STORM2K

http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/ ... 8958c.html

Well this thing of the big one for California I haved heard about it many years ago but still the big quake hasn't happened and I hope that never it comes.

I put in capital letters the word may because nobody knows when a big earthquake will happen as still there is no forecast in advance like the hurricanes that it will happen in 3 days.

The 1989 quake in the bay area wasn't the big one as it was 6.9 and over 7.0 is when they call those the most destructive ones.

The only thing to do for all the residents of the west coast is to pray that the big one never happens.

scary stuff. just go on with life until it happens though, bc you can't do much about techtonic plates!

:o: VERY VERY SCARY!

Some other areas of note that have seen the big ones and havent for a very long time.....

Charleston, SC......Which Stormsfury can elaborate more on....
Then there is another down in the Mo, Ark,Tn areas of the miss river.

So just dont go thinking that the west coast is the only area affected or due for a quake. :o ........Now thats scarey. :o

I'm not going to worry about this one, probably won't be here in 30 years.

One of the local channels here in SW MO did a report on the New Madrid fault line. It is due for a quake anytime. :o Earthquakes scare me sooooo much!

it's just a matter of time and which area of the Country you are talking about. In general, the east coast faults and the New Madrid have longer repose times than those in CA so the risk though there is smaller. Of particular importance to us in AZ is the repose time of the fault system reponsible for the MM8.0 shock of May 3, 1887 which if repeated today would put Tucson at risk for severe shaking along with the rest of SE AZ-this is why we are in the moderate risk zone here. The last two big shocks on the San Andreas were the MM7.8 Fort Tejon shock of 1857 and the MM7.7 Northern California shock of 1906. With an average repose time of 130 years, it would seem that SoCA section is due but paleoseismic studies show that the interval varies widely. The North section is a big ? because prior to the '06 shock there was a period of about 31 years where there were a series of damaging shocks along the various faults in and around the Bay Area. After '06 the whole network shut down until a MM6.0 on the Calveras in 1986 so this has seismologists concerned.

The LAX area has so many faults that the San Andreas is only one concern and the "Big One" may not even originate on it but could occur on one of the many blind or hidden faults in the area such as the Elysian Park Fault which runs right under the High Rise area of downtown and no city is prepared to take a direct hit.

The Cascadia Subduction zone which extends from the "Triple Point" off Cape Mendocino northward to a position off of southern BC is also an extremely dangerous situation as subduction zone shocks are longer in duration, and releas more energy as a general rule and pose the risk for severe tsunamis. The last major shock here apparently occurred in January 1700 based upon geological studies, native traditions, and the appearance of a damaging tsunami along the Pacific side of Honshu in Japan. That shock was estimated as around MM9.0. Studies along the Coast indicate a repose period of about 300 years or so. The Big One here would be a total disaster without equal in the US. The last MM9+ shock to occur on Earth was the Prince William Sound Earthquake in Alaska in 1964. This MM9.2 shock was felt in high rises in Seattle and underground complexes in MO and caused a seiche in the GOM. The tsunami caused damage and fatalities along the entire US West Coast. It was preceeded byt the strongest shock ever recorded-the MM9.5 Chilean shock of May 1960 which unleashed the last Pacific wide tsunami.

Steve

Quite detailed info there, Steve. I sure hope there isn't a magnitude anything above 5.0 while I'm around. :o

Here's a cool link to find recent quake sites:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

We had one in NE TN, 2.2 magnitude, on April 17th,
at 2:40am (I thought it was my snoring!), and, Bill
had one on April 21st at 11:22am, 2.0 magnitude,
just 25 miles south of Sikeston.

But, oh - look at California! :o

Those plates keep on moving!

Annette, I have been to the site above several time (although not in the recent weeks) It is a great site for the latest earthquake information. I am sure others will enjoy visiting it from time to time. Thank you for posting it.

I understand that southern New England is on a fault time, too. There have been some small earthquakes, I haven't heard of one recently... hope there was to release some stress.

The more frequent, weak earthquakes occur the better off we will be.

Has anyone discovered a way to artificially induce one that will only send LA/Hollywood drifting off to sea yet?

king of weather wrote:Some other areas of note that have seen the big ones and havent for a very long time.....

Charleston, SC......Which Stormsfury can elaborate more on....
Then there is another down in the Mo, Ark,Tn areas of the miss river.

So just dont go thinking that the west coast is the only area affected or due for a quake. :o ........Now thats scarey. :o

You are so right with this assessment, K.O.W. - Charleston, SC and also the New Madrid Fault Zone along the Mississippi River in SE Missouri are two well-known areas of risk outside of the Western States.

What makes these particular areas also dangerous is the far reaching effects from the shock ... The August 31st, 1886, Charleston, SC earthquake cracked sidewalks in Chicago, IL and was felt as far away as Bermuda.

More information on Charleston, SC (and SC) can be found at my website in the Earthquake Information Center.

In the caribbean there is a fault that is pretty active called the caribbean fault and then there is the anegada fault near the virgin islands and because of those plaques and faults here in Puerto Rico we haved suffered bug quakes over 7.0 in past centuries.But many smaller tremors occur here.