Must. Release. Pressure.

Death by a thousand papercuts: A geological example

Scientists listening to underwater microphones have detected an unusual swarm of earthquakes off the central Oregon Coast.

Scientists don’t know what the earthquakes mean, but they could be the result of magma rumbling underneath the Juan de Fuca Plate – away from the recognized earthquake faults off Oregon, said geophysicist Robert Dziak of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Ore.

They hope to send out the OSU research ship, Wecoma, to take water samples, looking for evidence that sediment on the ocean bottom has been stirred up and chemicals in the water that would indicate magma is moving up through the crust, Dziak said.

There have been more than 600 quakes over the past 10 days in a basin 150 miles southwest of Newport. The biggest was magnitude 5.4 and two others were more than magnitude 5.0, OSU reported. They have not followed the typical pattern of a major shock followed by a series of diminishing aftershocks, and few have been strong enough to be felt on shore.

This is how I wanted it to happen. Lots of little ones instead of one or two big ones.

At least, that is what I hope it means

It looks like what happens before a volcanic eruption, except there are no volcanoes in the area, Dziak said.

Except for Glacier Peak, Mt. Baker, Mt. Olympus, Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood and Mt. Shasta; no, there aren’t any potential volcanoes within 300 miles of the area.

But that is the kind of misinformation you get when you let the AP write your story.