California Earthquake

[chilliwilli (imported)]

We just got our fires 100% contained today....yeah!!! So what a little bitty quake.

Norcal Boy-

chilli

[randy (imported)]

i wouldnt exactly say bitty

here is a video of two people making a web video and being cought in the earthquake. it shows how unserious a 5.4 really is. i give them credit, they followed the 5 rules of being in an earthquake to a T.

1. think what the hell is that at the window.

2. say something out loud like oh damn damn earthquake.

3. think its funny/look at things shaking.

4. realize you could be in serious danger

5. run for cover.

fast forawrd to about 4:30-4:45

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7Iz_sQNd4o

[Riverwind (imported)]

They said that today's earthquake was the strongest since 1994. I would rather live with earthquakes then Tornado's. Hurricanes and snow blizzards...oh my! (just had to). I have lived in California all my life and only experienced a handful of earthquakes.

What concerns me most is a earthquake on the Mississippi river which happened in 1812 and is overdue.

I was thinking about that,

New Madrid Earthquake, one of the largest earthquakes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake) ever recorded in the contiguous United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_United_States), occurred on February 7 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_7), 1812 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1812). It got its name from its primary location in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Madrid_Seismic_Zone), near New Madrid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Madrid%2C_Missouri), Louisiana Territory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Territory) (now Missouri (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri)). This earthquake was preceded by three other major quakes: two on December 16 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_16), 1811 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1811), and one on January 23 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_23), 1812 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1812). These earthquakes destroyed approximately half the town of New Madrid. There were also numerous aftershocks in the area for the rest of that winter.

There are estimates that the earthquakes were felt strongly over 50,000 square miles (130,000 km²), and moderately across nearly 1,000,000 sq mi (3,000,000 km²). The historic San Francisco earthquake of 1906 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Franci ... ke_of_1906), by comparison, was felt moderately over 6,000 square miles (16,000 km²).

It also changed the direction of the Mississippi river and moved it several miles, I forgot which direction but one town was in Illinois and after was in Missouri, or the other way around. By the way New Madrid is in the south eastern tip of Missouri.

And to think I moved from California to St Louis to get away from earthquakes. Now I live in beautiful Wisconsin, home of the frozen tundra.

River

[Uncle Flo (imported)]

A few River Lore notes: The current location of New Madrid is not its location at the time of the "New Madrid Earthquake" . That location is now under water. The river ran "backward" (northbound) because it was running into a large subsidence created by the earthquake. The name of the town is pronounced as " New MAD-rid" (emphasis on the first sylable. And, just for good measure Cairo, Illinois is pronounced "Kay-ro) --FLO--

[Kangan (imported)]

We had a 5.2 near Mt. Carmel, Illinois back in April. We felt it quite strongly where we live on the baks of the Ohio river. It cracked the concrete slab in my garage. Since then we have had around 8 strang (3.0 or more) aftershocks. Now I have a second crack in my garage apron.

Recently the wife and I visited Reelfoot Lake State Park in Tennessee. The visitor center there has some interesting photos and technical descriptions of the big one back in 1811-12. You can still see major terrain disruptions cused by that one in the surrounding areas. The ground waves were reported to be some 16-feet high in amplitude and turned entire cabins over, etc. You can imagine the mess if it happened today!

[coinflipper_21 (imported)]

I was thinking about that,

New Madrid Earthquake, one of the largest earthquakes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake) ever recorded in the contiguous United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_United_States), occurred on February 7 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_7), 1812 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1812). It got its name from its primary location in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Madrid_Seismic_Zone), near New Madrid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Madrid%2C_Missouri), Louisiana Territory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Territory) (now Missouri (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri)). This earthquake was preceded by three other major quakes: two on December 16 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_16), 1811 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1811), and one on January 23 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_23), 1812 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1812). These earthquakes destroyed approximately half the town of New Madrid. There were also numerous aftershocks in the area for the rest of that winter.

There are estimates that the earthquakes were felt strongly over 50,000 square miles (130,000 km²), and moderately across nearly 1,000,000 sq mi (3,000,000 km²). The historic San Francisco earthquake of 1906 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Franci ... ke_of_1906), by comparison, was felt moderately over 6,000 square miles (16,000 km²).

It also changed the direction of the Mississippi river and moved it several miles, I forgot which direction but one town was in Illinois and after was in Missouri, or the other way around. By the way New Madrid is in the south eastern tip of Missouri.

And to think I moved from California to St Louis to get away from earthquakes. Now I live in beautiful Wisconsin, home of the frozen tundra.

River

The New Madrid quake of 1812 may have been one of the strongest earthquakes experienced anywhere, ever! To give you an idea, it happened in Missouri and rang the church bells in Boston. Various estimates have been made of it's strength from descriptions of the damage at various distances from the estimated epicenter, but it was at least an 8.0, about twice as strong as the 7.8 San Francisco earthquake of 1906. ("Richter Scale" is logarithmic, to the base 10. i.e. an 8.0 is ten times as strong as a 7.0.) Since there was no way to record the intensity of the earth movement at the time, might have been much higher. Since virtually nothing in the central and eastern United States is built to earthquake resistant standards, as are structures in California, when the next big one hits there (And, it's a matter of when, not if.) we'll really see just how this country handles a disaster.

Of course, the real stinker was the 9.1 to 9.3 Indian Ocean quake that caused the great tsunami of 2004. That was strong enough to move the entire island of Java 83 feet to the east as confirmed by GPS locators. Evidence suggests that there have been earthquakes that strong, in the US, both on the Pacific coast and in the Midwest. Kind of gives you the shakes thinking about it.

[Riverwind (imported)]

And we think were going to stop global warming. If Mother Earth decides she is going to ______________ there is nothing we can do about it.

River

[Blaise (imported)]

The New Madrid quake of 1812 may have been one of the strongest earthquakes experienced anywhere, ever! To give you an idea, it happened in Missouri and rang the church bells in Boston. Various estimates have been made of it's strength from descriptions of the damage at various distances from the estimated epicenter, but it was at least an 8.0, about twice as strong as the 7.8 San Francisco earthquake of 1906. ("Richter Scale" is logarithmic, to the base 10. i.e. an 8.0 is ten times as strong as a 7.0.) Since there was no way to record the intensity of the earth movement at the time, might have been much higher. Since virtually nothing in the central and eastern United States is built to earthquake resistant standards, as are structures in California, when the next big one hits there (And, it's a matter of when, not if.) we'll really see just how this country handles a disaster.

Of course, the real stinker was the 9.1 to 9.3 Indian Ocean quake that caused the great tsunami of 2004. That was strong enough to move the entire island of Java 83 feet to the east as confirmed by GPS locators. Evidence suggests that there have been earthquakes that strong, in the US, both on the Pacific coast and in the Midwest. Kind of gives you the shakes thinking about it.

It does, doesn't it!

[moi621 (imported)]

A benefit to California being riddled with

faults is that earthquakes in one are absorbed

by the any.

In the Mid West, as there are way fewer faults,

the quake of a same magnitude travels much farther

and is more destructive.

[Blaise (imported)]

A benefit to California being riddled with

faults is that earthquakes in one are absorbed

by the any.

In the Mid West, as there are way fewer faults,

the quake of a same magnitude travels much farther

and is more destructive.

I wondered about that. Thanks.