The Pacific Rim...

[streetsoldier]

Seems to be going haywire with seismic activity from Chile to Taiwan, Japan to Hawaii, etc. etc.

Is there some gigantic tectonic plate shift progressing, of which we have been kept in the dark?

[HURAKAN]

I don't see anything outside the norm. Chile is prone to great earthquakes, they have the record for experiencing the largest ever in 1960, 9.5 in the Richter Scale. There hasn't been any significant quakes in Hawaii. Taiwan and Japan are also very prone to earthquakes. I like to follow earthquakes, although not as much as hurricanes, but I really don't see anything abnormal happening. We need to be happy that the Earth remains geologically active. We depend on it.

[Aslkahuna]

There's a reason the Pacific Rim is called the Ring of Fire. But as Hurakan mentioned, things don't seem extraordinarily active.

Steve

[somethingfunny]

It should be remembered that by most accounts most of the major faults in California are "overdue" - these releases along other sections of the Pacific Plate might signify that a major rupture in California will occur sooner rather than later. Honestly I'd prefer it happen sooner, because the longer those faults build up potential energy, the more destructive the release will be when it finally happens.

[RL3AO]

I don't see anything unusual. Its just the past handful of strong quakes have hit near populated areas.

A 7.0 earthquake that hits 50 miles offshore of Japan is a one day news story. A 7.0 earthquake that hits under one of the poorest major cities on the planet is a sign that the Earth is ending in 2012. Go figure.

[somethingfunny]

CNN made a front page story out of a 4.4 180 miles southeast of Honolulu last night. We can criticize their news editors all we want, but people are clicking these stories and they're getting ad revenue, which is what drives the news cycle these days....what stories attract the most interest, not what stories are the most relevant or important.

Anybody else remember the "Summer of the Shark" when seemingly every week someone was getting attacked by a shark somewhere and it was BIG NEWS? It was during 2001. After 9/11 amazingly, shark attacks apparently ceased to occur. It seems like we're now having a "Season of the Earthquakes"

Someone might write a well-researched news article showing the amount of earthquakes, earthquake damage and earthquake deaths recorded last year, the year before and the previous decade, compared to the rate at which they're occurring now....but nobody will put it on the front page because it won't attract as many readers.

[Cyclenall]

I don't see anything unusual. Its just the past handful of strong quakes have hit near populated areas.

That is what is really happening, a lot of quakes near populated areas all at once but I still think this is going to be a bad year for Earthquakes overall.

Anybody else remember the "Summer of the Shark" when seemingly every week someone was getting attacked by a shark somewhere and it was BIG NEWS? It was during 2001. After 9/11 amazingly, shark attacks apparently ceased to occur. It seems like we're now having a "Season of the Earthquakes"

Just like how 2009 was the year of Airplane incidents, Shootings, and Celebrity deaths.

[TYNI]

CNN made a front page story out of a 4.4 180 miles southeast of Honolulu last night. We can criticize their news editors all we want, but people are clicking these stories and they're getting ad revenue, which is what drives the news cycle these days....what stories attract the most interest, not what stories are the most relevant or important.

Anybody else remember the "Summer of the Shark" when seemingly every week someone was getting attacked by a shark somewhere and it was BIG NEWS? It was during 2001. After 9/11 amazingly, shark attacks apparently ceased to occur. It seems like we're now having a "Season of the Earthquakes"

Someone might write a well-researched news article showing the amount of earthquakes, earthquake damage and earthquake deaths recorded last year, the year before and the previous decade, compared to the rate at which they're occurring now....but nobody will put it on the front page because it won't attract as many readers.

CBC's The National did a small segment last night on the number of earthquakes, comparing to recent years, and we are around the same target numbers as what has been "normal".

[Dionne]

The Pacific Ring of Fire has been active for thousands of years. The plates are always moving. The reason we're seeing more deaths caused by earthquakes is due to population density increasing.

[KWT]

I think as others have said its because of where they have hit that is getting the attention...its much like hurricane seasons, to the general public in the US some busy seasons may have seen quiet as to where they have tracked, whilst 1992 may have been slow but may have felt busy because of Andrew alone.

[streetsoldier]

This subject interests me, because I'm a former FEMA Director, search-rescue team commander, and I'm living within 180 miles of the also-overdue New Madrid Fault. Down at the epicenter, the soil will liquefy; here, we're built on river-bluff bedrock, so the result will be a "shake-and-break" rather than "rolling waves".

[Dionne]

Another good one.....7.2Mw.....near Santiago. Definitely some movement going on........


CNN now reporting 3 "aftershocks" within 27 minutes....7.2, 6.8 and 6.0. Keep in mind the 7.2 is more than 10 times stronger than the 6.0.

[Aslkahuna]

In terms of energy release, a 7.2 is more like nearly 40 times stronger than a 6.0. On the moment magnitude scale each full magnitude equates to 32X the energy release of the next lower whole magnitude. However, in terms of the magnitude of the primary shock the 7.2 was merely part of the aftershock sequence. Those industrial grade main shocks are going to have some really hefty aftershocks as things settled into the new configuration. Big shocks in 1906, 1960 and 2010-that zone off of Chile is really unstable. Three 8.5+'s at 50 year intervals-only the zone from the Kuriles through the Aleutians to SE AK seem as active.

Steve

[Dionne]

In terms of energy release, a 7.2 is more like nearly 40 times stronger than a 6.0. On the moment magnitude scale each full magnitude equates to 32X the energy release of the next lower whole magnitude. However, in terms of the magnitude of the primary shock the 7.2 was merely part of the aftershock sequence. Those industrial grade main shocks are going to have some really hefty aftershocks as things settled into the new configuration. Big shocks in 1906, 1960 and 2010-that zone off of Chile is really unstable. Three 8.5+'s at 50 year intervals-only the zone from the Kuriles through the Aleutians to SE AK seem as active.

Steve

I was aware that the "equation" changed on magnitude.....although I do not have the math skills to interpret or understand a logarithm beyond 10. Like you, suggest it is 40. I know it's just numbers.....but they get really big. We really don't have it figured out yet. We may never know.

FYI....originally an 8.6 and years later upgraded to a 9.2.....south central Alaska.....3/27/64......I was there. It's not just the ground shaking and liquefaction.....the entire infrastructure fails long term. Like Katrina. And just like a hurricane....the water comes in....people die and communities must relocate.

We're short term.