Two large quakes 'nullified' as being mining explosions more than a thousand miles from land in the South Pacific and a mag 5.6 also 'nulified' after rattling the Bonab Atomic Research Center in Iran and a magnitude 6.2 at 16:32 (UTC) and 77. km deep in Alaska which did not occur, honest!

Credit USGS

While the significant seismic activity has calmed down again, we still have some strange events to discuss. On the 1st of May around lunchtime UTC two powerful quakes rocked the South Pacific. A magnitude of 5.6 and a magnitude of 5.1 in the Kermadec Islands were monitored by the USGS website. Both occurred an hour apart, the 5.6 was nearly 600km deep while the smaller quake was just 10km deep and both were given specific locations, See Here 

I once emailed USGS to ask them what a 'null' quake was, and they answered probably a mining explosion . . .

These quakes happened more than a thousand kilometres away from land so I think this would have to be something else. An underwater volcano for instance?

Last month we had another 'null' quake, this one in Iran which just happened to be close to the Bonab Atomic Research Center, see the map below from USGS. 

On the 24th March 2023 at 04:46 UTC, a shallow and very powerful magnitude 5.6-quake struck the historic city of Khoy in northwestern Iran and was registered on the USGS website.

According to the Seismological Center of the Geophysics Institute of the University of Tehran, the quake occurred at 06:46 a.m. local time at a depth of 8 kilometres. The latitude of the 5.6-magnitude quake was 38.412 degrees north and its longitude was 44.822 degrees east. Iran sits on major fault lines and is prone to near-daily earthquakes, however, this one just may have been a little different.

Mysteriously though, just a couple of days later the mag 5.6 quake was removed from the USGS data page and replaced by the words 'null.' See the USGS map above.

I was intrigued as to why this particular quake should be described as 'null' and wondered just why USGS would 'nullify' a particular quake. So I asked them:

U.S. Geological Survey Response [Ticket#317457] Null Inbox Answers

Hello, I believe a "null" event is a non-earthquake event, such as a mining explosion. But, for further information and confirmation you may wish to reach out to our earthquake experts at eq_questions@usgs.gov 

Thank you. Cheryl O'Brien.

Thanks, Cheryl.

I did some brief checking and found no mining facilities in the area, however, as I mentioned, there just happens to be a nuclear facility called Bonab, which is adjacent to the powerful quake. Listed by the European Union on May 23, 2011, as an entity linked to Iran's proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities or Iran's development of nuclear weapon delivery systems; removed from the E.U. list in January 2016 as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action; listed by the Japanese government in 2015 as an entity of concern for proliferation relating to nuclear weapons; designated by the Canadian government as an entity contributing to Iran's proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities or to its development of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons or their delivery systems.

Composed of three departments: the Applied Physics Department, the Optic and Coating Department, and the Executive Department; activities include the design and construction of an Argon ion laser, research on output power stabilization of the laser, production of thyratrons, advanced welding of metals and non-metals, and development of ceramic welding used in Geiger detectors and temperature sensors; manufactures high-capacity voltage switches; conducts research on the production of high purity graphite; employs portable gamma radiation systems; inaugurated in 1989 . . .

I searched for info on this quake and curiously found nothing, zilch! Hmmm! 

Credit USGS

On the 23rd of March, a relatively large and powerful quake, a magnitude of 6.2 at 16:32 (UTC) and 77. km deep did not occur! It never happened, but something happened otherwise how did it make it onto the website? USGS have tremendously sophisticated technology equipment monitoring the entire world, so what caused them to believe a major quake happened? I guess we will never know. In the meantime, I can tell you the automatic processing robot has been relocated to the USGS Sanitary department. "BAD ROBOT!"

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