Double earthquake hits Atlantic: Geophysicist warns US is next, and it could happen this week

The US Geological Survey (USGS) detected two earthquakes in the Atlantic Ocean on October 13, which are likely part of a chain reaction taking place this year. A magnitude 6.7 quake struck at 1.44 am along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between Africa and South America. This region is already witnessing a slow split at the bottom of the ocean. The second quake was recorded at 8.23 am ET and measured 6.9.

This year multiple earthquakes have struck, including in Japan, Venezuela, Colombia and Panama and Indonesia. Geophysicist Stefan Burns told the Daily Mail that the Atlantic tremors were part of this sequence and the fault lines in America could be next. If this happens, it would be a major incident for the country, he said.

The Panama, Colombia and Venezuela earthquakes were triggered by seismic activity that struck the Caribbean plate, Burns said. He believes that the Atlantic Ocean earthquakes show how the seismic stress along that plate was now affecting the South American and African plates. He says this is called the "knock-on effect" in which the energy is transferred to the connecting plates. This means that the North American plate could be next.

A study that showed big earthquake could trigger several small quakes

A 2012 study published in the journal Nature showed that a powerful earthquakes could trigger more seismic activity across the world. Researchers from UC Berkeley and the USGS found that a magnitude 8.6 earthquake in the Indian Ocean shook different parts of the world in the following days. This included a magnitude 7.0 event in Baja California.

According to coauthor Roland Bürgmann, the "right kind of earthquake" could trigger smaller earthquakes and ultimately larger ruptures. They might be rare, but they are still a "real possibility."

The Atlantic "doublet" hints that there is movement happening between the South American and African plates following the ruptures in the Caribbean plate. Besides the earthquakes seen this year, with most 7 magnitude or higher, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the Cayman Islands in February 2025.

He wrote on X that there is a possibility that the pattern of large earthquakes along the plates bordering the Americas could trigger major seismic event this week. Forecasting earthquakes still remains almost impossible, but Burns's warning should not be dismissed as he predicted South America earthquake weeks before they happened.