Ian is the latest “I” name retired from the hurricane naming lists by the World Meteorological Organization. Ian is just one of 13 retirees starting with a letter that may strike fear in those living along the East and Gulf coasts.
Can a hurricane lead to an earthquake? In most cases, the answer is no, but scientists haven’t ruled out the possibility in extreme circumstances.
According to several studies, including a group at Florida State University, there has been an uptick in quakes associated with some hurricanes, but these episodes have generally been weak in magnitude.
“This involves coupling of the atmosphere-ocean and solid earth. During a storm season, hurricanes or nor’easters transfer energy into the ocean as strong ocean waves, and the waves interact with the solid earth producing intense seismic source activity,” Wenyuan Fan, an assistant professor of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science at FSU, previously stated.
Some researchers have even labeled these events as ‘stormquakes,’ but they are generally only observed when intense hurricanes have an extended track over the open waters.
Hurricane Bill off the coast of the Northeast in 2009, Hurricane Irene in 2011 off of Florida and the Bahamas and Hurricane Ike in 2008 are all examples of cyclones where there was an uptick in seismic activity.
Fan said that all the associated earthquake activity was generally reported as being a magnitude-3.5 or below.
Previous hurricanes tied to earthquake activity
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Outside of a major weather event that does not result in a significant change in the pressure gradient, university researchers and seismologists with the United States Geological Survey have found no correlation between a normal day’s events and an uptick in quakes.
“There is no such thing as ‘earthquake weather.’ Statistically, there is approximately an equal distribution of earthquakes in cold weather, hot weather, rainy weather, etc.,” the USGS previously noted.
The agency noted that it is aware of significant pressure changes that have led to increased episodes of fault slips. However, these events are usually minor and not something coastal residents should be troubled by.
Researchers cautioned that those threatened by a tropical cyclone need not worry about the possibility of seismic activity, as the impacts of damaging winds and flooding rains are more consequential than any would be.
“We have lots of unknowns,” Fan stated. “We weren’t even aware of the existence of the natural phenomenon. It really highlights the richness of the seismic wave field and suggests we are reaching a new level of understanding of seismic waves.”
A magnitude-5.1 earthquake that occurred during the impacts of Tropical Storm Hilary in 2023 in California was considered to be purely coincidental and not an event directly associated with the tropical cyclone.
Satellite of Hurricane Irene in 2011
(NOAA)
The National Earthquake Information Center reports that approximately 55 detectable earthquakes occur every day, resulting in about 20,000 seismic events per year.
As a general rule, quakes with a magnitude of less than 2.0 cannot be felt but are the most common, while earthquake damage is usually not observed until a magnitude of 4.0 or greater is reached.
Seismologists estimate that around 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes occur in a region known as the Ring of Fire. This zone stretches from New Zealand to the Bering Sea and extends down through South America’s Pacific coastline.
Earthquake scale
(FOX Weather)