Japan's quake: Why California is next

[MarineUS]

Japan's quake: Why California is next
Massive earthquakes sometimes trigger temblors across oceans, says Simon Winchester in Newsweek. And science suggests that, after Japan, the Big One could be coming to California
posted on March 14, 2011, at 11:25 AM

Best Opinion:  Newsweek

"Mankind inhabits this Earth subject to geological consent," says Simon Winchester in Newsweek. And, as demonstrated by the earthquake and resulting tsunami that brought Japan to its knees, this consent "can be withdrawn at any time." Japan sits "at the junction of a web of tectonic-plate boundaries that make it more peculiarly vulnerable to ground-shaking episodes than almost anywhere else." But the disaster there can't be viewed in isolation. When one side of a tectonic plate shifts, "the Earth becomes like a great brass bell, which when struck by an enormous hammer blow on one side sets to vibrating and ringing from all over." This can trigger catastrophe on faraway edges of the same great plate, which could be bad news for California. Here, an excerpt:

There was a horrifically destructive Pacific earthquake in New Zealand on Feb. 22, and an even more violent magnitude-8.8 event in Chile almost exactly a year before. All three phenomena involved more or less the same family of circum-Pacific fault lines and plate boundaries.... Now there have been catastrophic events at three corners of the Pacific Plate — one in the Northwest, on Friday; one in the Southwest, last month; one in the Southeast, last year.

That leaves just one corner unaffected — the Northeast. And the fault line in the northeast of the Pacific Plate is the San Andreas Fault, underpinning the city of San Francisco. ...

All know that the San Andreas Fault is due to rupture one day — it last did so in 1906, and strains have built beneath it to a barely tolerable level. To rupture again, with unimaginable consequences for the millions who live above it, some triggering event has to occur. Now three events have occurred that might all be regarded as triggering events. There are in consequence a lot of thoughtful people in the American West who are very nervous indeed — wondering, as they often must do, whether the consent that permits them to inhabit so pleasant a place might be about to be withdrawn, sooner than they have supposed.

Read the full article at Newsweek... http://www.newsweek.com/2011/03/13/the- … -come.html

[Tyrannis]

this isent a secret. i believe the thought is that someday an earthquake will be strong enough to break california off from the mainland.

[F22RaptorDude]

Tell me Doctor, could this have any affect on Yellow stone? 

[Gh0stFT]

well, there is enough time before 2012 

[TOMCAT21]

I think the latest I heard about a massive quake hitting California is within the next 30 years

[jd]

I think the latest I heard about a massive quake hitting California is within the next 30 years

I was born in SF 43 years ago and I've been in the bay area the whole time. I've been hearing within the next 30 years for at least 30 + years. my point is there is no point in predicting something you cant predict. Just be ready...!!

[morfiend]

 Too late,we already had 1 in Canada yesterday..... but seriously it was only a 4.3 centered around the Ottawa area.

 These are rare but we've had a couple in the last few years,certainly nothing compared to events in Japan!


  Stay save Rolex!!!!



   

[Slash27]

this isent a secret. i believe the thought is that someday an earthquake will be strong enough to break california off from the mainland.

False.

[RoGenT]

As someone mentioned above, no one can really predict the next big earthquake and where. I know they have been saying the big one that shall 'damn California to the sea' for many, many, many years and it'll be in the next 30 years (almost as much as the whole '2 weeks!' answer from AH). I have no doubt sooner or later it happen; 30 years, 30 days, 30 hours, 30 minutes for now, no one knows for sure. The key thing is to be prepared for it, and hope when it happens, you are fully prepared as hoping. I keep extra pair of shoes in the bathroom. My friend asked me why I do that and I told her that I was reading a story from a earthquake survivor (I think it was the Bay area one). He was in the bathroom at the time when it hit and the mirror shattered. When he was able to get out, his feet were cut pretty good by the glass. So since I read that, I keep extra pair of shoes in there, and extra for my son whenever he is visiting me.

[Yeager]

don't worry fellas, you will each get your own unique painful grizzled death in due time.  No one gets out of here alive.

[Babalonian]

Japan's quake: Why California is next
Massive earthquakes sometimes trigger temblors across oceans, says Simon Winchester in Newsweek. And science suggests that, after Japan, the Big One could be coming to California
posted on March 14, 2011, at 11:25 AM

Best Opinion:  Newsweek

"Mankind inhabits this Earth subject to geological consent," says Simon Winchester in Newsweek. And, as demonstrated by the earthquake and resulting tsunami that brought Japan to its knees, this consent "can be withdrawn at any time." Japan sits "at the junction of a web of tectonic-plate boundaries that make it more peculiarly vulnerable to ground-shaking episodes than almost anywhere else." But the disaster there can't be viewed in isolation. When one side of a tectonic plate shifts, "the Earth becomes like a great brass bell, which when struck by an enormous hammer blow on one side sets to vibrating and ringing from all over." This can trigger catastrophe on faraway edges of the same great plate, which could be bad news for California. Here, an excerpt:

There was a horrifically destructive Pacific earthquake in New Zealand on Feb. 22, and an even more violent magnitude-8.8 event in Chile almost exactly a year before. All three phenomena involved more or less the same family of circum-Pacific fault lines and plate boundaries.... Now there have been catastrophic events at three corners of the Pacific Plate — one in the Northwest, on Friday; one in the Southwest, last month; one in the Southeast, last year.

That leaves just one corner unaffected — the Northeast. And the fault line in the northeast of the Pacific Plate is the San Andreas Fault, underpinning the city of San Francisco. ...

All know that the San Andreas Fault is due to rupture one day — it last did so in 1906, and strains have built beneath it to a barely tolerable level. To rupture again, with unimaginable consequences for the millions who live above it, some triggering event has to occur. Now three events have occurred that might all be regarded as triggering events. There are in consequence a lot of thoughtful people in the American West who are very nervous indeed — wondering, as they often must do, whether the consent that permits them to inhabit so pleasant a place might be about to be withdrawn, sooner than they have supposed.

Read the full article at Newsweek... http://www.newsweek.com/2011/03/13/the- … -come.html

Wow... really?... Newsweek.... thought they could at least use google of fu!@ing the USGS website!  California recently has had three - not 0, not 1, not 2, but, yes, THREE! - large/major earthquakes in our territory/vicinity, directly along the ring of fire.  One just last year South of the border that caused a measurable amount of damage to the regions that live along it in California and that was very noticabley felt as far north as Bakersfield and Santa Barbara.  I believe also within the last year there was a sizable one, causing notable damage and disruption to this place that thankfuly most this country and state always forget about, Northern California, and one that also hit that area only a couple years before that (the Eureka-Humboldt area). 

The Ring of Fire (San Andreas) goes off-shore north of San Fran, but it doesn't disapear or just end there, it continues close enough offshore the entire US mainland on the west coast to be as big a threat to everyone living along it as to the people of Japan (lookout Oregon and Washington!).

That entire article is a CROCK!  I hope Newsweek didn't pay that writer.

Hey, Kermit, Newsweek says you haven't had any earthquakes hit you recently and we're all living in this state gonna explode into a raging ball of fire soon because we haven't, care to comment?

[Jayhawk]

Just waiting for that big one here in Kansas

[Lepape2]

Well, I like to compare this seismic hazard map:


to this map (List of nuclear plants in North America):


No better than Japan I'm afraid. But no one can predict when catastrophic earthquakes are due until its too late to prevent damage such as we have seen in the last week. We feel too damn well safe in our houses when the forces of nature can rip us out of it in the blink of an eye. However, these articles are just media sensationalism and not to be taken seriously unless numbers from credible sources are out and help show both sides of the coin first.

[ROX]

I have seen some recent (last few days) scientific studies that lean toward the New Madrid Fault area is due next.

We've been having small (1.0 to 2.0's) here for the last 2 months on a daily basis.

If it really does go BIG---Memphis is going to be mostly toast.

[crazyivan]

this isent a secret. i believe the thought is that someday an earthquake will be strong enough to break california off from the mainland.

We all know the Earth's movement will reverse someday and we'll be going back in time jessh.