Hurricanes & nor’easters can lead to seafloor rumblings that resemble earthquakes

[Steve Miller]

Researchers have found that intense hurricanes and nor’easters can lead to seafloor rumblings that resemble magnitude 3.5 earthquakes, a one-two natural disaster punch that they’re calling “stormquakes,” which sounds like either an X-Man or a Dairy Queen menu item. They’re the result of massive waves at seas that can cause another type of wave that interacts with the seafloor to provoke the shaking on shallow, flat continental shelves. The researchers observed 14,077 stormquakes from September 2006 to February 2015 in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean.

Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press

 

[James K]

Very interesting!

 

[Warren Faidley]

This does not surprise me. I've felt the rumblings with some of the bigger hurricanes or especially those with waves hitting shallow coastlines. At first it's unsettling until you figure out what it is.