Posted on 04/13/2010 7:10:57 PM PDT by bd476
KTLA NewsSoCal Experiencing Surge in Earthquake Activity
70 quakes greater than a magnitude 4.0 have struck the region this year -- more than any year in the past decade.
KTLA News
11:08 AM PDT, April 13, 2010
LOS ANGELES -- Southern California, along with Baja California, has seen a surge in moderate earthquake activity this year and scientists are trying to figure out what's causing the uptick.
There have been 70 quakes greater than a magnitude 4.0 so far this year. That's the most of any year in the last decade -- and, it's only April. There were 30 in 2009 and 29 in 2008.
Seismologists say they are looking into the recent surge but they can not yet fully explain it.
The string of earthquakes could mean that Southern California might again be entering a more active seismic period, and more significant quakes could be on the way, according to experts.
Scientists also said the increase does not mean the Big One is more likely to hit.
Egill Hauksson, a geophysicist at Caltech, told The Los Angeles Times that the rate of quakes in the region is "probably . . . picking up again" after a relative lull that lasted more than a decade.
"What it means is that we are going to have more earthquakes than in the average year. With more earthquakes, we're bound to have more bigger ones. But there are always fewer of those than the smaller ones."
Caltech seismologist Kate Hutton said experts would like to be able to explain the surge, but "there's no real correlation with any cause."
Many of the quakes this year have been aftershocks to the 7.2 magnitude temblor that struck the Mexicali area, killing two people. The border had previously experienced a swarm of earthquakes.
Scientists say one of their biggest concerns remains the San Andreas fault, which has produced some of the state's largest earthquakes and is said to be overdue for a major event.
LOL! Thanks Willie.
Thanks Libloather.
Thanks for the link and reference material, ETL. :)
Fresno is on the North American Plate. The server farm is here in Silicon Valley, east of the San Andreas, west of the Hayward. Too close to call...
Heading northbound? Lean right! LEAN RIGHT!
There is also the thought that an earthquake actually increases the amount of stress on a fault.
Now, just breaking, China:
http://www.foxnews.com/
I agree. Not only does the whole "sink into the Pacific" crap show an utter ignorance of geology, but they don't seem to realize that there are more NRA members (and thus conservatives) in California than any other state. Not to mention it isn't all palm trees and beaches here. We have the highest mountains outside of Alaska here.
Hey, I am hoping for beach front property here in Phoenix.
IMPOSSIBLE.
Strategerist did not authorize THAT!
Wait.
I have a LOT of loved ones there . . . FR’S base amongst them!
And there’s a lot of beautiful places there.
Thanks for the ping bd!
My neck is getting sore just sitting here doing refreshes of the USGS site this week! LOL
Lots of activity.
Wasn’t Larence Welk’s place in Fallbrook?
If you are thinking you will escape quakes in Utah, forget it. Utah is VERY seismically active, the great Wasatch Fault runs almost the entire length of the state. St. George is in the middle of a huge lava field. Try someplace like Iowa, or Minnesota, first. LOL!
True. We get over a hundred measurable shakes a day, and some of them, we actually feel. You are right.
Actually there were two school’s of thought. It started out as a 6.9 and then upgraded to a 7.2 There was discussion on a earthquake forum that there may have been two separate quakes...a 6.9 followed by a 7.2 all wrapped into one. That is still being studied. It would account for the length of that quake which seemed to last forever!
Silly boy, CA is too big to capsize. Now, if you put them on, say, Guam well it could go under in a heartbeat! But CA? Much too large to flip or capsize with the extra weight...
I just mentioned that to my partner here in Shanghai (she's Chinese), she said no problem, we have too many poor people in Qinghai anyway.
I guess when you're a nation of 1.3 billion, having 60-70 die is no big deal...
LOL! Bingo.
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