All

I think this Loyalty Island flurry of big quakes deserves a serious look. Here is the record with some nearby quakes for perspective.


The top quake is the latest.

04/01/03 17:59:4122.65S169.85E10.0 5.6SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
04/01/03 16:23:1922.35S169.61E10.0 7.1SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
04/01/03 09:45:1922.35S169.38E10.0 5.5SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
04/01/03 08:21:4822.42S169.50E10.0 6.1SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
04/01/03 08:07:3422.41S169.68E10.0 5.7SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
04/01/02 12:42:4421.64S169.88E10.0 5.3SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
04/01/02 10:23:5315.14S178.99W394.2 5.0FIJI REGION
03/12/29 11:48:4222.57S169.66E10.0 5.7SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/29 00:03:0712.87S169.60E33.0 5.2SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
03/12/28 05:15:2622.06S170.05E10.0 5.3SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/27 22:55:0121.75S169.75E10.0 6.3SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/27 22:38:0121.82S169.70E10.0 6.7SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/27 16:01:0022.01S169.61E10.0 7.3SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/27 04:55:2522.17S169.32E10.0 6.1SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/26 21:26:0322.39S169.31E10.0 6.8SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/25 23:13:2122.41S169.57E10.0 5.3SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/25 23:09:4322.42S169.54E10.0 6.0SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/25 20:42:3322.29S169.49E10.0 6.5SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/25 14:21:1134.81S178.40W10.0 6.0SOUTH OF THE KERMADEC ISLANDS
03/12/25 20:42:3722.30S169.46E33.0 6.2SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/25 14:21:1534.84S178.45W33.0 6.0SOUTH OF KERMADEC ISLAND

Note that the Fiji 5.0M quake has a depth of
394.2 km. Quakes around Fiji tend to be very deep, especially to the east. In this grouping the Kermedec and Santa Cruz quakes are shallow.

What I am pondering is an activation of a process that is considerably below the usual depth for the earth's mantle. There are twelve quakes of 6M or greater, including two 7M quakes in the Loyalty Island group. This would give any geological stucture a good pounding. In addition there are nine 5M quakes, which by my FIVE Rule studies should be sufficient to activate a volcanic process. The historic moment sensor solutions show a quartered balloon, which suggests with the Fiji quake that the energy is going toward the area of the deep quakes of Fiji.

To complicate the discussion, I should mention that I spent part of my eveing watching a Creationist presentation of events in time. It reinforced my notion that something hard is at the deep location in Fiji, and maybe the deep quakes around the Pacific basin may be the result of the impact of this object, presumably a large asteroid.

So the question is, what can we expect from activation of a volcanic process at 394 km depth under Fiji? And how soon? There is a 5M quake on 12/25, but there are actually two sequences of four 5M quakes inside five day periods later.

This is a discussion. Please give it your best shot.
Donald