Harrat Lunayyir, Saudi Arabia

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A swarm of thousands of earthquakes that struck the corner of Saudi Arabia nearest to Egypt in 2009 helped reveal that the area is unexpectedly volcanically active. Scientists had largely thought northwest Saudi Arabia was quiet, geologically speaking. Few earthquakes and few volcanic eruptions have been recorded there in the past millennium. However, between April and June 2009, more than 30,000 micro-earthquakes struck an ancient lava field there named Harrat Lunayyir, with 19 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or greater, including one quake that fractured walls at a nearby town. The image was acquired October 8, 2006, covers an area of 57 x 57 km, and is located near 25.2 degrees north latitude, 37.8 degrees east longitude.

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Harrat Lunayyir, Saudi Arabia Type: (JPG) Size: (2,168,505 bytes) Resolution ( 3,816 x 3,808 )