Wednesday March 5, 2008, 2:43 pm
Current Earthquake Swarms Could Be Precursor to 'Cascadia Subduction' Mega Quake

by Mitch Battros - Earth Changes Media

Something is happening deep beneath the Earth's crust. There are currently three very active earthquake swarms occurring along the Pacific Rim. It would appear something "big" is brewing. If geological teams from the US, Italy, Germany, and Japan are correct in their suspicions, we may be witnessing the precursor of the feared, yet inevitable Cascadia Subduction Zone eruption.

At this time there are three major earthquake swarms occurring in the world, and they just happen to be along the Pacific Rim from northern Mexico to Alaska. The first is the 'Cerro Prieto' volcano and geothermal field at the Baja Peninsula near Mexicali, Calif. The second is the Clear Lake volcano; also known as 'The Geysers' geothermal field in northern California near Santa Rosa just north of San Francisco. The third swarm is at Atka volcano along the Aleutian Islands.

Continued

Wednesday March 5, 2008, 2:45 pm
Baja 'Cerro Prieto' Map
http://www.earthchangesmedia.com/images/Baja_Peninsula.jpg

Clear Lake 'The Geysers' Map
http://www.earthchangesmedia.com/images/clear_lake.jpg

Atka volcano Map
http://www.earthchangesmedia.com/images/atka_island_volcano.jpg

continued

Wednesday March 5, 2008, 2:50 pm
There is the Baja, California swarm at the 'Cerro Prieto' geothermal field. It began on February 9th 2008 with a 5.4 magnitude quake followed by over two hundred smaller quakes measuring 5.0 to 1.3 magnitude. There is no sign of this swarm letting up. The swarm at Clear Lake, Calif. known as The Geysers began just days after the 'Cerro Prieto' swarm. The third swarm at Atka Island, Alaska also began around the same time.

Quake List for Baja and Geysers
http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/quakes0.html

Quake List for Aleutian Islands
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Maps/special/Alaska_eqs.php


Sitting in the middle of this vast array of volcanoes which lines the West Coast of America up to Alaska, is the Cascadia Subduction Zone. The Cascadia Subduction Zone is a very long sloping fault that stretches from mid-Vancouver Island to Northern California. It separates the Juan de Fuca and North America plates. New ocean floor is being created offshore of Washington and Oregon. As more material wells up along the ocean ridge, the ocean floor is pushed toward and beneath the continent.

Cascadia Subduction Zone
http://www.earthchangesmedia.com/images/cascadia_subduction.gif


Large Subduction Zone quakes are the largest earthquakes in the world, and can exceed magnitude 9.0. Because earthquake size is proportional to fault area, is perfectly set for "the big one" which is often mentioned. The Cascadia Subduction Zone is a very long sloping fault that stretches from mid-Vancouver Island to Northern California. It separates the Juan de Fuca and North America plates.


Emergency Management Officials Prepare for Catastrophic Earthquake

This notice was released just yesterday March 4th. Regional emergency management officials are preparing now for the next big one. On Wednesday, March 5th over 50 local public and private sector agencies are testing emergency plans and communications by participating in a catastrophic earthquake exercise dubbed "Sound Shake '08".

Based on the Regional Fault Earthquake Scenario; a study written by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, the exercise will mock-up serious impacts to the region's transportation and communications systems. Additionally the scenario plan includes extended power outages, utility disruptions, and impacts to the health care system.

Wednesday March 5, 2008, 4:00 pm
Di anyone check with Cascade Volcanic observatory or with NOAA? THey are in charge of monitoring the Cascadia fault system.