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Location:
Bonin Islands, Japan region
Period:
24 Dec 2010 17:27:37 - 26 Dec 2010 09:10:59 (1 day 15 hours 43 minutes)
Volcanoes in 100km radius:
None
Earthquakes:
8
M 7.0+:
M 7.4; Bonin Islands, Japan region; (21 Dec 2010) (18km from the swarm center)
7 swarms found nearby.
2010
21 Dec
1 day 21 hours
52 earthquakes
S20101222.3(40.9km)
21 Dec
4 days 11 hours
81 earthquakes
21 Dec
4 days 10 hours
92 earthquakes
S20101222.2(29.1km)
21 Dec
4 days 22 hours
86 earthquakes
S20101222.4(50.0km)
21 Dec
2 days 11 hours
37 earthquakes
2011
PS20110124.1(52.3km)
23 Jan
14 hours
5 earthquakes
2024
PS20241107.1(190.3km)
6 Nov
20 hours
7 earthquakes
AI-generated article — for informational and entertainment purposes only. May contain inaccuracies. Full disclaimerFound an error?

Seismic Swarm PS20101225.2 in the Bonin Islands Region

A seismic swarm designated PS20101225.2 occurred in the Bonin Islands region of Japan between 17:27 UTC on 24 December 2010 and 09:10 UTC on 26 December 2010. Over this 39-hour period, eight earthquakes were recorded, each with magnitudes between 5.0 and 5.3 and focal depths of 10 km. The sequence began with two events within one minute on 24 December, followed by additional shocks on 25 December and a final event on 26 December.

The Bonin Islands, also known as the Ogasawara Islands, lie along the Izu-Bonin-Mariana volcanic arc. This arc forms at the convergent boundary where the Pacific Plate subducts beneath the Philippine Sea Plate. The subduction process generates frequent seismic activity, including both shallow crustal events and deeper Wadati-Benioff zone earthquakes. The islands themselves are volcanic in origin, with several submarine volcanoes remaining active in the vicinity.

The swarm took place shortly after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake on 21 December 2010, centered approximately 18 km from the swarm epicentral area. Such temporal proximity suggests possible stress transfer along local fault structures within the overriding plate or along the subduction interface. All events in the swarm exhibited similar depths and magnitudes, consistent with a clustered release of strain rather than a classic mainshock-aftershock sequence.

Since 1 January 2000, five seismic swarms have been documented in the region, with the earliest occurring in 2010. This pattern indicates episodic swarm activity superimposed on the background seismicity of the arc. The Bonin Islands region remains one of the more seismically active segments of the Japanese subduction system, with documented historical events exceeding magnitude 7 and occasional tsunami generation.

The 2010 swarm events are classified under the internal SeismoSight taxonomy as swarm type PS20101225.2. Their uniform depth distribution at 10 km points to activity within the upper crust of the overriding Philippine Sea Plate. No surface rupture or significant volcanic unrest was associated with this particular sequence.

References

  • SeismoSight internal swarm classification database
  • USGS Earthquake Catalog (events 2010-2011, Bonin Islands region)