7.2 and 6.9 aftershocks just hit Chile within 30 minutes of each other.

7.2 and 6.9 aftershocks just hit Chile within 30 minutes of each other.

 

and a 3rd, 6.0 shortly after.

 

 

This is nuts, I may have to open a "Earthquakes around the world" superthread

and a 3rd, 6.0 shortly after.

 

 

This is nuts, I may have to open a "Earthquakes around the world" superthread

Some fat jerk had this to say after the Haiti quake.

That's sort of a normal pattern for a quake this large. Rule of thumb, everything is logarithmic. So, you set off a magnitude 7, you get of the order of 10 magnitude 6 events, 100 magnitude 5 events, 1000 magnitude 4 events, as aftershocks before all is settled. Of course, that also leaves the small probability of another magnitude 7, but that's usually unlikely. Things get really interesting, for example, if you set off a magnitude 8 event in the L.A. area, and you wind up with 5 or so aftershocks that are magnitude 7 events on their own.