Deep 6.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Banda Sea

Posted on August 30, 2011 by The Extinction Protocol

August 30, 2011 - DILI, East Timor – A powerful earthquake hit waters off East Timor on Tuesday, but officials said it was too deep to trigger a tsunami. There were no reports of injuries or damage. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 6.8 -magnitude quake struck 171 miles (276 kilometers) from the capital, Dili, and was centered 300 miles (465 kilometers) beneath the Banda Sea. That was too deep to generate destructive waves, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in an e-mailed statement. Most residents living in Dili said they didn’t feel the quake. “We weren’t even aware,” said Santina Araujo, a mother of two who attending a church gathering with other housewives. “Everything is normal here, no panic or anything.” East Timor is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. –Sac Bee

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8 Responses to Deep 6.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Banda Sea

luisport says:

August 30, 2011 at 10:41 am

Alert level raised for Tambora (!) and Ranakah (Flores/Indonesia) http://portal.vsi.esdm.go.id/

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The Extinction Protocol says:

August 30, 2011 at 6:27 pm

The Atlantic seafloor is spreading, the Pacific Ocean is converging and 6 magma plumes in the Pacific Ocean, three in the South Pacific. This region will be subject to catastrophic turbulence during these changes and many of the islands will be lost.

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luisport says:

August 30, 2011 at 6:30 pm

The start of the semester always surprises me. No matter how much I think I might be prepared for it, the first day of class ends up being a maelstrom. This year was no different, especially when I intelligently decided to combine the first day of class with the launch of the new Denison University Geosciences Blog – the official blog of the Geosciences Department here. It is mostly curated by me so far, but we’ll be adding new posts as the semester progresses written by students, faculty and majors abroad. And if you’re of that ilk, we even have a Twitter feed (@denisongeos) for the blog.
http://bigthink.com/ideas/39979
Anyway, back to volcanoes! I have a couple brief updates to pass along – probably of information you already know – in this week of changes here on the blog (you’ll see why in about a week). Thanks again to everyone for keeping this place hopping in my absence!

Italy: Etna experienced yet another paroxysm on Monday, making it the 12th of 2011. This event brought a little of everything – lava fountains, lava flows, a plume that dusted the area with ash. The new Southeast crater cone ruptured as well. Remember, these cones are made of loosely consolidated tephra that are prone to these breakouts like we have seen in Hawai`i. As usual, if you want to see great images of the eruption (like the one above), check out Boris Behncke’s Flickr feed – or just watch the stunning collection of videos of the 12th paroxysm!

Niger: I mentioned this on Twitter over the weekend, but have yet to find any other information on a supposed eruption in Niger. Now, this African nation isn’t known for its volcanism – in fact, the GVP database only shows one known active volcanic field in Niger: the Todra volcanic field. I’m not sure what to make of it with such scant information and we’ve seen spurious reports of volcanism in Africa in the past, so until we have more details, file this under “X”.

Indonesia: We have two quick updates in the same article about volcanoes in Indonesia. It appears that Lokon-Empung has seen a decided reduction in activity in the past day or so. The volcano erupted a dozen times on Sunday but only once on Monday and seismicity has declined rapidly as well. Over 200 people still remain in shelters. At Marapi, that Sumatran volcano is still rumbling as well, as it produced a thick, white plume on Monday that reached 100 m over the summit. A 3 km exclusion zone remains around the volcano. I did also run into a new report (thanks to Eruptions reader Martin) of increasing signs of activity at Tambora. The report is in Indonesia, but a Google Translation suggests increased occurrence of small steam plumes and seismic swarms under the famous caldera. The PVMBG has raised the alert status from Level I to II at Tambora to reflect these changes. UPDATE: I’ve added a new post just on this Tambora unrest.

Aviation: Two eruptions on opposite sides of the globe are causing flight disruptions, but in both cases, it is nothing new. Shiveluch in Kamchatka has been erupting vigorously, causing some air traffic over the remote Russian peninsula to be rerouted. Meanwhile, in South America, Buenos Aires continues to feel occasional ash disruptions from Puyehue-Cordón Caulle ash.

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luisport says:

August 30, 2011 at 6:36 pm

Here’s some more great video of yesterday’s paroxysm at Etna:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14712268

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luisport says:

August 30, 2011 at 6:36 pm

http://realtime2.bsch.au.com/vis_sat2.html?region=aus&loop=yes&images=48&allday=&start=&stop=#nav

Tambora is in the upper left corner. No thermals

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Irene Carmichael says:

August 30, 2011 at 7:16 pm

I saw this one and four other quakes in the region when I got on the USGS site today. There was a 5.1 – EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG, PAPUA NEW GUINEA 2011 August 30 15:00:49 UTC;
5.6 – VANUATU 2011 August 29 18:57:39 UTC & 5.1 – VANUATU 2011 August 30 09:26:07 UTC, which I see you have an article on; and a 5.0 – NORTH OF MACQUARIE ISLAND 2011 August 30 11:36:51 UTC. And this doesn’t even mention all the volcanic activity going on.

The Ring of Fire is definitely active and deserves to be watched.

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luisport says:

August 30, 2011 at 8:48 pm

ENENEWS Energy News
29 million bq/m² detected in Okumamachi nearby Fukushima meltdown http://bit.ly/qfDTtt #Fukushima
há 1 minuto » ENENEWS Energy News
Discovery.com: Nuclear reactors to power Mars colonies — “Sadly” biggest hurdle for space fission http://bit.ly/pcUXYM #Fukushima
há 27 minutos

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David says:

August 31, 2011 at 2:37 am

1938 Banda Sea earthquake occurred in the Banda Sea region on February 1, 1938, and was the ninth largest earthquake in the 20th century. It had an estimated magnitude of 8.5 on the Moment magnitude scale, and intensities as high as VII (very strong). It generated Tsunamis of up to 1.5 metres, but no human lives appear to have been lost.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1938_Banda_Sea_earthquake
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banda_Sea

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