Three major earthquakes in Mexico occurred on the same date, experts: It's really just a coincidence

Jimu Journalist Wang Liangliang Hu Xiuwen

Recently, the Pacific Earthquake has been frequent. On the 11th, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake occurred in Papua New Guinea, and a magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurred in Taiwan, China on the 18th. On the 19th local time, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurred in Mexico. Earthquakes have occurred frequently, has the earthquake zone entered an active period? There are three major earthquakes in Mexico history on September 19th. Is it a coincidence? With these issues, Jizhu Journalists interviewed Professor Wang Dun of China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) and asked him to answer it for us.

Professor Wang Dun is mainly engaged in research on observation seismics, artificial intelligence seismics and earthquake geology.

Jimu Journalist: On September 19, local time, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurred in Mexico. This day was the anniversary of the two major earthquakes in Mexico. On September 19, 1985, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake in Mexico killed thousands of people; a magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurred on September 19, 2017, causing more than 360 people to die. The three major earthquakes occurred on the same date, and this special day caused people's concerns. Is this a coincidence?

On September 19th, in Mexico City, Mexico, people who hadn -sheltered people comforted each other (Picture Source: Xinhua News Agency)

Wang Dun: It should be a coincidence. Three earthquakes occur in the same date of statistical coincidence, and there are other statistical coincidences, such as the relationship between oil prices rising and earthquake. The statistical earthquake scholar Zhuang Jiancang and others have done relevant studies and analyzed the relevant information from 2003 to 2015. It is found that the occurrence of the two is good consistent, that is, the increase in oil prices has a significant correlation with the global earthquake. But this is a statistical pseudo -correlation and does not have a clear physical correlation.

Jimu Journalist: Recently, a magnitude 6 earthquake occurred in Taiwan, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and other countries and regions. Does the earthquake belt enter the active period?

Wang Dun: The global earthquake event is still in a normal range. It is normal to occur about seven or eight segments on the Pacific Earthquake Belt. Taiwan Hualien Earthquake 6.9, Taitung level 6.5, is not a big earthquake. We generally believe that the earthquake above level 7 is a big earthquake, and the eighth and ninth levels are huge earthquakes. A magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurred in Mexico was a big earthquake.

As for whether to enter the active period, you can compare the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. On December 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.3 earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean, and the epicenter was located in the west of Sumatra. The earthquake and its tsunami spread to the surrounding Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand, causing severe damage. After that, the aftershock level also reached seven or eight. Since the magnitude 9.3 Indonesia earthquake, the earthquake activities in Indonesia are significantly active.

Generally speaking, a magnitude eight or nine earthquake occurred, and there will be a series of strong aftershocks after that, so such events will make the shell movement in the area enter the active period.

The Taiwan earthquake caused the Gaotao Bridge Fracture (Picture Source: Zhongshi News Network)

After the earthquake, we care about whether this earthquake is a threatened or main earthquake, and the earthquake activities in the area will slowly calm down. Like the Taiwan earthquake, we generally believe that the main earthquake has occurred, and the intensity of the earthquake activity is slowly weakening. At present, there is no characteristics of a larger earthquake in the back.

Jimu Journalist: Is climate change such as global warming and glacier melting related to earthquakes?

Wang Dun: Climate change is somewhat related to regional earthquakes. For example, there are tiny ice shocks on the Antarctic ice cover. As the temperature rises, the melting of glaciers is accelerated, and ice shock activities have increased. Ice earthquake is a vibration caused by ice rupture and melting, which is different from the earthquake. The changes in climate are long -term, and there is no study that it has pointed out that it is related to the large earthquake and destructive earthquake.

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