Question: NEIS listed the following unusual earthquakes of earthqukes of MB>4.6
today. Can you guess what all these have in common?

Answer: They were all listed as possible far-field aftershocks
from the New Zealand Mw 7.0 of 21 August, many quite specifically.

24Aug2001 18:35:57.8 23.5S 68.0W118 MB=4.7 M NEI CHILE-ARGENTINA BORDER REG
24Aug2001 09:48:02.8 41.2N 142.1E 60 MB=5.2 M NEI HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
24Aug2001 11:01:51.6 17.9S 178.6W577 MB=5.0 M NEI FIJI ISLANDS REGION
24Aug2001 05:50:39.0 36.6S 179.8W 33 MB=4.7 M NEI EAST OF NORTH ISLAND, N.Z.
24Aug2001 01:46:56.6 36.4S 179.2W 33 MB=4.7 M NEI EAST OF NORTH ISLAND, N.Z.
23Aug2001 23:56:45.2 3.1S 146.7E 10 MB=5.3 M NEI BISMARCK SEA
23Aug2001 21:45:05.6 3.4S 146.2E 33 MS=6.1 M NEI BISMARCK SEA
23Aug2001 20:06:32.0 43.2N 106.2W 0 ML=2.6 M NEI WYOMING
23Aug2001 18:48:16.2 41.6N 108.7W 0 ML=3.3 M NEI WYOMING

The forecast had said:
"In general, areas which appear to consistently have moderate to
strong earthquakes in the 10 days following Ms 7+ earthquakes in
this area of the Kermadecs/N.Z are:
Halmahera 2-5N 126-129E
Argentina/Chile border 22-26S 65-68W
Hokkaido/Kuril Islands 40-45N 142-148E"
The Chile-Argentina Mb 4.7 and the Hokkaido Mb 5.2 are specifically
forecast here.

The forecast had said:
"17-19 degrees: Tonga Islands (around 20S)"
The Fiji (Mb 5.0) event is at 19 degrees from the N.Z. mainshock.

The forecast had said:
"43-45 degrees: ... Bismarck Sea"
The Bismarck Sea (Mw 6.1) is 45 degrees from the N.Z. mainshock

The forecast had said:
"0-5 degrees: Classical and locally triggered aftershocks. Earthquakes in this
region are commonly followed by numerous aftershocks within 5 degrees."
Strong aftershocks continue including the two listed today.

The forecast had said:
"103-106 degrees*** central Plains U.S."
The events in Wyoming are 2 of many unusual events in the Wyoming-
Utah region today and fall within this distance range at the core-mantle
shadow zone boundary.

NEIS listed no other events today meeting these criteria.

Is far-field triggering happening. I leave it to you to decide.

NEIS Earthquake listings are at:

http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/bulletin.html

A number of other smaller regional events in Ontario/Quebec, Hawaii,
Luzon, etc. also occurred today in areas where far-field triggering
was expected. I will leave those for a separate posting.

• NEIS global listings