Nevada swarm underway near Long-Valley Super Volcano

[GCANE]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ ... 18_eqs.php


Large number of earthquakes have erupted along the border of Nevada and California and just north of the Long Valley Super Volcano.

The strongest quake in the Nevada swarm has been a 4.4 registering at a depth of 13 km yesterday.

This was quickly followed by 3 more moderate quakes.









The Nevada quake swarm is pictured on a California-Nevada map by the USGS with the Long Valley super-volcano caldera at Mammoth Lakes pictured near the lower center.

As can be seen from the map, the Nevada quakes are not erupting along any previously known fault lines which means this could be some seismic activity related to movement of magma within the caldera of the Long Valley volcano.

The Long Valley volcano map gives a comprehensive view of the radius of the caldera and puts it within the range of the current Nevada quake swarm.

[GCANE]

Swarm of Quakes have Experts Concerned

http://www.mynews4.com/story.php?id=41029&n=122

Thursday April 14, 2011 6:28pm PDT

Nevada Seismologists are keeping a close eye on an area southwest of Hawthorn where hundreds of earthquakes have been detected since Sunday.

" It's a little bit concerning in a sense.. The largest earthquakes in these sequences are pretty large in size." Graham Kent is Director of Nevada Seismological Laboratory at the University of Nevada Reno. He says there have been hundreds of earthquakes southwest of Hawthorn over the past few days. The largest-- recorded at a 4.4 in size.

"These are the biggest in a sequence we've seen at least in the last couple of years." Kent says unlike the 2008 quakes in Somersett that damaged so many homes, these earthquakes are fortunately not underneath a community.

Size is not the only reason Kent says they are watching the swarm of quakes closely. The location of these quakes is on top of a fault that has until now remained unknown or has not been active. Kent then made an eerie comparison, "Whats really interesting about most of these earthquakes we've experienced. Short of the Chilean and Japanese; Haiti, Baha, even Christchurch.. Were on unknown faults.

But Kent says just because those devastating quakes happened on un-named faults does not mean that the series of quakes near Hawthorn will lead to a big quake there. Reno, Carson City and the Las Vegas valley all lie on top of fault lines. And right now, there is no way to predict where the next big quake will occur.

"That's yet another reason why you don't want to look at the map and go phew, I'm safe. We're in earthquake country and so we have to be prepared.

[GCANE]

Looks like the quakes are moving to the SW towards Mono Lake and the Caldera

http://www.seismo.unr.edu/Earthquake

[brunota2003]

Hopefully both this volcano and Yellowstone remain quiet.

[GCANE]

Dr Erik Klemetti comments on Nevada Swarm:

http://bigthink.com/blogs/eruptions



Nevada: I know many of you have been watching the earthquake swarm near Hawthorne, Nevada with some interest.

There have been over 400 earthquakes near the Nevada town over the last few weeks and no one is quite sure what the source of the seismicity might be.

There is the interesting coincident that the focus of the swarm is near the Aurora Volcanic Field - however, Graham Kent from the director of the Nevada Seismological Lab at the University of Nevada, Reno, doesn't think a volcanic eruption is likely (note: the Nevada TV station for this link decided to post video from "Volcano" with the story...sigh.)

Even if there was an eruption, it would likely be something small, such as a small cinder core or fissure lava flow based on the previous activity at the Aurora Field, which hasn't been active for 250,000 years.

However, that being said, Nevada is still a volcanically-active state, with a number of locations that could see new volcanic activity.

Also, Nevada has seen many earthquake swarms over the past few years, and none have lead to volcanic activity - that is like in the Basin and Range province.

[GCANE]

Nevada Earthquake Swarm, Precursor?

http://aussieprepare.wordpress.com/2011 ... ain-times/




Hundreds upon hundreds of earthquakes have suddenly rumbled beneath an area 6 miles to the southwest of Hawthorne, Nevada, just during the past few days. Seismologists are expressing concern of this sudden activity partially because it is occurring on a previously unknown fault – similar to what happened not long ago in New Zealand, Chile, Haiti, Baha, and Japan.


Having a look at the entire list of earthquakes at the Nevada Seismological Laboratory, most of the depths are approximately in the 3 – 10km range, more or less. The USGS list indicates depths closer to 15km while the USGS list itself has recorded only a fraction of the total number of earthquakes reported at the University of Nevada site.

The location is curiously close to a dormant Super Volcano, Long Valley – California, just 45 miles away. In fact there is a string of volcanoes there, Mono Lake volcanic field – Mono Craters, Long Valley, Inyo Craters, and Mammoth Mountain. The region has a rich history of volcanic activity including planet wide consequences such as when Long Valley covered most of the western United States in thick ash.