First M6+ quake in 2 weeks in world
Posted by heartland chris on October 06, 2011 at 06:45:24:

There was just a M6.2 shallow quake in Argentina. This is the first M6+ quake in the world on the USGS-PDE list since a M6.4 in Tonga on Sept 22, 2 weeks ago. Before that there was a M M6.9 in Sikkim India on September 18. On the 23rd Sept there was a M5.9 on the East Pacific Rise. Since then, there were a couple of M5.6 quakes, then a M5.7 on October 4, then a M5.8 today. So, nothing larger than a M5.7 between Sept 23 and October 6.

A few weeks ago we were discussing whether M6 quakes cluster. There are about 150 M6 quakes/year, and some part of these would be after shocks. So, maybe if you remove aftershocks might expect a M6 every 2 days. So, normally you might get 3 M6 quakes in the next week. If we get 5 or 6 (or more) it will look like they are clustered, but random events might make that appearance.

Chris