February 21, 2008 Wells, Nevada Earthquake Seen by EarthScope Observatories

Posted February 26, 2008

At 6:16 am (Pacific time) on February 21, 2008, a magnitude Mw=6.0 earthquake occurred near Wells, NV and was widely felt in Nevada, Idaho and Utah. This earthquake occurred in the midst of the EarthScope observatories designed to measure long-term ground deformation with GPS instruments (Plate Boundary Observatory) and rapid motion from seismic waves with seismometers (USArray). In addition to contributing to a faster, more accurate analysis of the earthquake location, size and fault orientation immediately after the event, as reported by the U.S. Geological Survey, data from these observatories will be used to test a new generation of models for how the Earth behaves in response to geologic forces. They will also be used to construct more accurate and detailed models of the speed with which seismic waves travel in the Earth, which will feed back into more accurate earthquake locations and may provide new insights into what triggers an earthquake.

Animation provided by C. Ammon, Penn State, University Park, Pennsylvania (http://eqseis.geosc.psu.edu/~cammon/QA/wellsNV-21Feb2008.html)

Additional References:

Access to USArray seismograms from individual stations.
Access to ANF network maps, record sections and news links.
Access to PBO borehole strainmeter data