Art Bell and Watson examine the earthquake swarms at Mammoth Lakes, California, where USGS has issued a low-level volcanic hazard alert. Watson explains that the Long Valley Caldera last erupted 700,000 years ago with enough force to deposit volcanic ash as far as New Jersey. He describes the current monitoring systems and explains why the recent absence of moderate stress-relieving quakes is actually more concerning than the swarms themselves.
Watson discusses his conversations with Gordon Michael Scallion about seismic windows and deep earthquakes, including the mysterious 1994 Bolivia quake at 410 miles depth that was felt as far away as Toronto. He describes walking Scallion through one of his earthquake visions by phone, confirming the physical distress these experiences cause.
Key Moments
Irian Jaya M8: 476 quakes in 48 hours, 33-foot tsunami: Watson details the recent monster quake on the north coast of Irian Jaya: 476 magnitude-4-or-greater quakes in the first 48 hours, 26 magnitude-5s, and 10-meter (33-foot) tsunami heights that swept the island of Biak like a broom.
1995 set the modern record: 192 magnitude-6+ quakes: Watson reports that 1995 had 192 magnitude-6-or-greater earthquakes, more than any year ever recorded by instrument, with 1965's 164 the previous closest, an enormous jump in large-magnitude seismicity.
Mammoth Lakes/Long Valley Caldera: last erupted 700,000 years ago, ash to New Jersey: On the USGS volcanic event alert at Mammoth Lakes, Watson explains the Long Valley Caldera last erupted 700,000 years ago, throwing volcanic ash all the way to New Jersey, the Krakatoa of California.