Today, 09/23/2017, two additional large earthquakes occurred in the early morning to shake the already damaged southern Mexico and it’s capitol (Mexico City). Station E1TX in Spring, TX detected and recorded these earthquakes; the first earthquake (“A”), magnitude 5.7/5.8, happened at 10:33hrs UTC (5:33am CST) and the more powerful second M6.1 earthquake (“B”) at 12:53hrs UTC (7:53am CST). Read more about the impact of increased damages and losses HERE and HERE.
In addition to the earlier magnitude 5.6 earthquake in Mexico, California experienced its own magnitude 5.7 earthquake. It occurred at 19:50hrs UTC at a depth of 15.1km deep. The event was approximately 27 polar deg (or 1900 miles) away from Station E1TX. Shown below in one interpretation of the wave forms and their associated arrival times in Spring, TX.
Station E1TX records many earthquakes with epicenters in/offshore Mexico due to our close proximity. Most of the seismograms from these events have similar patterns and it is possible to consistently interpret in the same manner. With this week’s devastating and damaging M7.1 earthquake near Mexico City, we thought it would be useful to compare two Mexican earthquake events and compare the wave forms (1) observed and (2) arrival times for consistency in our own interpretations.
Good Morning from Spring, TX. As you have noticed, Station E1TX has not been broadcasting for almost two weeks. We have been troubleshooting the IT issue for some time, and we are narrowing down the problem. In the meantime, to watch near real-time seismograms HERE. click on a station and it will display the seismograph recording at that location.
While we were sleeping, a very large magnitude 8.1 (Mww) / 7.2 (mb) earthquake hit near Pijijiapan, Mexico. The event occurred at 04:49 hrs UTC (12:49 pm CST) at a depth of 70kms. The depth of this event suggests it occurred in a subducting plate of a tectonically complex region —>> READ HERE.
Damage reports are preliminary and are expected to increase in severity, READ MORE HERE.
At 02:26hrs UTC on 09/08/2017 a magnitude 3.9 (mb) earthquake occurred in Medford, OK; the event was recorded here in Spring, TX as a nice image to identify different seismic wave phases. Stations such as E1TX which are close to the recorded earthquake generally observe many wave phases very close in temporal space. Shown is this example from the Medford, OK event (~7 polar degrees away); also shown is one interpretation of seismic waves and their travel times [to as recording station:
Hurricane Irma has hit Barbuda and left nothing but devastation on this island. In the last 12 hours, Station E1TX began picking up H. Irma on the seismograph, and here is the latest images of the ground motion occurring in Spring, TX in response to Irma’s current location. Reports of damages also shown below.
This afternoon a significant increase in the amplitude and frequency of seismic background energy recorded at E1TX was observed. Is this due to the approaching Hurricane Irma storm?
