Posted by Dave Tucker
Pacific Northwest Seismic Center reports an M 1.3 earthquake Monday October 11, 5:25:53 PM PDT. Epicenter was 2.88 miles NW of Baker’s summit, on an azimuth of 325 degrees true. this location is in Smith Basin, north of the terminus of the Coleman Glacier and just north of Bastile Ridge- see Google Earth clip below.
- The small earthquake symbol at upper left marks the epicenter for the Oct 11 M1.3 earthquake. Sherman Crater is at lower right, just south of the summit. ‘Smileys’ and ‘nw rim fum’ are fumaroles sampled this summer.
The earthquake’s squiggly signal can be seen on the PNSN webicorder page for the MBW (‘Mount Baker West’) seismometer.
The earthquake shows on the ‘Recent Earthquakes’ page, which allows you to zoom in and get the following information. Click on the various topics [magnitude, depth, etc] to learn more about these parameters.
1 == PRELIMINARY EARTHQUAKE REPORT == University of Washington, Dept. of Earth and Space Sciences Version #1: This report supersedes any earlier reports of this event. This event has been reviewed by a seismologist. A micro earthquake occurred at 5:25:53 PM (PDT) on Monday, October 11, 2010. The magnitude 1.3 event occurred 10 km (6 miles) SSE of Glacier, WA. The hypocentral depth is 0 km (0.0 miles).
| Magnitude | 1.3 – duration magnitude (Md) |
|---|---|
| Time | Monday, October 11, 2010 at 5:25:53 PM (PDT) Tuesday, October 12, 2010 at 0:25:53 (UTC) |
| Distance from | Glacier, WA – 10 km (6 miles) SSE (147 degrees) Maple Falls, WA – 21 km (13 miles) SE (128 degrees) Kendall, WA – 24 km (15 miles) ESE (120 degrees) Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada – 42 km (26 miles) SE (131 degrees) |
| Coordinates | 48 deg. 48.7 min. N (48.811N), 121 deg. 51.5 min. W (121.859W) |
| Depth | 0 km (0.0 miles) |
| Location Quality | Fair |
| Location Quality Parameters | Nst= 7, Nph= 9, Dmin=4 km, Rmss=0.07 sec, Erho=0 km, Erzz=0 km, Gp=183.6 degrees |
| Event ID# | uw10120025 |
| Additional Information | map Topo map centered at earthquake (This link takes you offsite). |
The real-time ‘webicorder’ seismogram for this event is here. This site can be reached at any time via the ‘links’ page at http://www.mbvrc.wwu.edu, click on the Pacific Northwest Seismic Center link.
SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first earthquake recorded near Baker recently that is not beneath the glaciated area. Earthquakes occasionally happen below the glaciers, especially in summer, and are thought to be related to glacier movement. This earthquake is not a glacial ‘quake, but probably can not be related to volcanic activity, either. Keep an eye on the PNSN website to see if there are any more in this area.
Mount Baker Volcano Research Center subscription website 
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