In glaciated areas where the glacier moves faster than one km per year, glacial earthquakes occur. These are large scale temblors that have seismic magnitudes as high as 6.1. The number of glacial earthquakes in Greenland peaks every year in July, August and September and is increasing over time. In a study using data from January 1993 through October 2005, more events were detected every year since 2002, and twice as many events were recorded in 2005 as there were in any other year. This increase in the numbers of glacial earthquakes in Greenland may be a response to global warming.
How high can the seismic magnitude be of a glacial earthquake?
6.1