Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/2004 Cayman Islands earthquake (2nd nomination)


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 12:54, 5 July 2015 (UTC)

2004 Cayman Islands earthquake
AfDs for this article: 
 * – ( View AfD View log  Stats )

This was a large strike-slip undersea event near the Grand Cayman archipelago. The maximum intensity was VI (Strong), which would have startled residents and made a local newsworthy topic, but this insignificant event did not cause any damage and was not covered in the scientific circles. Other events have occurred in that area, but there was no lasting impact from this one, and there doesn't appear to be any material available to expand the article.

A few of us in Wikiproject Earthquakes construct articles on noteworthy events using journal articles, books, and earthquake catalogs. This event was not looked at closely (by seismologists) and so no journal articles are dedicated to it. It does have a one-line entry in the catalogs, but this limited amount of information leaves us with nothing to write about. What we're trying to do in the project is write articles about meaningful events and consolidate and/or delete articles on insignificant items. That is what this AFD amounts to. There is a need to start or expand articles on many earthquakes, but this one is not one of them.

"John Lewis, head of investment and pension fund administration at the Bank of Butterfield on Grand Cayman, called the earthquake a non- event. "A number of us were in the office," he said. "It lasted about 10 seconds, the building shook and there was no damage. It was mostly just a topic of conversation around the water cooler this morning.""

- Clair, Chris. (December 15, 2004) Magnitude 6.7 Quake Shakes Caymans Daily News (New York)

The head honcho of our WikiProject is a geologist and has put together these notability guidelines for earthquakes. By looking at these criteria, someone who is not involved in WP:Earthquakes and doesn't write about earthquakes at all may not be able to see how this event does not align. An event would have to be exceptional in some way in order for an article to be created (or kept) that does not correspond with these guidelines. Dawnseeker2000 19:57, 28 June 2015 (UTC)


 * Delete per nom. The epicenter was deep down in the water 20 or so miles from Grand Cayman, and only "made several holes in the ground in parts of Grand Cayman island though there were no reports of damage to the buildings." It could be part of a List of earthquakes in the Cayman Islands or List of earthquakes in the Caribbean Sea, but it doesn't merit its own article. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:19, 28 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Caribbean-related deletion discussions. North America1000 23:57, 28 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Environment-related deletion discussions. North America1000 23:57, 28 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Events-related deletion discussions. North America1000 23:57, 28 June 2015 (UTC)

Comment Responding to the pinging. Five years after the last discussion, I regret to say that the original deletion argument-- that this had no enduring notability-- seems to have been true after all. As I said in 2010, it would be preferable if this were part of an article called "Earthquakes in the Caribbean", which are uncommon. If someone can show that there are still mentions of it (as in 2010), it might make a difference; at the moment, I think that the passage of time has demonstrated that it had no lasting impact-- it's forgettable and now forgotten. Mandsford 20:35, 29 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Comment: Pinging Articles for deletion/2004 Cayman Islands earthquake participants User:Aditya, User:Mandsford, User:Mo ainm, and User:MelanieN. Cunard (talk) 03:47, 29 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Merge to new article → List of earthquakes in the Cayman Islands and link from Lists of earthquakes. This is the strongest earthquake on record in CAY (6.8 is pretty high) but since it occurred offshore and caused no damage, a list would be better., . I'll just do it if nobody minds. Ping me and let me know if you don't think this is a reasonable alternative.  —Мандичка YO 😜 14:20, 30 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Response: Wikiproject Earthquakes is starting to organize our lists by notable events. This is a work in progress that's just getting started and will mean removing some entries from our current lists. All of our list articles should be focused towards the common selection criteria for (for notable entry) lists. In this case, we're going for notable events, and this event wouldn't qualify because the notability guidelines for earthquakes apply. Dawnseeker2000  16:20, 30 June 2015 (UTC)
 * No problem, I definitely defer to Wikiproject EQ's organization. —Мандичка YO 😜 17:53, 30 June 2015 (UTC)


 * Delete - The possible claim to notability would be "unusual earthquake in an area of low sismicity". Because of this I feel that claim is not vindicated - sure, it was an outlier, but low-intensity earthquakes are not exceptional in that region either.
 * As a side note, I do believe that pure mainstream coverage could be enough to make an earthquake notable, though WP:ROUTINE applies in many cases. So I would take the project's "being mentioned in the mainstream media is not in itself evidence of notability" with a grain of salt (= common sense). Tigraan (talk) 08:57, 1 July 2015 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.