Mag 5.0 - 49km N of Boudinar, Morocco

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around a series of recent earthquakes in the Mediterranean region, particularly near Boudinar, Morocco. Participants share information about specific seismic events, their magnitudes, locations, and impacts, while also exploring the implications of increased seismic activity in the area.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants note the unusual occurrence of a M5.0 earthquake near Boudinar, Morocco, and mention a series of seismic events in the region over recent weeks.
  • Others highlight a stronger earthquake of M6.3 that occurred on January 25, 2016, discussing its impacts, including casualties and damage in nearby areas.
  • Several participants provide links to public information sources and data on the earthquakes, suggesting that basic Spanish is sufficient to understand the content.
  • There are mentions of additional earthquakes, including a M5.3 and a M5.2, occurring shortly after the initial discussion, indicating a potential swarm of seismic activity.
  • Some express concern about the preparedness of coastal areas in the Mediterranean for larger earthquakes, referencing historical events and current building codes in Spain.
  • A participant questions whether the recent uptick in seismic activity suggests the possibility of a larger earthquake occurring soon.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that there has been an increase in seismic activity in the region, but there is no consensus on the implications of this activity or the likelihood of future larger earthquakes. Multiple viewpoints are presented regarding preparedness and historical context.

Contextual Notes

Some discussions reference the rarity of large tsunamis in the Mediterranean and the historical context of significant earthquakes, indicating a complex relationship between seismic activity and regional preparedness.

Astronuc
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M5.0 - 49km N of Boudinar, Morocco
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us10004ubk#general_region

Wow - it's not often one sees an earthquake of that magnitude in that part of the Mediterranean!

2016-03-03 11:36:27 (UTC)

49km (30mi) N of Boudinar, Morocco
54km (34mi) NE of Tirhanimine, Morocco
57km (35mi) NNE of Imzourene, Morocco
64km (40mi) WNW of Melilla, Spain
174km (108mi) ESE of Gibraltar, Gibraltar

Lat 35.593 °N, Long 3.542 °W
depth = 10.0 km (6.2 mi)
 
Astronuc said:
Wow - it's not often one sees an earthquake of that magnitude in that part of the Mediterranean!

it's been one of a bursts of events in that spot over the last few weeks
Starting with a M5.1 on the 22/2

Quakes western Mediterranean.JPG
 
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BTW, since I'm not seeing it in this forum, the strongest one was on Jan 25th 2016 at 04:22AM GMT, epicenter 35.6004 -3.8056, "scored" 6.3 Mw:

https://www.ign.es/ign/layoutIn/sismoDetalleTerremotos.do?locale=es&evid=1362673&zona=1

Further info:

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terremoto_del_mar_de_Alborán_de_2016

It killed 1 person in Morocco and was felt in large areas of Andalucía (including Almería, Málaga, Granada and even Córdoba), as well as in the Spanish territory of Melilla, where it (slightly) wounded 26 people and caused minor damage. Definitely unusual.
 
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xpell said:
BTW, since I'm not seeing it in this forum, the strongest one was on Jan 25th 2016 at 04:22AM GMT, epicenter 35.6004 -3.8056, "scored" 6.3 Mw:

https://www.ign.es/ign/layoutIn/sismoDetalleTerremotos.do?locale=es&evid=1362673&zona=1

Further info:

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terremoto_del_mar_de_Alborán_de_2016

It killed 1 person in Morocco and was felt in large areas of Andalucía (including Almería, Málaga, Granada and even Córdoba), as well as in the Spanish territory of Melilla, where it (slightly) wounded 26 people and caused minor damage. Definitely unusual.
Thanks for indicating this. So activity has picked up in this area, this year.

M6.3 - 50km NNE of Al Hoceima, Morocco
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us10004gy9#general_region
One person died from a heart attack at Al Hoceima and minor damage to some buildings at Nador, Morocco. Felt (VI) at Imzouren; (V) at Fes and Nador; (III) at Casablanca and Tetouan. Felt from El Jadida to Oujda and from Tangier to Fes. At least 26 people injured, several buildings damaged and telephone communications and electricity disrupted at Ciudad de Melilla, Spain. Felt (V) at Ciudad de Melilla; (IV) at Almeria, Nerja and Torremolinos; (III) at Benahavis, Fuengirola, Malaga and Marbella. Felt from Huelva to Almeria and from Jaen to La Linea. Felt (III) in Gibraltar.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/tectonic/images/mediterranean_tsum.pdf

I wonder if we should expect a larger earthquake in the vicinity in the near term. Are the coastal areas and nations of Mediterranean region prepared?
 
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  • #10
Before the two today

Code: 
time,                        lat  ,   long  , depth, mag
2016-03-11 T04:16:48.030Z, 35.7334,  -3.5836,    10, 5.3
2016-03-09 T23:46:07.720Z, 35.6823,  -3.553 ,    10, 4.9
2016-03-03 T11:36:27.760Z, 35.5933,  -3.5422,    10, 5
2016-02-28 T11:03:17.630Z, 35.5718,  -3.5728, 11.72, 4.3
2016-02-23 T10:12:33.000Z, 35.7094,  -3.5584,    10, 4.7
2016-02-23 T08:46:01.010Z, 35.6866,  -3.6285,    10, 4.8
2016-02-22 T04:14:30.100Z, 35.7366,  -3.5222,    10, 4.6
2016-02-22 T03:46:02.450Z, 35.735 ,  -3.5106,    10, 5.1
2016-02-08 T11:21:43.780Z, 35.3652,  -3.8782,  8.47, 4.2
2016-02-03 T21:27:49.390Z, 35.6091,  -3.7462,    10, 4
2016-02-01 T23:50:48.860Z, 35.4566,  -3.8528,    10, 4.2
2016-01-31 T16:25:27.440Z, 36.5911,  -3.0498,    10, 4.9
2016-01-29 T01:16:20.570Z, 35.4263,  -3.8032,    10, 4.1
2016-01-28 T19:48:51.410Z, 35.474 ,  -3.8039,    10, 4.5
2016-01-27 T21:57:49.590Z, 35.5796,  -3.7851,    10, 4.3
2016-01-27 T06:32:08.060Z, 35.6926,  -3.578 ,    10, 4.9
2016-01-26 T04:35:59.240Z, 35.5265,  -3.6992,    10, 4.5
2016-01-26 T01:16:45.990Z, 35.4901,  -3.9411,   1.2, 4.1
2016-01-25 T18:17:33.430Z, 35.5892,  -3.7684,    10, 4.1
2016-01-25 T16:02:43.560Z, 35.5363,  -3.7839,    10, 4.3
2016-01-25 T14:52:42.740Z, 35.739 ,  -3.5856,    10, 4.9
2016-01-25 T11:29:23.070Z, 35.4901,  -3.7475, 21.43, 4.4
2016-01-25 T08:25:06.100Z, 35.5453,  -3.6703,    10, 4.7
2016-01-25 T08:15:29.050Z, 35.6955,  -3.6741,    10, 4.1
2016-01-25 T07:55:15.780Z, 35.4917,  -3.8394,    10, 4.2
2016-01-25 T06:10:41.960Z, 35.5051,  -3.8783,    10, 5.2
2016-01-25 T05:54:05.460Z, 35.4764,  -3.7734,    10, 5.1
2016-01-25 T05:37:11.890Z, 35.4992,  -3.8211,    10, 4.2
2016-01-25 T05:03:46.300Z, 35.6749,  -3.7449,    10, 4.7
2016-01-25 T04:34:19.170Z, 35.6805,  -3.723 ,    10, 5.3
2016-01-25 T04:30:55.190Z, 35.5953,  -3.8166,    10, 5
2016-01-25 T04:22:02.730Z, 35.6493,  -3.6818,    12, 6.3
2016-01-21 T13:47:19.860Z, 35.6236,  -3.65  ,    10, 5.1

January had a swarm, particularly after the mag 6.3. Is it picking up again?
 
  • #11
Astronuc said:
Thanks for indicating this. So activity has picked up in this area, this year.

You're very welcome. :smile: Yes, it seems so. While 6.3 Mw earthquakes are not so rare onshore, I am not aware of anyone else so powerful in the Alboran Sea, much less "lasting" for over 6 weeks.

Astronuc said:
I wonder if we should expect a larger earthquake in the vicinity in the near term. Are the coastal areas and nations of Mediterranean region prepared?

Here in Spain we have had quite extensive seismo-resistant building codes for ages, especially enforced in the South and Southeast, which are well-known seismic areas. On the opposite, since large tsunamis are exceedingly rare in this side of the Mediterranean (the last major one happened about 11,500 years ago as a result of a submarine landslide), there's no preparedness that I'm aware of (which is quite frightening in the Atlantic side of Gibraltar, the scenario of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and tsunami originated in the AGFZ... it killed people in coastal Cádiz and Huelva too. Those areas were not very populated back then, but now they sure are, and there're lots of industry too. Even the Rota Naval Base is there.)

The deadliest earthquake in Spain in recent times was in Lorca (inner Murcia) in 2011, killing 9 and causing kind-of-extensive damage (depending on zones and especially in historical buildings), but only because it was a bit strange: very shallow (barely 1 km) with the epicenter about 3-4 km from the city center and a weird horizontal "slipping" component; its actual magnitude was just Mw=5.1. We have had way more powerful earthquakes in Southern Spain (like a 6.3 Mw in Albuñuelas, Granada, on April 11th 2010, and it caused zero damage or injuries. Same in Isla Cristina, Huelva, on December 17th 2009. That Lorca thing was weird, I'm telling you.)

So here in Spain, I'd say yes quite a lot for earthquakes, not at all for large tsunamis, which don't seem to be a probable issue along the entire Mediterranean coastline, but they could be in the Southwestern Atlantic coast. I happen to live in a coastal Mediterranean city, very close to the sea, and I'd sure bet my life running up the stairs of any building ---which will most probably withstand the earthquake--- to flee an incoming tsunami ---which is going to "enter all the way up to the kitchen" as we say here, since there are no defenses--- that seems to be highly improbable except for coastal Cádiz and Huelva. If you can read Spanish, I'd suggest you this article about tsunamis in Spanish and Western Mediterranean waters from a popular science blog which is widely regarded as the best or one of the best ones in Spain: http://www.lapizarradeyuri.com/2014/05/08/big95-el-gran-tsunami-del-mediterraneo-espanol/

I don't know about Portugal, but I have been there a couple of times and at first sight I'd tend to think they will be more or less similarly prepared. On the opposite, I've visited Morocco too and I'm pretty sure that quite a lot of the "popular" buildings there wouldn't withstand a serious earthquake... you just need to see them to realize it. Possibly the newest ones and modern infrastructures will have some built-in seismo-resistance, but I wouldn't bet one single euro for the others. Very much like Algeria, where I have never been, but every time they have a powerful earthquake it seems to kill thousands. --- Actually, I have just checked and the 2004 Al Hoceima earthquake, also a 6.3 Mw, killed around 630 persons and left 15,000 homeless. Notice how similar earthquakes on the Spanish side didn't kill or injure anyone and caused no reported damage, except for that strange Lorca thing.
 
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  • #12
A 4.8 mbLg tonight:

http://www.ign.es/ign/layoutIn/sismoDetalleTerremotos.do?locale=es&evid=ign2016ffom&zona=1

...among many others:

http://www.ign.es/ign/layoutIn/sismoListadoTerremotos.do?locale=es&zona=1&cantidad_dias=5 (notice how many "ALBORÁN SUR" are there.)
 
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  • #13
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  • #14
davenn said:
The M5+ events continue with a M 5.6 a couple of hrs ago

M 5.6 - 63km NNE of Al Hoceima, Morocco

Time: 2016-03-15 04:40:40 UTC
Location: 35.757°N 3.613°W
Depth: 10.0 km
Wow. It's the same earthquake. Here it's been "re-scored" from 4.8 to 5.1 mbLg just a couple minutes ago:

http://www.ign.es/ign/layoutIn/sismoDetalleTerremotos.do?locale=es&evid=ign2016ffom&zona=1
 
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  • #15
xpell said:
Wow. It's the same earthquake. Here it's been "re-scored" to 5.1 mbLg just a couple minutes ago:

http://www.ign.es/ign/layoutIn/sismoDetalleTerremotos.do?locale=es&evid=ign2016ffom&zona=1

Yeah, ... mblg is sort of an oddball magnitude scale
The USGS ( for a quake of that magnitude) will be most likely be using plain Mb ( body wave magnitude)
Altho they would have probably assigned a Mw value for it. Mw magnitudes are generally not the one used
unless the event is in the M6.0 and up size (and it isn't uncommon to see 6.0 - 6.4 events with a Mb listing).Dave
 
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  • #16
davenn said:
Yeah, ... mblg is sort of an oddball magnitude scale
The USGS ( for a quake of that magnitude) will be most likely be using plain Mb ( body wave magnitude)
Altho they would have probably assigned a Mw value for it. Mw magnitudes are generally not the one used
unless the event is in the M6.0 and up size (and it isn't uncommon to see 6.0 - 6.4 events with a Mb listing).

Here they use any http://www.ign.es/ign/head/sismoTipoMagnitud.do , as defined in the http://www.ign.es/ign/layoutIn/sismoListadoTerremotos.do?locale=es&zona=1&cantidad_dias=5 , I guess out of convenience. mbLg seems to be quite used, I don't know why. Later they (usually) reassess the largest ones (5+ or so) and convert the magnitude to Mw.

Definitely we're having a party here during the last weeks in the Alboran Sea.
 
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  • #17
xpell said:
Definitely we're having a party here during the last weeks in the Alboran Sea.

what country are you from ?
 
  • #18
davenn said:
what country are you from ?
Spain, Eastern Mediterranean coast, very close to that old sea of the Western civilization... :wink:
 
  • #19
xpell said:
Spain, Eastern Mediterranean coast, very close to that old sea of the Western civilization... :wink:

wow cool ! :)

Im in Sydney, Australia, but home country is New Zealand ... with the nickname " The shaky Isles"

Dave
 
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  • #20
davenn said:
wow cool ! :)

Im in Sydney, Australia, but home country is New Zealand ... with the nickname " The shaky Isles"

Heck, I've always wanted to discover those "South Seas." :wink: Unfortunately it hasn't been possible... by now! :-p
 
  • #21
well as long as you are still reasonably healthy and can save a few $$, there's always hope :smile:
just in case you were not aware, I run my own seismic station at home. Digitally record 6 channels ( 5 of them are online)
.
http://www.sydneystormcity.com/seismograms.htm

D
 
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  • #22
davenn said:
well as long as you are still reasonably healthy and can save a few $$, there's always hope :smile:
just in case you were not aware, I run my own seismic station at home. Digitally record 6 channels ( 5 of them are online)
.
http://www.sydneystormcity.com/seismograms.htm

D
Added to my bookmarks! :smile:
 
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  • #23
should have also said ... They update every 5 minutes
 
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