Swarm of quakes hits near Hanford
By Terry Murry on Friday, September 27th, 2024 in Columbia Basin News Columbia Basin Top Stories
SEATTLE – The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network based at the University of Washington reports there were more than 100 small earthquakes recorded between Saturday and Wednesday on the border of the Hanford Reach National Monument. Further, the network stated the swarm of quakes is a natural phenomenon that is not related to the radioactive waste stored there.
PNWSN counted about 100 of the small and relatively shallow quakes, but postulated there was a chance of smaller earthquakes that were missed. The cluster was concentrated on the western edge of the McGee Ranch area of the monument.
A blog on the site by Renate Hartog states that a seismic swarm does not have a well-defined definition.
“Simply, we mean ‘a bunch of earthquakes without a clear mainshock in a particular geographic area with only a short time between events,’” Hartog wrote.
He added that there are many swarms observed across Washington and Oregon.
The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network is headquartered at the University of Washington with offices and personnel in several locations over the two states. It is operated by UW and the University of Oregon and sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Department of Energy, the state of Washington, and the state of Oregon. More information is available at https://www.pnsn.org/.
Graphic via PNWSN
