Physics
Scientific paper
May 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004agusm.s23a..04g&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2004, abstract #S23A-04
Physics
7299 General Or Miscellaneous
Scientific paper
Although it would be lunacy to claim that all earthquakes are triggered by the motions of the Moon and Sun, there are certain circumstances where these celestial bodies might play a role. This would especially be the case where pre-existing, nearly vertical zones of weakness are present and, hence, the solid-earth tidal stresses would have maximum effect. I have investigated two possible areas: i) the Charlevoix seismic region of Québec along the St. Lawrence River and )ii the San Andreas and Calaveras Faults in California. In the Charlevoix region there a few suites of earthquakes, recognized by Maurice Lamontagne and lying mainly beneath or at the edge of the St. Lawrence River, in which the events in each suite occur in a relatively small volume of rock and produce similar waveforms characteristic of the particular location involved. This sort of repeated rupturing suggests the possibility of triggering by solid-earth and/or marine tides. In one sequence of 9 events (2 of which are left out of the analysis because they are aftershocks) it appears that there is only about one chance in ten that this sequence occurred at random. Unfortunately, there are no fault-plane solutions for any events in this particular set of earthquakes and so it is difficult to comment on failure mechanisms. However, in the case of the Calaveras and San Andreas Faults of California where fault-plane solutions are often available, if we restrict our attention to the larger, strike-slip earthquakes, it appears that lunar and solar tides (both solid-earth and marine) do, in fact, play a role in the timing of these events and the triggering mechanism may involve the amount of incremental normal stress acting upon these two faults.
No associations
LandOfFree
The Tidal Triggering of Earthquakes Under Certain Circumstances does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with The Tidal Triggering of Earthquakes Under Certain Circumstances, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Tidal Triggering of Earthquakes Under Certain Circumstances will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1178007