6.4 event caused little to no damage because the epicenter was not nearby populous areas. A 0.8 Hz LP filter has been applied to the extracted seismogram.

This week I had the honor to participate as a Judge for the 2023 SCI://TECH Science Fair — Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, Junior High. This annual competition is organized by the Education for Tomorrow Alliance (EFTA). This year’s focus was to 1. encourage and empower student participants to learn the Scientific Method, and 2. build self-confidence in their presentation skills. Listening and having an engaging dialogue was my top priority – I heard about very interesting investigations – see pics for a sample of the projects I had the pleasure to evaluate. Students’ images and names have been purposefully removed to protect privacy. WHAT A GRAND DAY!

Education for Tomorrow Alliance engages the business community with local private and public schools, offering 13 science, technology, engineering, and math competitions and events. Run as a partnership of EFTA volunteers and local educators, the SCI://TECH Exposition includes one of the largest regional science fairs in the nation reaching thousands of students each year and qualifying students to compete in the Science & Engineering Fair of Houston, as well as state and international competitions. 

OFFSHORE OREGON – yesterday, Jan 11, 2023 at 10:17 UTC, a magnitude M5.0 earthquake occurred offshore Oregon. No felt shaking has been reported yet. The hypocenter was shallow at 10 km depth. Observations at RS Station R5DDF in Spring, TX that the event was not detected – with confidence. See the extracted seismogram below – a 0.2 to 0.8 Hz BP filter has been applied.

THE DATA APPEARS TO BE “MISSING” ….WHY IS THIS INTERESTING? So glad you asked 😉 Scientific theories are built on (1) what we think we know, (2) what we don’t know and (3) how much we don’t know that which we don’t know 😆 In other words, we can make reasonable deductions and inferences about the Earth when we **don’t** detect earthquakes – they enable us to ask the “WHY?” questions…. why weren’t the seismic waves detected at my location? why is the Earth filtering out the signal? why wasn’t shaking felt onshore? And many more inquiries – I believe that it is far more fascinating to ask the “WHY?” questions when data is “missing” (is it really missing?).

Understanding boundary conditions in a scientific inquiry is just as important as discovering the obvious phenomena.

#curiostykilledthegeophysicist
#whereismywiggle, #whatsthatwiggle

INDONESIA – A significant magnitude M7.6 earthquake occurred yesterday offshore Indonesia. It was recorded very well at RS Station R5DDF in Spring, TX. Shown below is the extracted seismogram using a LP 0.5

Shaking was felt across Indonesia and in Australia.

I thoroughly enjoy listening to students excitedly, nervously tell their Science or Math story – come join me as a judge at SCITECH Science and Math Fair on Jan 26, 27th. Be prepared for 1000s of students – all bubbling with eagerness to share what they are discovering or investigating. They need us to encourage their curiosity and build their confidence – and we should! Communities thrive when we support each other – click on the link below and join the fun!

Ps – you will be thoroughly exhausted, but feel incredibly hopeful after a long day with these kiddos. It’s 💯 percent worth the exhaustion – just wear comfy shoes

https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MTYxMTkw?#=

A large, preliminary magnitude M6.4 #earthquake occurred this morning, 12/20/2022 at 10:34 UTC, in Northern #California. The event was detected and partially recorded here in Spring, TX, at #RaspberryShake Station #R5DDF.

ShakeAlert – the Early Earthquake Warning System for the Western US – was activated and **did** send out shaking alerts to all registered community members within the anticipated higher-intensity locations. See the images below for the preliminary report found on the USGS website.

DYFI (Did you feel it?) Report your shaking experience and observations to the USGS, go here –>> https://earthquake.usgs.gov/…/nc73821036/dyfi/intensity

A Texas-sized [moderately sized, really] magnitude M5.4 #earthquake occurred on Friday, December 16, 2022 at 23:35 UTC in West #Texas. The epicenter was located proximal to Midland/Odessa (see map, below). The event was detected and partially recorded here in Spring, TX, at #RaspberryShake Station #R5DDF.

DYFI?? Hey Texans – did you feel that shaking?? Report it here –>> https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/tx2022yplg/dyfi/intensity

FANTASTIC DAY teaching with my best girl!

“Shake It Up”….. build the unbreakable building and reduce shaking from an EARTHQUAKE !

Which candy do you think builds the strongest building? What does “strong” mean?

#GirlsInSTEM, #girlStart, #AliefISD

Join TXESP for the annual G-L-O-B-A-L “ShakeOut” – and Earthquake Awareness and Preparedness Event – contact us on txesp.org if you would like to participate in our earthquake drill (in-person on online!)