Daiichi-Kashima Seamount Study Suggests Link to Unexplained Earthquakes

An underwater volcano known as the Daiichi-Kashima seamount, located on the submerged Pacific tectonic plate, may be responsible for a series of unexplained strong earthquakes over the past 40 years, a new study claims.

The Daiichi-Kashima sunken mountain, located about 40 kilometers off the coast of Japan, is at the junction of three tectonic plates: the Pacific plate to the east, the Philippine plate to the south, and the Okhotsk plate to the north.

The study, by scientists at the University of Memphis, found that a seamount that penetrates the Earth’s mantle encounters enormous resistance as it moves along the tilted plate, which can lead to jams and strong earthquakes subsequent.

Although the vast majority of seismic activity around the seamount comes in the form of small earthquakes, there have been several strong 7-7.8 magnitude earthquakes in the past, such as in 1982, 2008 and 2011, which studies previous ones could not explain them. The study’s lead author, Sunho Lee, explained that in the past, friction caused by seamounts interacting with another tectonic plate was thought to be too weak to cause significant earthquakes. However, the new findings show that the Daiichi-Kashima seamount has strong friction, making it virtually immobile and capable of causing large earthquakes.

These new scientific findings underscore the complexity of marine tectonic processes and may help further improve earthquake warning systems and safety off Japan’s coasts.

2023-12-14 23:30:46
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