Puzzling earthquake swarm near Noatak still in progress, northern Alaska

A puzzling swarm of earthquakes which started on April 18, 2014, in northern Alaska is still in progress. USGS recorded two strong and shallow earthquakes – M 5.8 at 12:00 and M 5.7 at 12:01 UTC today – about 25 km ENE of the village of Noatak.
According to USGS, there were six M5+ quakes around Noatak since April 18, 2014: M 5.6 @ 23.4 km and M 5.3 @ 33 km on April 18; M 5.5 @ 0.9 km on May 3; M 5.5 @ 16.4 km on June 7; M 5.8 @ 15.7 km and M 5.7 @ 16 km on June 16.
They have been accompanied by more than 250 “unusually vigorous” aftershocks, Mike West, a seismologist with the Alaska Earthquake Center, said. "They all have the same cause; the same fault motion, and they occur in more or less the same place,” he said.
West said vigorous aftershocks are not uncommon, but normally they simmer down over time. The fact that this series of shakes is not losing strength is part of the reason scientists are referring to the occurrences as a swarm, rather than a sequence.
Earthquakes relieve pressure in the earth, and because these strong quakes and aftershocks are still happening, that tells experts that the stress was not fully relieved with the first set of quakes.
“In an area like Noatak, this is very unusual behavior,” West said.
Swarms are more common around volcanoes and geothermal sites, but since there are neither in the area in question, West said seismologists are scratching their heads trying to find a comparable episode in mainland Alaska. (Alaska Dispatch)
"Although earthquakes near Noatak are rare, they are not unprecedented," Natalia Ruppert, another seismologist with the Alaska Earthquake Center, said citing a 5.5 earthquake near Noatak in 1981. (GI – Alaska)
Map showing all earthquakes near Noatak from May 16 – June 16, 2014. Image credit: USGS
- 3.12014-06-16 12:28:57 UTC5.4 km
- 3.12014-06-16 12:23:07 UTC21.3 km
- 5.72014-06-16 12:01:08 UTC24.2 km
- 5.82014-06-16 12:00:33 UTC15.7 km
- 3.12014-06-16 11:38:41 UTC17.0 km
- 3.22014-06-14 16:21:05 UTC18.4 km
- 2.92014-06-14 14:22:25 UTC20.6 km
- 2.82014-06-14 10:38:11 UTC21.8 km
- 2.72014-06-13 18:20:43 UTC34.7 km
- 2.72014-06-13 13:48:45 UTC22.6 km
- 2.72014-06-12 00:47:54 UTC9.8 km
- 2.62014-06-10 11:24:09 UTC12.1 km
- 2.92014-06-09 13:50:31 UTC34.5 km
- 2.82014-06-09 03:50:12 UTC10.8 km
- 3.62014-06-08 02:23:32 UTC24.9 km
- 3.12014-06-07 22:18:46 UTC13.6 km
- 2.52014-06-07 16:54:44 UTC15.2 km
- 4.02014-06-07 14:33:43 UTC24.2 km
- 3.22014-06-07 11:53:11 UTC15.9 km
- 3.42014-06-07 10:57:51 UTC34.0 km
- 3.12014-06-07 10:35:21 UTC22.4 km
- 2.62014-06-07 10:30:42 UTC6.7 km
- 2.92014-06-07 09:56:12 UTC0.0 km
- 3.22014-06-07 09:45:54 UTC1.0 km
- 3.52014-06-07 08:59:11 UTC20.8 km
- 3.12014-06-07 08:48:45 UTC9.6 km
- 2.72014-06-07 08:30:59 UTC8.7 km
- 2.72014-06-07 07:59:47 UTC8.1 km
- 2.62014-06-07 07:33:03 UTC2.1 km
- 3.92014-06-07 07:07:50 UTC4.4 km
- 2.62014-06-07 06:41:00 UTC5.0 km
- 3.72014-06-07 06:12:20 UTC14.5 km
- 2.52014-06-07 05:15:24 UTC27.8 km
- 2.92014-06-07 05:10:03 UTC40.8 km
- 2.82014-06-07 05:09:40 UTC23.8 km
- 2.72014-06-07 05:06:13 UTC0.0 km
- 5.52014-06-07 04:43:33 UTC16.4 km
- 3.02014-06-07 03:35:23 UTC21.8 km
- 4.42014-06-07 03:13:59 UTC20.2 km
- 3.52014-06-04 11:07:30 UTC10.5 km
- 3.22014-06-03 16:27:14 UTC14.8 km
- 2.62014-06-03 10:06:53 UTC13.6 km
- 4.22014-06-03 04:08:33 UTC12.3 km
- 4.02014-06-02 20:32:14 UTC14.9 km
- 4.72014-05-30 06:27:32 UTC14.9 km
- 2.62014-05-29 19:59:42 UTC14.6 km
- 3.12014-05-28 10:44:46 UTC11.5 km
- 3.02014-05-24 22:02:17 UTC11.9 km
- 2.92014-05-24 07:01:28 UTC20.3 km
- 3.72014-05-22 23:41:43 UTC20.8 km
- 3.12014-05-22 19:02:12 UTC22.2 km
- 2.72014-05-22 13:34:27 UTC26.9 km
- 3.22014-05-22 05:31:59 UTC10.3 km
- 2.62014-05-21 01:59:01 UTC26.0 km
- 2.82014-05-20 08:12:09 UTC16.3 km
- 2.52014-05-20 08:08:42 UTC13.7 km
- 2.92014-05-20 02:30:06 UTC14.9 km
- 2.92014-05-18 16:46:37 UTC10.1 km
- 2.62014-05-17 15:12:47 UTC10.2 km
Featured image credit: USGS
If you value what we do here, create your ad-free account and support our journalism.
Producing content you read on this website takes a lot of time, effort, and hard work. If you value what we do here, select the level of your support and register your account.
Your support makes this project fully self-sustainable and keeps us independent and focused on the content we love to create and share.
All our supporters can browse the website without ads, allowing much faster speeds and a clean interface. Your comments will be instantly approved and you’ll have a direct line of communication with us from within your account dashboard. You can suggest new features and apps and you’ll be able to use them before they go live.
You can choose the level of your support.
Stay kind, vigilant and ready!
You can also support us by sending us a one-off payment using PayPal:
They are a lot of earthquakes going on every where. In Oklahoma it's been having a lot of activity. I think that is kind of strange for that area. Is all this leading up to something big ?