Posted on 10/01/2007 5:22:14 PM PDT by Blogger
Posted this question on another thread but had very little response. As I look at the ring of fire right now, there is a massive amount of activity, BIG activity in the Pacific ocean towards Asia. There is also a lot of activity in South America and a little in Central America. The only thing on my chart on the west coast that registered at 4.0 or above was a small quake in Oregon.
Question is, with all of these plates shifting, and the plates around our nation's plates staying pretty quiet, what is this doing to our risks of a massive release? The answer I received was that maybe a lot of these smaller ones are enough to relieve the pressure build up. Any seismologists or other earthquake experts out there?
To assume that stress must constantly build to the point where the result is a major quake seems erroneous. There are periods of time where continental plates slide along or under other plates more easily.
My geology professor used the analogy of a large bowl of oatmeal. As it cools, it hardens on top. Inside the bowl the oatmeal is still boiling and sending up the large bubbles of magma which propel the solid surfaces in different directions.
Given the size of our bowl of oatmeal, we often cannot visualize/predict tectonics on a world scale.
If this response wasn’t corny enuf, make yourself a pan of oatmeal. Then sit and observe the cooling oatmeal. If you want, you can even float some solids on the oatmeal to observe how they interact with each other as the food cools.
Sheesh, now I’m hungry. Off to the kitchen for............a bowl of oatmeal.
Merciless criticism from FRepers expected.
I felt an earthquake in the Pacific Northwest
this morning at 6:16am, but can’t find a
report. Is there a site that paralels the
international time zones? I’d like to see
if there was an earthquake somewhere in the
world at that time.
Are you certain that it wasn't merely the death rattle of Seattle's soul as it collapses under the vile weight of the Marxist leviathan?
(((snicker)))))
I assume that you've tried at least a couple of different search engines with obvious keyword phrases such as "earthquake October 2007" "washington earthquake" "washington seismic activity" etc. etc
The U of W has a seismic lab with the traditional scrolling papers and wiggling pens that the hair-in-a-can 'journalists' rush to at the slightest tremor....they would probably know :-)
LOL!
I followed all the links on Drudge’s Quake Sheet.
Nothing but a quake in Seattle this afternoon in
registering the low 3’s. Nothing at 6:16am.
I’ve been looking for you too Jo. I saw one seismograph that had a minor blip around that time (if I’m reading correctly). You haven’t had any weird ear sounds or headaches today have you?
Here’s one of the seismographs with a blip
http://www.pnsn.org/WEBICORDER/SMO_SEA/BSFP_SNZ_UW.2007100112.html
This page may also possibly be of interest
Recent Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest
If that page doesn't give you the information that you want, you should harass the people at the U of W here....... be sure to adopt a belligerent demeanor if you call:
Earth and Space Sciences (Geology and Geophysics) at UW
Earth and Space Sciences
(Geology, Geophysics, Geological Sciences)
University of Washington
Johnson Hall 070 • Box 351310
4000 15th Avenue NE • Seattle, WA 98195-1310
Phone 206-543-1190 • Fax 206-543-0489
((((snicker)))))
Try Strategerist.
He’s pretty conservative on such things but he should give you a knowledgeable answer.
There is no ‘norm’ to measure it by.
My my. You are definitely on the
top of your snark tonight. Love it!
Good question.
The answer is no, they are not enough to prevent a massive, large event from occurring.
Your question has been described as being the difference between a “minute of terror” and a “decade of fear”. Studies in the Pacific Northwest have pretty much proven the “minute of terror” part. They went out to deep offshore oceanic chasms and took core samples from the bottom. Quakes show up in the samples because there is always a signature “falling” of sediment from up above when a moderate to large quake happens.
These studies helped pinpoint the last great seismic event in the Pacific Northwest/Cascade zone, IIRC a Magnitude 9+ that happened Jan 20, 1699, that disrupted 1,000 miles of the Pacific Coast and sent a tsunami to Japan that they still have preserved written records about.
So the “small ones” are not really relieving tension, they are an effect, as huge blocks of rock are cracked and crumbled and crushed. It could even be argued that the small ones cause the plates to become more interlocked, thus increasing the likelihood that a large one will happen, albeit possibly further out on the time scale.
Sadly, no number of “small ones” will stop the plates. But neither will the “big ones”.
Stategerist and I have already met and he was quite helpful.
Glad to read of it.
Thanks for your kind note.
((((BLUSHING)))))
Why thank you for your kind words :-)
Here's a nice piece of cheesecake for you.
I was thinking more on the order of 6+ for any significant stress relief.
Even then, it is an extremely inexact science and probably will remain so for my lifetime.
It’s Darksheare’s fault.
;-)
I thought that was a given..?
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