Loacal earthquakes around Syowa Station, Antarctica

• Main Authors: Katsutada Kaminuma, Junpei Akamatsu
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: National Institute of Polar Research 1987
• Subjects: Geography (General); G1-922; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Syowa Station; Queen Maud Land; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.15094/00008558; https://doaj.org/article/9756216538074b9cb903a9c9411888e1

There were no earthquakes located in the Antarctic continent before the International Geophysical Year (IGY) in 1957. About ten seismic stations have been operated in the Antarctic continent since IGY. Four earthquakes were reported to loacte in and around the Antarctic continent since 1968. One of the four earthquakes which occurred in 1980 was located in Queen Maud Land, the east Antarctic shield area. The occurrence of small and microearthquakes around each seismic station has been reported. However, no earthquake locations were determined because the earthquakes were recorded at only one or two seismic stations. A tripartite seismic network of radiotelemetry was established at Syowa Station (69°S, 39°E) in 1987. Some tectonic earthquakes were recorded by the network. Magnitude of the erathquakes is less than 3,and P-S≒20s. The earthquakes are estimated to be located at about 160km northeast of Syowa Station. The activity of the earthquakes in relation with the geological structure is a very important item in the Antarctic geoscience.