- M5.2 - Nepal earthquake caused by glacier collapse.
The magnitude 5.2 earthquake confirmed by USGS, caused by the collapse of a glacier, has caused a flash flood of the river, sweeping away everything in its path and causing numerous fatalities.
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ery harsh images that we are seeing due to this tragedy. Our intention is to offer verified information of the event at a seismic level. The collapse of the glacier has caused seismic signals compatible with an earthquake. These signals differ quite a bit from a seismic signal of tectonic origin.
In a tectonic earthquake, a relatively abrupt onset and a sequence of P waves → S waves → surface waves are usually observed. In a landslide, the signal is usually more emergent, long, and complex. In an earthquake, the arrivals of P and S waves are usually quite well defined. In a landslide they can be much more difficult to identify, because a large part of the signal can be dominated by surface waves. The frequency content also gives clues. Earthquakes usually present a relatively broad spectrum, while the signals of large landslides can show a relative predominance of low frequencies and a considerable duration. A landslide can produce an abnormally long signal for the estimated magnitude. This is because we do not have a point source like in an earthquake, but a mass of land that moves, accelerates, brakes, and can fragment. There is no single characteristic that allows them to be distinguished always. It is necessary to combine waveform + frequencies + P/S waves + polarization + location + depth + geological and geomorphological information. Our citizen seismic station installed in Girona captured the arrival of the S waves.
Rafael Martín Soto - IT CEO / Artificial Intelligence
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