View source for 2006 Gulf of Mexico earthquake

{{Short description|Earthquake off the coast of Florida, United States}}
{{Infobox earthquake
| title = 2006 Gulf of Mexico earthquake
| local-date = {{Start-date|September 10, 2006}}
| local-time = 10:56 EDT
| timestamp = 2006-09-10 14:56:08
| isc-event = 8659780
| anss-url = usp000esv9
| map2               = {{Location map | Middle America#Florida
| relief = 1
| label =
| lat = 26.331
| long = -86.577
| mark = Bullseye1.png
| marksize =50
| position = top
| width = 260
| float = right
| caption = }}
| casualties = None
| duration = ~ 20 seconds<ref name=nyt/>
| magnitude = 5.9 [[Moment magnitude scale|M<sub>w</sub>]]
| depth = {{convert|14|km|mi|0|abbr=on}}<ref name=PAGER-CAT/>
| location = {{coord|26.25|N|86.63|W|display =inline,title}}<ref name=PAGER-CAT/>
| type = [[Fault (geology)#Dip-slip faults|Reverse]]<ref name=PAGER-CAT/>
| countries affected = {{nowrap|[[Southeastern United States]]}}
|intensity = {{MMI|IV}}
}}
The '''2006 Gulf of Mexico earthquake''' occurred in the eastern [[Gulf of Mexico]] on September 10 at {{tooltip|10:56 AM Eastern Daylight Time|14:56 UTC}}. The [[intraplate earthquake]] measured 5.9 on the moment magnitude scale and its epicenter was located about {{Convert|250|mi|km|abbr=}} west-southwest of [[Anna Maria, Florida]]. The event was felt throughout much of the [[Gulf Coast of the United States]] and was the second earthquake of magnitude 5 or greater in the Gulf during 2006. Felt intensities, as measured on the [[Mercalli intensity scale]], were as high as IV (''Light'') in Florida, with parts of Georgia at III (''Weak'').

==Characteristics==
The quake was reportedly felt along the gulf coast and as far north as [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. The earthquake was the strongest in the Gulf of Mexico in 33 years and was an intraplate earthquake, an event that takes place away from the borders of tectonic plates (where most tectonic activity takes place). Earthquakes in the [[Southeastern United States]] are not common, but several strong events have occurred in the region. In 1879 close to [[St. Augustine, Florida]] an earthquake damaged plaster and forced dishes off counters, and in South Carolina the [[1886 Charleston earthquake]] caused severe damage and was responsible for the deaths of sixty people.<ref name=ng>{{citation|last=Lovett|first=Richard A.|date=September 11, 2006|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/09/060911-earthquake.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061020012806/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/09/060911-earthquake.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 20, 2006|title=Rare Earthquake Shakes Gulf of Mexico|publisher=[[National Geographic News]]|access-date=September 29, 2012}}</ref>

The event occurred near the Cuba Fracture Zone and was well away from the edge of the [[North American plate]]. Randy Cox, an associate professor of earth science at the [[University of Memphis]] in Tennessee stated that the source of strain was the [[Mid-Atlantic Ridge]], where [[seafloor spreading]] was causing compression of the North American plate. A magnitude 5.2 event in February 2006 may have been associated with the same fault zone.<ref name=ng/>

The epicenter of the earthquake was too far offshore for it to be well covered by onshore seismographs and the event's characteristics are therefore poorly constrained. The [[focal mechanism]] indicated [[Fault (geology)#Dip-slip faults|reverse faulting]]. The focal depth of between 14&ndash;31&nbsp;km show that it occurred within the [[Seismogenic layer|seismogenic zone]], rather than on any of the many shallow growth faults in the area. The earthquake led to a reassessment of the geohazard for [[hydrocarbon exploration]] and production facilities in the Gulf.<ref name=Angell>{{cite web|url=http://e-book.lib.sjtu.edu.cn/otc-2007/pdfs/otc19035.pdf|title=A Geohazard Perspective of Recent Seismic Activity in the Northern Gulf of Mexico|last1=Angell|first1=M.|last2=Hitchcock|first2=C.|year=2007|publisher=[[Offshore Technology Conference]]|access-date=7 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426032414/http://e-book.lib.sjtu.edu.cn/otc-2007/pdfs/otc19035.pdf|archive-date=2012-04-26|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Several thousand people reported the event to the [[United States Geological Survey]] but none reported any damage from the 20 second earthquake.<ref name=nyt>{{citation|agency=Associated Press|date=September 11, 2006|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/11/us/11quake.html?pagewanted=print|title=Shock Waves Felt in South After Gulf Quake|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=September 29, 2012}}</ref> Items were knocked from shelves and [[seiche]]s were observed in swimming pools in parts of Florida where felt intensities were reported as high as IV, including [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]] in Central Florida, [[Brooksville, Florida|Brooksville]] on the west coast, [[Titusville, Florida|Titusville]] on the east coast, and [[Panama City, Florida|Panama City]] on the [[Florida Panhandle|panhandle]]. In [[Atlanta]], Georgia, the intensity was reported to be at level III.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2006/usslav/#summary |title=Earthquake Summary |publisher=United States Geological Survey |access-date=September 11, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061014050751/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2006/usslav/ |archive-date=October 14, 2006 }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of earthquakes in 2006]]
*[[List of earthquakes in the United States]]

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=PAGER-CAT>{{citation|title=PAGER-CAT Earthquake Catalog|url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/static/lfs/data/pager/catalogs/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313112456/ftp://hazards.cr.usgs.gov/web/data/pager/catalogs/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2020-03-13|date=September 4, 2009|publisher=United States Geological Survey|series=Version 2008_06.1}}</ref> 
}}

==External links==
*{{EQ-isc-link|8659780}}

{{Earthquakes in 2006}}
{{Earthquakes in the United States}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gulf of Mexico Earthquake, 2006}}
[[Category:Gulf of Mexico]]
[[Category:2006 earthquakes]]
[[Category:Natural disasters in Florida]]
[[Category:Natural disasters in Louisiana]]
[[Category:Earthquakes in the United States]]
[[Category:Natural disasters in Alabama]]
[[Category:2006 natural disasters in the United States]]
[[Category:2006 in Florida]]
[[Category:2006 in Louisiana]]
[[Category:2006 in Alabama]]
[[Category:September 2006 events in the United States]]