Seismologist: Location, Magnitude Of Japan Quake Unusual

PASADENA (CBS) — Experts from the Cal Tech seismology labs say they have discovered some unusual findings from the massive quake in Japan.

KNX 1070's Pete Demetriou reports Dr. Susan Huff, a seismologist with the US Geological Survey, says both the magnitude and the location of this quake are surprising.

"We know where the active plate boundaries are on the earth, and where the active earthquake zones are, but what's the size of the earthquake we expect?...From an 8 (magnitude) to an 8.9 is from a big earthquake to an enormous earthquake," Huff says.

Research seismologist Frank Vernon of Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla says despite marked increases in both size and frequency, researchers see no correlation between the recent spate of massive earthquakes worldwide.

Seismologists expect they will be reviewing data from this quake — along with the effects of the tusami that followed — for months if not years to come.

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