january 2006

According to the USGS/NEIC on-line database there were three target earthquakes of M7.5+ in the first half of 2006 –

Date and Time

Lat

Lon

Depth

Magnitudes (mb, MS)

Prediction

2006/02/22 22:19

-21.324

33.583

11

6.5

7.5

outside test area

2006/04/20 23:25

60.949

167.089

22

6.8

7.6

outside test area

2006/05/03 15:26

-20.187

-174.123

55

7.2

7.8

M8 only

The first and the second fall outside the test area. Their epicenters are located in the areas where seismic activity reported in the USGS/NEIC Global Hypocenters’ Data Base is not enough for application of the original version of M8 algorithm. The third one did confirm the TIP issued by M8 in CI # 2 (TONGA ISLANDS), while missing the MSc refinement in second approximation. It is notable that the earthquake hit both M8 and MSc prediction approximations aimed at larger M8.0+ earthquakes.