Quakes galore

[mubs]

Just had a 5.7 about 15 minutes ago. Shook pretty bad. Then there was that offshore (California) one a couple of days ago. And the one in Chile a few days before that.

Maybe living out in the open in a tent is a good idea.

[Buck]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsUS/Maps/US2/33.35.-118.-116.html

[Onomatopoeic]

...And the one in Chile a few days before that...


Alaska has been getting some significant bumpy rumblers lately as well.

[Handruin]

Laura is on her way to oakland, CA right now. :-? Is all that earthquake activity normal?

[Groltz]

Laura is on her way to oakland, CA right now.

Voluntarily??? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/groltz/evil7.gif


Is all that earthquake activity normal?

No. Usually many months go by without having one that is strong enough to be perceptible.

[sechs]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsUS/Maps/US2/33.35.-118.-116.html

http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Maps/125-41.html

It seemed more ominous when the big square was red.

It *was* strange to be under a tsunami warning, if only for about forty-five minutes.

[LOST6200]

The recent earthquake activity is perfectly normal.

[Handruin]

Laura is on her way to oakland, CA right now.

Voluntarily??? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/groltz/evil7.gif


Is all that earthquake activity normal?

No. Usually many months go by without having one that is strong enough to be perceptible.

She's out there for a training to keep her CPA license active. Plane just landed a few minutes ago.

[sechs]

The recent earthquake activity is perfectly normal.

Normal? It's been expected.

There's normally twenty or so earthquakes around here every day. One of the recent large ones was on a fault that was "overdue."

[Buck]

Interestingly, I live in a high-risk zone for earthquakes, yet there can easily be a few years between them. However, after living here for decades, it is normal to have earthquakes. As a matter of fact, if we don't have them for a while, I hear people saying 'it's time for another earthquake' or 'this is earthquake weather'. When we have one or a few earthquakes people tend to say 'it's about time' or 'we were overdue for one'. So, yes in a sense, it is normal because of the expectation.

[This, of course, is stated regarding earthquakes that we feel. Technically there are hundreds of tremors a day, almost all of which we do not feel.]

The interesting alert we had was with the tsunami. My house should be fine, since I'm 5 miles from the coast and 300-feet above sea-level, but there would be a lot of damage to homes, commercial structures, and most importantly, transportation corridors, such as highways and freeways. It would be interesting to see a computer model of a 100-foot tsunami hitting my coastal area. There would certainly be damage to the nuclear power plant and two local sewer treatment facilities. All of the local hospitals are a few hundred feet above sea-level and away from the immediate coast-line. So, let's see, no power or sewage, and possible radiation leak . . . hmmmm.

[iGary]

Just in the various California seismic regions alone, you normally have at least several hundred seismic events each 24-hour period. VERY few are detectable without seismometers. Unless you live down in a basement carved into solid bedrock, you generally aren't likely to notice anything much below 4.0 on the Richter scale -- maybe a swaying chandelier if you are observant, which could've just as easily been caused by a puff of wind from somewhere.




As a matter of fact, if we don't have them for a while, I hear people saying 'it's time for another earthquake' or 'this is earthquake weather'. When we have one or a few earthquakes people tend to say 'it's about time' or 'we were overdue for one'...

As far as the "latest" thinking goes, it's looking like this line of thought is actually not valid per se (i.e. -- tension building up; no significant tremors in a while; the next earthquake is going to be big because we haven't had a series of small tremors to release the pent-up energy along the fault lines).

Some of the latest thinking about abundance of significant earthquake activity -- on land -- goes along the lines of how much water, generally in the form of rain, has soaked into particular fault zones. Once an abundance of water has flowed into these susceptible fault zones, earthquakes will become more frequent.

Had a lot of rain recently??? :-?

[Buck]

Some of the latest thinking about abundance of significant earthquake activity -- on land -- goes along the lines of how much water, generally in the form of rain, has soaked into particular fault zones. Once an abundance of water has flowed into these susceptible fault zones, earthquakes will become more frequent.

Had a lot of rain recently??? :-?



Cool! Although we've had some pretty nasty earthquakes during drought seasons.

[iGary]

Cool! Although we've had some pretty nasty earthquakes during drought seasons.

Point being made earlier is, in essence, that water provides lubrication, therefore the fault becomes more active.

I recall something happening about 10 or 12 years ago, where the water level of Lake Elsinore dropped suddenly over a few days time, causing some seismologists to believe a bad seismic event was about to happen. Nothing bad happened, but something not-so-good to do with the fault certainly occurred.

[Buck]

I recall something happening about 10 or 12 years ago, where the water level of Lake Elsinore dropped suddenly over a few days time, causing some seismologists to believe a bad seismic event was about to happen. Nothing bad happened, but something not-so-good to do with the fault certainly occurred.

For some reason I don't remember that, but if any lake suddenly drops its level, I'd be worried. The water went somewhere underground.

[sechs]

Cool! Although we've had some pretty nasty earthquakes during drought seasons.

Point being made earlier is, in essence, that water provides lubrication, therefore the fault becomes more active.

How does this type of theory apply to underwater faults, such as the one off the California-Oregon coast spawning two of the recent large earthquakes?