
Magnitude-8+ Earthquake, 87km SW of Pijijiapan, Mexico - dodorex
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us2000ahv0
======
mrb
Really cool "green lightning" effect observed before and during the
earthquake:
[https://mobile.twitter.com/AlanEchelon96/status/906031454529...](https://mobile.twitter.com/AlanEchelon96/status/906031454529785856)
I believe this phenomenon is still not understood...

~~~
adventured
It's from damage to the electrical grid.

~~~
FooHentai
This explanation is posted whenever earthquake lights are reported, but it's
wrong. I have a few reasons:

First. So the explanation goes, during the earthquake power substation
transformers and fuses blow, causing these lights. Problem is, the grid
doesn't sustain that level of damage during these earthquakes. Yes, the power
usually goes out and there is grid damage, but the amount of damage is nowhere
near 'every substation blowing', even in the most severe quakes. So the number
of lights and number of grid faults do not equal.

Second. Earthquake lights present in the sky, not on the ground beneath them.
If substations were blowing and creating light, they would light objects in
their immediate vicinity (e.g. buildings) more than they would illuminate
clouds. But that doesn't happen, and in fact the lights appear within the
cloud layers themselves rather than appearing as a projection onto them, as
they would if the light source was at ground level.

Third. These lights have been witnessed out to sea and over offshore islands,
where there is no power grid.

That last point is the most compelling for me, because I personally witnessed
earthquake lights, less than a year ago, offshore, during the November 2016
7.8 Kaikoura earthquake. During that earthquake, I had this (night time) view:
[https://imgur.com/a/Nt2wD](https://imgur.com/a/Nt2wD)

~~~
Nition
There were a couple of good videos of the Earthquake Lights from that quake
too. This one is really good:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVVm7g3QgOA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVVm7g3QgOA)

The look is very similar to the videos of the ones in Mexico, and very
different to the long-lasting beam of light from the ground that seems to come
from generator explosions.

~~~
FooHentai
Amusingly that same video seems to be getting posted as being Mexico, too.

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afsina
Many people here in Turkey will think solar eclipse triggered this. Strong
1999 earthquake in Turkey also happened just some weeks after the full solar
eclipse. I think it is just a coincidence though.

Edit: wording.

~~~
cies
Gotta love Reddit in Turkey then. (Possibly already blocked though)

"Magnitude 8.0 Earthquake strikes off Mexico's coast. A Magnitude 8.0
Earthquake was predicted by a Redditor just a day earlier on this subreddit."

[https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/6yss3m/magnitud...](https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/6yss3m/magnitude_80_earthquake_strikes_off_mexicos_coast/)

~~~
matheweis
r/conspiracy aside, looks like the redditor's main theory is that there is
some sort of casual link between solar flares and earthquakes. Should be an
easy thing for a data scientist to debunk or validate...

~~~
cies
> r/conspiracy aside

:)

> Should be an easy thing for a data scientist to debunk or validate...

He's calling those with said skills to help him. From his announcement:

> If you are good at statistical analysis we could use your help. Please pm
> me.

Link:
[https://np.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/6yhv3l/the_ultim...](https://np.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/6yhv3l/the_ultimate_earthquake_test_is_about_to_commence/)

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cellularmitosis
I felt this earthquake in Austin, which is over 1000 miles away. Many others
felt it as well:
[https://mobile.twitter.com/search?q=Austin+earthquake&src=ty...](https://mobile.twitter.com/search?q=Austin+earthquake&src=typed_query)

~~~
pault
Whoa! I woke up and thought it was my dog shaking the bed. :)

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singularity2001
How do they appropriately measure earthquakes so deep? It had a magnitude of
8.1 on the surface level, however it happened at a depth of 32000 meters! so
was it a magnitude 9 earthquake down there, or does the 8.4 already take into
account the depth?

~~~
matt_morgan
32 Kilometers is not very far in earthquake terms. Machines all over the world
can feel small earthquakes no matter where they happen, and this is a very big
earthquake.

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quickthrower2
Live updates

[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/08/mexico-
earthquake...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/08/mexico-earthquake-
magnitude-8-tremor-rattles-buildings-capital/)

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basicplus2
One side if the tectonic plate at Japan and indonesia have had movement, now
the otherside at mexico, so North Western America must be under more and more
strain.

~~~
sp332
Idaho has had a series of smaller earthquakes over the last few days.
[https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/earthquake-swarm-
contin...](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/earthquake-swarm-continues-
rattle-idaho-n798946)

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goshx
They upgraded it to 8.4 after.

~~~
legostormtroopr
I appreciate those kinds of quick release cycles. I'm hoping that when they
upgrade to 9.0 we get some new features though.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
Each point release just about doubles the force of the earth quake. Makes me
wonder how my mom handled the Good Friday one in Anchorage, which was at 9.2.

~~~
saagarjha
Actually, it takes around 0.3 to double to power.

~~~
bhrgunatha
USGS (and most reports use the moment magnitude scale -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moment_magnitude_scale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moment_magnitude_scale)
:

Each point is 10 ^ 1.5 (about 31)

Every 2 points is 100

The Richter scale is almost never used now but that'd where the factor of 10
per point comes from.

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Jupe
As for a root cause, could it be related to North Korea's recent nuclear test?

[http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/849381/tremor-North-
Kore...](http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/849381/tremor-North-Korea-
nuclear-test)

