The Energetic 2022 Seismic Unrest Related to Magma Intrusion at the North Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Abstract

A seismic swarm affected the 53.3°–54.3° Latitude North section of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge from 26 September to 10 December 2022. We rely on regional, teleseismic and array data to relocate 61 hypocenters and derive 77 moment tensors. The 2022 swarm released a cumulative moment equivalent to Mw 6.3. Seismicity was shallow (7 ± 3 km depth). Most earthquakes are located along the ridge axis with typical, NS oriented normal faulting mechanisms, but a few among the largest and latest earthquakes have unusual thrust mechanisms and locations as far as ∼25 km from the ridge. We attribute the swarm to a shallow magmatic intrusion, with a vertical dike first propagating ∼60 km along axis, accompanied by shallow normal faulting, and then thickening and triggering thrust earthquakes off the ridge, in response to compressive stress buildup. The unrest provides a rare example of an energetic, magmatic driven swarm episode at the mid-ocean ridge.