Seismologist Robert Dziak, back, and computer system administrator Jon Klay - part of a team of researchers' monitor and study off-shore earthquakes - perform a technical tweak on an educational display about earthquakes at Hatfield Marine Science Center. Set up,            (Photo by: Terry Dillman)
this week the computer array shows visitors how seismome and hydrophones record the sound waves generated by earthquakes. A rare 4.7-magnitude, near-shore earthquake shook the area Wednesday night, which heightened visitor interest in the display.

     Researchers at Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Science Center are somewhat perplexed after a close-to-shore earthquake rum bled across Lincoln County for the second time in two months.

     Robert Dziak - who serves a dual role as an oceanographer and seismologist for marine science center and the National
           Hatfield Marine Science Center             Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - called Wednesday night's 4.7-magnitude quake "very odd." It followed in the wake of a 4.9-magnitude earthquake that briefly shook things up July 12.

     Off-shore earthquakes are extremely common, but those with magnitudes higher than 4.0 areas Dziak said after the July event - "extraordinarily rare" so close to shore (within 20 to 35 miles). In fact, Dziak could find no record of any earthquake of similar magnitude that close to the Oregon shoreline in the past 30 years.

     Now two have occurred within five weeks        Hatfield Marine Science Visisters Center
of each other, and researchers can't say why.                     Newport Beach Oregon

     "I wish I knew," Dziak said. "It's pretty strange. It's likely that the previous one set the conditions that allowed this one to happen, changing the stress environment in the crust, but we can't say for sure."