Sunday, April 4, 2010

The magnitude 8 earthquake that did not happen

Yesterday, I got the following messages from the QUAKE-L listserv:

First
Date: Sat, 3 Apr 2010 00:45:46 +0000 (UTC)
From: ens@usgs.gov (USGS ENS)

PRELIMINARY EARTHQUAKE REPORT

Region: NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
Geographic coordinates: 19.053N, 68.052W
Magnitude: 8.0 M
Depth: 13 km
Universal Time (UTC): 2 Apr 2010 05:38:55
Time near the Epicenter: 2 Apr 2010 01:38:55
Local standard time in your area: 2 Apr 2010 05:38:55

Second
 Date: Sat,  3 Apr 2010 01:16:57 +0000 (GMT)
From: ens@usgs.gov (USGS ENS)

DELETED: Event DR 2

                      == EVENT DELETED NOTIFICATION ==

***This event has been deleted after review by a seismologist.***

Geographic coordinates:        19.053N,  68.052W
Magnitude:                    8.0
Universal Time (UTC):          2 Apr 2010  05:38:55
Time near the Epicenter:       2 Apr 2010  01:38:55

And here is the explanation:
Users of the USGS Earthquake Notification System received a message reporting a magnitude 8.0 earthquake near the Dominican Republic. This was a mistake. In an effort to increase our ability to detect smaller earthquakes in the Caribbean region following the January 12th earthquake in Haiti, the USGS began accepting earthquake locations and magnitudes from additional sources in the region. The message reporting a magnitude 8.0 earthquake near the Dominican Republic was incorrect and resulted in the distribution of the errant e-mail. We acknowledge this was a serious mistake and have issued a correction.

1 comment:

  1. So USGS is watering down its integrity and depending on any crackpot to do its work for them?
    Maybe USGS personnel were busy texting and talking on Facebook.

    ReplyDelete

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