Almost 2,000 earthquakes were recorded in a single day off the coast of Canada, indicating to scientists the potential creation of new oceanic crust through deep sea magmatic rupture.
These earthquakes pose no significant threat to people and are relatively small in magnitude, primarily concentrated at a location known as the Endeavour site, situated 150 miles off the shore of Vancouver Island. This particular area hosts various hydrothermal vents and is situated on the Juan de Fuca Ridge, where the ocean floor diverges.
Zoe Krauss, a doctoral candidate in marine geophysics at the University of Washington, clarified that the area is not part of the subduction zone, where one tectonic plate descends into the mantle beneath another. “Mid-ocean ridges aren’t actually capable of producing that large of earthquakes, not too far above a magnitude five. This is not going to trigger ‘the big one’ on the subduction zone,” Krauss explained to Live Science.
These earthquakes hold scientific significance as they can offer insights into the mechanisms of ocean floor spreading and the formation of new crust. The Juan de Fuca plate and the Pacific plate have been gradually pulling apart at the Endeavour site, resulting in the creation of long, linear fault lines on the Earth’s crust and thinning of the crust, facilitating the ascent of magma. Once the magma reaches the surface, it gradually cools and solidifies, contributing to the formation of new oceanic crust.
The Endeavour site is continually monitored as part of the North-East Pacific Time-series Undersea Networked Experiments (NEPTUNE) operated by Ocean Networks Canada.
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