Dr. Judith Hubbard

@judithgeology.bsky.social

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Plate tectonics to earthquakes & everything in between. Currently Visiting Asst Prof @CornellEAS; prev @ EOS_SG, Caltech, Harvard. Mom (x3). Read my earthquake newsletter: earthquakeinsights.substack.com

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🧪 ⚒️ A curious swarm of earthquakes has been rattling offshore Vancouver Island. Yesterday, a M6.4 earthquake struck in the middle of the swarm. What's going on, and is it unusual? Read our latest blog post to find out more: earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/swarm-offs...

Swarm offshore Vancouver Island punctuated by M6.4 earthquakeearthquakeinsights.substack.com A combination of oceanic transforms and a small deforming plate makes M6+ earthquakes common here

🧪 ⚒️ No one felt the M6.7 earthquake that struck 2000 km south of South Africa today (except maybe some whales). What do we know about faults below this remote part of the Southern Ocean anyway? Read more on our blog: earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/m67-earthq...

M6.7 earthquake strikes between South Africa and Antarcticaearthquakeinsights.substack.com A remote but fairly large transform fault earthquake beneath the Southern Ocean

🧪 ⚒️ A M7.2 earthquake struck southern Peru last night, causing minor damage. The quake was preceded by foreshock activity since June 16. History tells us that many much larger, more damaging earthquakes have occurred here - and will again. Read more on our blog:

M7.2 earthquake in southern Peru causes minor damageearthquakeinsights.substack.com Preceded by foreshock activity starting on June 16

🧪 ⚒️ A M6 earthquake shook Venezuela and nearby areas last night. The quake occurred in a deep, dense cluster of seismicity at the edge of the subduction zone. Why so many earthquakes here, and how do they compare to the strike-slip faults above? Read more on our blog:

M6 earthquake beneath northern Venezuela was felt up to 700 km awayearthquakeinsights.substack.com Part of a dense, deep cluster of seismicity associated with a lithospheric tear

🧪 ⚒️ A M4.3 earthquake rattled northern California yesterday. The quake occurred at the northern end of the Maacama fault - a "sister" to the San Andreas. We take a look at the geological setting. Read more on our blog: earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/m43-earthq...

M4.3 earthquake on Maacama Fault rattles Northern Californiaearthquakeinsights.substack.com An evolving fault that both creeps and quakes

🧪 ⚒️ A new Nature paper makes a surprising claim about why some faults slide all the time, while others get stuck. Lee et al. (2024) propose that local fault network geometry helps solve the creep puzzle. We deep-dive the paper, and disagree. Read more on our blog.

Why are some faults so creepy?earthquakeinsights.substack.com We dive into a new Nature paper that makes a surprising claim about why some faults slide all the time, while others get stuck.

🧪 ⚒️ A M5.8 earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula of Japan yesterday. This was the site of a deadly M7.5 quake on Jan 1 - and also the site of an enigmatic seismic swarm since 2021. Was this an aftershock? Or part of the swarm? Read more on our blog: earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/m58-earthq...

M5.8 earthquake strikes Noto Peninsula, Japanearthquakeinsights.substack.com An aftershock, or another event emerging from the swarm?

🧪 ⚒️ A M5.9 earthquake just struck offshore Sumatra, Indonesia. This was a subduction event, right in the gap between the great earthquakes of 2004 & 2005. Records from ancient corals suggest that earthquake ruptures have stopped here before. Read more on our blog:

M5.9 earthquake shakes Simeulue, Indonesiaearthquakeinsights.substack.com A moderate event in a gap between two recent great earthquakes

🧪⚒️ A M5.1 earthquake shook the Indonesian islands of Lombok and Bali in the afternoon of May 14. People evacuated their homes - probably remembering the twin M6.9 earthquakes that struck in 2018. This quake seems to be an aftershock of that sequence. Read more on our blog:

M5.1 earthquake shakes Indonesian islands of Bali and Lombokearthquakeinsights.substack.com Possible aftershock of the 2018 M6.9+M6.9 earthquake doublet

🧪⚒️ A M4.9 earthquake struck northern Baja California yesterday - right below the massive Cierro Prieto geothermal field. Why does the flat Mexicali Valley sit above such hot rocks, and why is it so seismically active? Read more about this tectonic rift system on our blog, Earthquake Insights.

M4.9 earthquake at the Cierro Prieto geothermal field, Baja California, Mexicoearthquakeinsights.substack.com A moderate earthquake in a huge geothermal energy field

🧪⚒️ A M6.4 earthquake shook the western border region of Mexico and Guatemala this morning, causing some building damage. Earthquakes here are common, courtesy of the underlying subduction zone. This one occurred because the sinking slab is bending and breaking. Read more on our blog.

M6.4 earthquake shakes coast of Mexico, Guatemalaearthquakeinsights.substack.com Normal-mechanism event in the sinking Cocos slab at the Middle America Trench

🧪⚒️ A pair of earthquakes (M5.6, M5.4) shook Taiwan today, in the area that produced an intense seismic swarm on April 22, following the M7.4 Hualien earthquake. Is the swarm is starting up again? We think probably not. earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/m56-m54-ea...

M5.6, M5.4 earthquakes strike south of Hualien, Taiwanearthquakeinsights.substack.com A possible reinvigoration of the swarm? Maybe not.

🧪⚒️ A M5.7 earthquake shook the Philippine islands of Leyte and Samar within the last day, likely felt by >13 million people. Tectonically, it was a curious event, not matching either of the nearby major faults. Read more on our blog: earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/m57-earthq...

M5.7 earthquake in the Leyte Gulf, Philippinesearthquakeinsights.substack.com Enigmatic event in an already complicated tectonic region

The aftershock sequence in Taiwan has been decaying steadily since April 3 - until today. Twelve M5+ earthquakes, all concentrated near the southern tip of the M7.4 earthquake. What does this mean for hazard? Read our latest post on Earthquake Insights:

Seismic swarm near southern tip of April 3 M7.4 in Taiwanearthquakeinsights.substack.com Disquieting seismic sequence raises questions about evolving hazard

🧪⚒️ A M5.6 earthquake struck central Turkey today. The quake was *not* related to the Feb. 6 2023 quakes - it was too far north. This is the largest earthquake in the area is >25 years, although much larger events have occurred in the past. Read more:

Central Turkey shaken by unusual M5.6 earthquakeearthquakeinsights.substack.com Not related to the major earthquakes on Feb. 6, 2023

🧪⚒️ Did you know that nearly 100 aftershocks have been recorded since the M4.8 earthquake that struck New Jersey on April 5? Actually, many more have occurred but went undetected. 1/

🧪⚒️ A M6.4 earthquake shook southern Japan today. Japan is a busy place, tectonically speaking - and the Bungo Channel is no different. The Nankai subduction zone here hosts all kinds of fascinating fault behaviors; this new quake (likely intraslab) fits right in. Read more on our blog:

Southern Japan shaken by M6.4 earthquakeearthquakeinsights.substack.com A new earthquake joins the menagerie of Bungo Channel seismicity

Reposted by

Dr. Judith Hubbard

Earthquake prediction would be nice, but still not possible... A look between science & pseudoscience: #philsci #hpgeo earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/earthquake...

⚒️🧪 If earthquake precursor signals were real, they would literally change how humans interact with this deadly hazard. But somehow, every time we investigate one, it doesn't hold up. All of these posts are free to read on our blog, Earthquake Insights: earthquakeinsights.substack.com/t/permafree

Earthquake precursors? Not so fast.earthquakeinsights.substack.com Real, useful, or wishful thinking? Let's deep-dive the paper.

⚒️🧪 Do tides affect earthquakes? In our fourth post in this series, we take a look at whether seismic tidalicity is a warning signal of an upcoming large earthquake. (TL;DR: No.) earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/the-great-...

The great tidal earthquake hypothesis test part IV: Can tides warn us of upcoming large earthquakes?earthquakeinsights.substack.com We re-examine claims of precursory tidal triggering before large earthquakes.

Reposted by

Dr. Judith Hubbard

Fascinating read. I’m not a geologist, but this article was easy to understand

Did you feel the M4.8 earthquake in New Jersey? Read our analysis of the event in our latest post. We look at why the earthquake was so widely felt, and what fault may have been responsible. earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/m48-new-je... ⚒️🧪

M4.8 New Jersey earthquake shakes New Englandearthquakeinsights.substack.com Largest earthquake in the region in 140 years

I'm seeing a lot of people state that this earthquake occurred on the Ramapo fault. We actually think it probably occurred on the Flemington fault - the Ramapo fault is further to the southeast, and the orientation also doesn't match. That being said, there are still plenty of uncertainties. ⚒️🧪

M4.8 New Jersey earthquake shakes New Englandearthquakeinsights.substack.com Largest earthquake in the region in 140 years

Magnitude 4 aftershock! earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...

M4.8 New Jersey earthquake shakes New Englandearthquakeinsights.substack.com Largest earthquake in the region in 140 years

The M4.8 earthquake that just struck New Jersey is the largest event in the catalog for this map area. Seeing huge numbers of felt reports! Typically, East Coast quakes are felt over wider areas than West Coast ones due to the older, stronger bedrock, which transmits energy more efficiently.

Woah! M4.8 earthquake in New Jersey. earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/... If you live in the area, fill out a Did-You-Feel-It response!

Reposted by

Dr. Judith Hubbard

Reply to

lastquake.bsky.social

⚠Preliminary info: M5.5 #earthquake (#sismo) about 20 mi W of North Plainfield (New Jersey) 3 min ago (local time 10:23:19). Updates at: 📱https://www.emsc-csem.org/lastquake/how_it_works/lastquake_app/ 🌐https://m.emsc.eu 🖥https://www.emsc-csem.org

Reposted by

Dr. Judith Hubbard

"Basically, Taiwan is the geological equivalent of a car crash at a busy intersection, at highway speeds." "Although every earthquake comes as a surprise to some extent, this is actually a very expected earthquake."

⚒️🧪 A deadly M7.4 earthquake struck Taiwan yesterday - the largest event in over 20 years. We take a deeper look at the science behind Taiwan's tectonics and seismicity in our latest post. earthquakeinsights.substack.com/p/deadly-m74...

Deadly M7.4 earthquake strikes Taiwanearthquakeinsights.substack.com Largest event in the country in over 20 years

Reposted by

Dr. Judith Hubbard

If you are interested in earthquakes, I highly recommend Judith Hubbard and Kyle Bradley's earthquake newsletter: earthquakeinsights.substack.com/about

Deadly M7.4 earthquake strikes Taiwanearthquakeinsights.substack.com Largest event in the country in over 20 years