This seismogram is from the Gun Hill seismic station on Barbados, in the western Atlantic Ocean. The prominent noise is from a magnitude 6.1 offshore earthquake that hit the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 1:18 AM, local time, on 4 January 2022. The quake was produced by left-lateral slip along a nearly east-west striking, subvertically-oriented transform fault.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a classic example of a mid-ocean ridge, where two tectonic plates diverge (separate) and new oceanic crust forms - this is called "seafloor spreading". In this case, the North American Plate and the African Plate are moving away from each other. The quake occurred along the Oceanographer Transform Fault (frequently mis-referred to as the "Oceanographer Fracture Zone"; fracture zones are not plate boundaries). Mid-ocean ridges are offset by numerous short to long transform faults - this results in a zig-zag pattern in map view.
The quake occurred during an Earth-Moon-Sun alignment.
See info. at:
earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000g8tz/exec...
and
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_Ridge
--------------------------------
An earthquake is a natural shaking or vibrating of the Earth caused by sudden fault movement and a rapid release of energy. Earthquake activity is called "seismicity". The study of earthquakes is called "seismology". The actual underground location of an earthquake is the hypocenter, or focus. The site at the Earth's surface, directly above the hypocenter, is the epicenter. Minor earthquakes may occur before a major event - such small quakes are called foreshocks. Minor to major quakes after a major event are aftershocks.
Most earthquakes occur at or near tectonic plate boundaries, such as subduction zones, mid-ocean ridges, collision zones, and transform plate boundaries. They also occur at hotspots - large subsurface mantle plumes (Examples: Hawaii, Yellowstone, Iceland, Afar).
Earthquakes generate four types of shock waves: P-waves, S-waves, Love waves, and Rayleigh waves. P-waves and S-waves are body waves - they travel through solid rocks. Love waves and Rayleigh waves travel only at the surface - they are surface waves. P-waves are push-pull waves that travel quickly and cause little damage. S-waves are up-and-down waves (like flicking a rope) that travel slowly and cause significant damage. Love waves are side-to-side surface waves, like a slithering snake. Rayleigh waves are rotational surface waves, somewhat like ripples from tossing a pebble into a pond.
Earthquakes are associated with many specific hazards, such as ground shaking, ground rupturing, subsidence (sinking), uplift (rising), tsunamis, landslides, fires, and liquefaction.
Some famous major earthquakes in history include: Shensi, China in 1556; Lisbon, Portugal in 1755; New Madrid, Missouri in 1811-1812; San Francisco, California in 1906; Anchorage, Alaska in 1964; and Loma Prieta, California in 1989.
