EARTHQUAKE REPORT PAST 24HRS
Balloon fleet detects 7.3 magnitude earthquake from the stratosphere
Based on the averages of all earthquakes during the last 24 hours we had a low seismic activity. See Global seismic activity level chart
▪︎M 5.0 - Kermadec Islands, New Zealand
2022-08-11 18:46:19 (UTC)
30.396°S 177.457°W. 38.9 km depth
USGS earthquake alert
Quakes in the past 24 hours:
~1 quake above magnitude 5
~23 quakes between magnitude 4 and 5
~85 quakes between magnitude 3 and 4
~256 quakes between magnitude 2 and 3
~487 quakes below magnitude 2 that people normally don't feel.
~852 quakes past 24 h. (851 earthquakes in the 24 hours prior to this report) Estimated combined seismic energy released: 1.1 x 1013 joules (3.11 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 2677 tons of TNT or 0.2 atomic bombs!)
Volcanodiscovery earthquake report 24h
Balloon fleet detects 7.3 magnitude earthquake from the stratosphere
A new paper just published in the Geophysical Research Letters reports the detection of a magnitude 7.3 earthquake by a fleet of balloons floating through the stratosphere above Indonesia's Flores Sea. Onboard infrasound sensors registered acoustic waves rippling upward from the sea surface below, proving that, here on Earth, balloons can be used as seismometers.
In the fall of 2021, the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) launched a fleet of 16 balloons from Mahé Island in the Seychelles archipelago. Unlike ordinary weather balloons, which explode in a matter of hours, these were "superpressure balloons," which can remain aloft for months. Stratospheric winds carried them over the Flores Sea.
Four balloons picked up the undersea quake on Dec. 14, 2021. Combining their signals, researchers pinpointed the epicenter within 300 km, the magnitude of the quake within 0.8 units, and its onset within 50 seconds. Furthermore, waveforms recorded by the infrasound sensors were detailed enough to sense structures in the Earth 100 km deep.
"Balloons could be used to cover ocean regions where conventional seismometers are not yet deployed," notes Garcia. "Another advantage: Balloons may be rapidly deployed just after a big quake for monitoring aftershocks."
The test flights have already unearthed a curiosity in South America. On Nov. 28, 2021, just one of the balloons detected a magnitude 7.5 earthquake in northern Peru. The infrasound frequency, 0.23 Hz, was higher than expected; for comparison, the Flores Sea quake registered a more typical 0.085–0.125 Hz. Garcia's team believes the high pitch may have been caused by a "ringing" of sediments in the Amazonian basin.
Sensing earthquakes from the stratosphere is relatively new. Researchers at Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory did it for the first time in July 2019. Garcia's study marks the first time an earthquake was detected by more than one balloon. It won't be the last.
SpaceWeather.com Earthquake ballons in the stratosphere
Based on the averages of all earthquakes during the last 24 hours we had a low seismic activity. See Global seismic activity level chart
▪︎M 5.0 - Kermadec Islands, New Zealand
2022-08-11 18:46:19 (UTC)
30.396°S 177.457°W. 38.9 km depth
USGS earthquake alert
Quakes in the past 24 hours:
~1 quake above magnitude 5
~23 quakes between magnitude 4 and 5
~85 quakes between magnitude 3 and 4
~256 quakes between magnitude 2 and 3
~487 quakes below magnitude 2 that people normally don't feel.
~852 quakes past 24 h. (851 earthquakes in the 24 hours prior to this report) Estimated combined seismic energy released: 1.1 x 1013 joules (3.11 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 2677 tons of TNT or 0.2 atomic bombs!)
Volcanodiscovery earthquake report 24h
