Very strong earthquakes near antarctic Elephant Island (an Antarctica cruises destination)

Last update: January 16, 2012 at 8:42 am by By

Earthquake overview : Very strong earthquakes approx. 100 km out of the coast of Elephant Island, an area which is often visited by Antarctica tourist expedition ships.
To read the full story as it happened, we advise our readers to start at the lower part of the page (earthquake data).

Keep this page open or return regularly as we will be back with more details when they become available

Update :  If people were visiting Elephant Island (09:40 is about the time to have shore zodiac excursions), they will have experienced a strong MMI VI shaking.The Antarctic peninsula, with a number of Antarctic stations will have experienced a light shaking.

Update : The earthquake occurred in a very complex tectonic area were 3 different plates are interacting. Todays both earthquakes where more in the direct vicinity of a transform faulting zone. Since 1900, 3 massive 7+ earthquakes occurred in the greater area, 1 along the spreading ridge zone and 2 close to the transform faults.  The scars in the seabed reveal the stress along the transform fault zone (see image below).

Elephant Island - South Shetland Islands - Photo Credit: Lt. Philip Hall/NOAA Corps

Update :  Very strong aftershock of M 6.2. We expect many more aftershocks to happen the following hours and days.

Antarctica cruises Zodiac excursion along Elephant Island - image courtesy onthegotours.com

Update : As it is Antarctica summer and thus Tourist season, at least a couple of thousand people may have been walking on one of the many penguin islands of the Antarctic peninsula and may have felt the earthquake. An M 6.6 earthquake will be probably felt within a radius of several hundred km.

Update : We said earlier that these islands are a regular destination stop for Antarctica cruise ships.  This destination is not so common than the Antarctic peninsula locations like Deception Island, but we would not be surprised that tourists were visiting the penguin population on one or more islands.
This text is part of the program of Antarctica expedition organizer Oceanwide Expeditions :
The Atlantic Odyssey offers a unique possibility to visit several of the remotest islands in the world. Besides the Antarctic Peninsula, the South Shetland Islands, South Georgia and the South Orkney Islands, the Atlantic Odyssey visits Tristan da Cunha, St. Helena, Ascension Island and Cape Verde.

Update : The magnitude has been lowered by USGS to 6.5, a lot less energy than the initial 6.7. The earthquakes can be compared with the many earthquakes who are occurring at the South Sandwich Islands, islands with similar animals.

The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands, lying about 120 kilometres (75 mi) north of the Antarctic Peninsula, with a total area of 3,687 square kilometres (1,424 sq mi). By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the Islands’ sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for non-military purposes.
Despite the harsh conditions the islands do support vegetation and are part of the Scotia Sea Islands tundra ecoregion, along with South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the South Orkney Islands and Bouvet Island. All these islands lie in the cold seas below the Antarctic convergence. These areas support tundra vegetation consisting of mosses, lichens and algae, while seabirds, penguins and seals feed in the surrounding waters. (source description : Wikipedia)

Gentoo penguin - image Armand Vervaeck (Earthquake-report)

Very strong earthquake approx. 100 km out of the coast of Elephant Island, an island which is often visited by Antarctica cruiseliners. The island is covered with glaciers.
Elephant Island and the smaller islands around are all crowded with antarctic birds and animals. Various penguin colonies like gentoo and chinstrap, seals, etc are common on these islands.
NO tsunami risk exist for populated islands (there are no people living within a radius of several hundred km). Additionally a M 6.7 earthquake is seldom generating a tsunami.

Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude :  6.6
UTC Time : Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 13:40:18 UTC
Local time at epicenter : Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 09:40:18 AM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 10 km
Geo-location(s) :
Approx. 100 km from Elephant island, South Shetland Islands
539 km (334 miles) W of Coronation Island, South Orkney Islands
625 km (388 miles) NE of Palmer Station, Antarctica

Links to important maps
Google satellite map showing the epicenter and the surrounding area
Historic earthquakes map
Shaking map
Focal mechanism report
Human impact map
GDACS earthquake report
GDACS tsunami report

QuakeSOS+ and QuakeSOS free are iPhone applications developed by Armand Vervaeck, the founder of Earthquake Report. The Application simplifies immediate group communication to friends and family members (with your exact GPS location) and is feeding the users with Earthquake Report news. The 0.99 US$ QuakeSOS+ version will support the activities of SOS Earthquakes.

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I did feel it – Ik heb het gevoeld – Το έκανα αισθάνεται –Yo lo he sentido – 我的确感到了 – 私はそれを感じていました- Ich habe es gefühlt – Bunu hissediyorum yaptı – لم أشعر أنه

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Tell us where in which location you felt the earthquake
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Your Email address might help us if we request for additional details about your experience. This field is NOT mandatory. It is up to you to give it or not.
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People :
Felt by persons at rest, on upper floors or favorably placed.
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People :
Felt indoors; hanging objects may swing, vibration similar to passing of light trucks, duration may be estimated, may not be recognized as an earthquake.
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People :
Generally noticed indoors but not outside. Light sleepers may be awakened. Vibration may be likened to the passing of heavy traffic, or to the jolt of a heavy object falling or striking the building.
Fittings :
Doors and windows rattle. Glassware and crockery rattle. Liquids in open vessels may be slightly disturbed. Standing motorcars may rock.
Structures :
Walls and frames of buildings, and partitions and suspended ceilings in commercial buildings, may be heard to creak.
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People :
Generally felt outside, and by almost everyone indoors. Most sleepers awakened. A few people alarmed.
Fittings :
Small unstable objects are displaced or upset. Some glassware and crockery may be broken. Hanging pictures knock against the wall. Open doors may swing. Cupboard doors secured by magnetic catches may open. Pendulum clocks stop, start, or change rate.
Structures :
Some large display windows cracked. A few earthenware toilet fixtures cracked.
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People Felt by all. People and animals alarmed. Many run outside. Difficulty experienced in walking steadily.
Fittings :
Objects fall from shelves. Pictures fall from walls. Some furniture moved on smooth floors, some unsecured free-standing fireplaces moved. Glassware and crockery broken. Very unstable furniture overturned. Small church and school bells ring. Appliances move on bench or table tops. Filing cabinets or "easy glide" drawers may open (or shut).
Structures :
Slight damage to buildings with low standard. Some stucco or cement plaster falls. Large display windows broken. Damage to a few weak domestic chimneys, some may fall.
Environment :
Trees and bushes shake, or are heard to rustle. Loose material may be dislodged from sloping ground, e.g. existing slides, talus slopes, shingle slides.
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People
General alarm. Difficulty experienced in standing. Noticed by motorcar drivers who may stop.
Fittings :
Large bells ring. Furniture moves on smooth floors, may move on carpeted floors. Substantial damage to fragile contents of buildings.
Structures :
Unreinforced stone and brick walls cracked. Low standard buildings cracked with some minor masonry falls. A few instances of damage to buildings of ordinary workmanship. Unbraced parapets, unbraced brick gables, and architectural ornaments fall. Roofing tiles, especially ridge tiles may be dislodged. Many unreinforced domestic chimneys damaged, often falling from roof-line. Water tanks Type I burst. A few instances of damage to brick veneers and plaster or cement-based linings. Unrestrained water cylinders (hot-water cylinders) may move and leak. Some common windows cracked. Suspended ceilings damaged.
Environment :
Water made turbid by stirred up mud. Small slides such as falls of sand and gravel banks, and small rock-falls from steep slopes and cuttings. Instances of settlement of unconsolidated or wet, or weak soils. Some fine cracks appear in sloping ground. A few instances of liquefaction (i.e. small water and sand ejections).
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People Alarm may approach panic. Steering of motorcars greatly affected. Structures : Low standard buildings heavily damaged, some collapse. ordinary workmanship buildings damaged, some with partial collapse. Reinforced masonry or concrete buildings damaged in some cases. A few instances of damage to buildings and bridges designed and built to resist earthquakes. Monuments and pre-1976 elevated tanks and factory stacks twisted or brought down. Some pre-1965 infill masonry panels damaged. A few post-1980 brick veneers damaged. Decayed timber piles of houses damaged. Houses not secured to foundations may move. Most unreinforced domestic chimneys damaged, some below roof-line, many brought down. Environment : Cracks appear on steep slopes and in wet ground. Small to moderate slides in roadside cuttings and unsupported excavations. Small water and sand ejections and localized lateral spreading adjacent to streams, canals, lakes, etc.
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Structures Many low standard buildings destroyed. Ordinary workmanship buildings heavily damaged, some collapse. Reinforced masonry or concrete buildings damaged, some with partial collapse. Buildings and bridges designed and built to resist earthquakes damaged in some cases, some with flexible frames seriously damaged. Damage or permanent distortion to some buildings and bridges, designed and built to normal use standards. Houses not secured to foundations shifted off. Brick veneers fall and expose frames. Environment : Cracking of ground conspicuous. Landsliding general on steep slopes. Liquefaction effects intensified and more widespread, with large lateral spreading and flow sliding adjacent to streams, canals, lakes, etc.
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  1. Bumper Sticker Printing says:
    January 16, 2012 at 9:05 pm

    Occurred in southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge with 5.1 magnitude in a depth of 16.2 km.

    Reply

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