RSS
Home
Oregon coast 5.3 earthquake Nov. 4, 2009
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Earthquake
A 5.3 magnitude earthquake shook the south Oregon coast this morning. The quake was 120 miles off the coast and ten miles deep in the Juan de Fuca Plate.
What makes this earthquake particularly interesting is its proximity to hundreds of earthquakes recorded here in past years. At least eight swarms of earthquake groupings have occurred since the 1980’s, likely indicating volcanic activity, not simply plate movement. Resources have been diverted to study these unusual events.
The Juan de Fuca plate slides beneath the North American plate in the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the Oregon coast. This is the source of the greatest known earthquake danger in the Pacific Northwest, and known to have produced a magnitude 9 earthquake in the year 1700. That earthquake triggered a tsunami which reached as far as Japan.
No tsunami or damage was reported with today’s event.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
