OT: Mega-Quake in California?

[Crxsh]

Reading some news today:

 

Like a steaming kettle with the top on, pressure is building beneath the surface of California that could unleash a monster earthquake at any time. That's according to a new study from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. Geologists say Southern California is long overdue for a huge earthquake that could unleash widespread damage. It all comes down to the Salton Sea, which lies to the east of San Diego. The Salton Sea lies directly on the San Andreas Fault and covers more than 350 square miles. A big earthquake has hit the lake bed about every 180 years. But when officials started damming the Colorado River to reduce floods downstream (including in the Salton Sea), the moderate earthquakes stopped for the Salton. Sounds like a good thing, right? Not necessarily. Seismologists think the damming stopped moderate stress-relieving earthquakes on the Salton. Now, they fear the pressure is building and the area could be as many as 100 years overdue for a mega-quake quake, measuring 7.5 or larger. "The San Andreas fault is highlighted in red. It strikes through the heart of Southern California, including the Salton Sea."

Thoughts?

[LowWoods]

Phil, move your studio to my house ASAP!!!

[CicadaSilence]

In before Tool reference.

[pepperduck]

Being from California that is some scary news. Old news but scary nonetheless.

 

You can almost feel it in the air.

 

But what are you gonna do?

[cryptosonic]

Been reading these stories since I was born, it's nothing new. Honestly earthquakes are a lot scarier to other folks than they are to us because we've been living with them forever. We don't skip a beat unless the quake is big enough to really destroy some {censored}. Ever since Northridge and Oakland the California seaboard has been built and reinforced so much the only things I really worry about are Diablo Canyon and San Onofre. It's drought and wildfire that kills us every year, and state government.

[pepperduck]

 

Been reading these stories since I was born, it's nothing new. Honestly earthquakes are a lot scarier to other folks than they are to us because we've been living with them forever. We don't skip a beat unless the quake is big enough to really destroy some {censored}. Ever since Northridge and Oakland the California seaboard has been built and reinforced so much the only things I really worry about are Diablo Canyon and San Onofre. It's drought and wildfire that kills us every year, and state government.

 

 

I agree with this as well. To a certain extent.

 

I think that we are due for a big "tear {censored} up earthquake" and that is scary even having lived through a lot of them.

 

 

I hate the "rolly wavy" kind. I'd much rather deal with the jarring abrasive type.

[Ryan.]

In before Tool reference.

Came to say 'learn to swim'.

[ilyich100pesos]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpmgO4BTNCc

[cryptosonic]

I don't mind them at all until they hurt people. It's kind of like fog or real June monsoon, happening so infrequently that it is more of a curiosity than imminent threat. Plus disaster preparedness is so absolutely drilled into us as young people at school that I'd feel naked without a weeks worth of supplies in the house and three days worth in the car. I've done about everything I can short of trying to physically stop the ground from shaking, nothing more to do except wait and hope the next one is light and remote.

 

 

I agree with this as well. To a certain extent. I think that we are due for a big "tear {censored} up earthquake" and that is scary even having lived through a lot of them. I hate the "rolly wavy" kind. I'd much rather deal with the jarring abrasive type.

 

[bdemon]

No matter where you are you gotta deal with some sort of Nature-influenced disaster. So you read the tip sheet and hope for the best.

[Phil O'Keefe]

There's also the issue of location and distance. While it's true that we're probably overdue for a large quake on the southern half of the San Andreas fault, it's a BIG fault, and much of it is relatively distant from large population centers. Other parts of it go right through large population centers, so the amount and type of damage will depend, in a large degree, on where it strikes. If it hits the Salton Sea, the casualties and damage will be much lower than if it hits downtown San Bernardino.

 

If you look at the image on the right....

 

 

The Salton Sea (an entirely man-made and accidentally created body of water) is on the right side of the picture. The area is divided up by counties - you can just make out the county lines if you look close. The northern tip of the Salton Sea is in the south eastern corner of Riverside County. I am located in the far side of the county - in the extreme north-western corner. Find that spot on the map, and if you look close, you'll see I'm in an area marked in yellow, not red... but directly to my north (about 15-20 miles) is a much closer section of the San Andreas. If that cuts loose, it would probably be much harder for me than if it breaks in the Salton Sea area.

 

Downtown LA is even less likely to be significantly affected by a rupture in the fault out in the Salton Sea area... but again, the fault line runs diagonally across the area, so there are closer areas of the fault further north and west. But people focus in on the San Andreas and the "big one" (last rupture - about 1860, with major events averaging roughly every 150 years or so); the Southern California area is criss-crossed with dozens and dozens of faults. Some are much much smaller and can produce only small earthquakes, but others are large enough to potentially put a magnitude 7 directly under downtown LA (Newport / Inglewood fault) or a bit closer to me (San Jacinto fault) or east - west across the entire basin (Puente Hills fault). And those are just the faults we know about. Sometimes they discover new ones deep underground, only after they rupture and cause an earthquake.

 

When you grow up in California, you learn to do what you can to be earthquake safe... you have your bug-out bag and emergency kit, stashes of drinking water and food, first aid kits, emergency wind-up radio, batteries and lanterns, etc. They say we should plan on having to be self-sufficient, without any outside assistance, for three to four days, minimum. Now if a 8.5 or 9 kicks in (and unlike Washington / Oregon's Cascadia fault, most geologists think the San Andreas, the largest fault in the local area, is only "good for" an 8), we could wind up in much worse shape than we planned for, and even an 8 - no matter where it hits in southern California, is going to be very bad... but I don't think we're going to be in a situation like the one that recently affected Japan. The fault can't kick out a 9+ quake. But an 8, or a 7 under downtown, could still be really, really bad...

 

Of course, I could live in Tennessee, where floods or tornadoes would be my nemesis, or in Florida, and have to watch for hurricanes and floods... pretty much where ever you decide to live, SOME sort of natural catastrophe can potentially reach out and wreck your whole life, so I try not to worry about it all too much...

[Phil O'Keefe]

It's drought and wildfire that kills us every year, and state government.

 

Quite true... although when a really large quake hits, it can obviously do some extensive damage.

[Jules-RM]

Seattle first. That's going to be a doosy.

[tattoedsailor]

I more concerned about fault lines off the coast.. San Onofre is in my backyard.

[Parah Salin]

My earthquake survival kit? A 6 pack and a fleshlight.

[tim gueguen]

The thing you really need to worry about if there's an earthquake there is deadly mollusc monsters being unleashed!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050722/

[Crxsh]

Of course, I could live in Tennessee, where floods or tornadoes would be my nemesis, or in Florida, and have to watch for hurricanes and floods... pretty much where ever you decide to live, SOME sort of natural catastrophe can potentially reach out and wreck your whole life, so I try not to worry about it all too much...

 

I'm ready to get out of Indiana... but short of the occasional tornado, we're pretty solid here in the midwest.

 

Interesting info.

[LSDis4me]

A large earthquake coming to California? That gives me tremors.

[spoonie g]

Worse than that, all of yellowstone is basically a supervolcano and has been due to erupt for hundreds of years. But eh, whatta ya gonna do?

[CicadaSilence]

I'm a big fan of disasters, natural and otherwise. Reminds humanity of it's place in the scheme of things.

[savoldi]

A repeat of the 1906 quake is inevitable. You've got the middle of the fault moving an inch and a half a year and both ends immobile and locked, if what I've read is accurate. Some areas had a displacement of 20 feet or so way back when, and that wasn't even the epicenter.

[SpectralJulian]

There's also the issue of location and distance. While it's true that we're probably overdue for a large quake on the southern half of the San Andreas fault, it's a BIG fault, and much of it is relatively distant from large population centers. Other parts of it go right through large population centers, so the amount and type of damage will depend, in a large degree, on where it strikes. If it hits the Salton Sea, the casualties and damage will be much lower than if it hits downtown San Bernardino. If you look at the image on the right.... The Salton Sea (an entirely man-made and accidentally created body of water) is on the right side of the picture. The area is divided up by counties - you can just make out the county lines if you look close. The northern tip of the Salton Sea is in the south eastern corner of Riverside County. I am located in the far side of the county - in the extreme north-western corner. Find that spot on the map, and if you look close, you'll see I'm in an area marked in yellow, not red... but directly to my north (about 15-20 miles) is a much closer section of the San Andreas. If that cuts loose, it would probably be much harder for me than if it breaks in the Salton Sea area. Downtown LA is even less likely to be significantly affected by a rupture in the fault out in the Salton Sea area... but again, the fault line runs diagonally across the area, so there are closer areas of the fault further north and west. But people focus in on the San Andreas and the "big one" (last rupture - about 1860, with major events averaging roughly every 150 years or so); the Southern California area is criss-crossed with dozens and dozens of faults. Some are much much smaller and can produce only small earthquakes, but others are large enough to potentially put a magnitude 7 directly under downtown LA (Newport / Inglewood fault) or a bit closer to me (San Jacinto fault) or east - west across the entire basin (Puente Hills fault). And those are just the faults we know about. Sometimes they discover new ones deep underground, only after they rupture and cause an earthquake. When you grow up in California, you learn to do what you can to be earthquake safe... you have your bug-out bag and emergency kit, stashes of drinking water and food, first aid kits, emergency wind-up radio, batteries and lanterns, etc. They say we should plan on having to be self-sufficient, without any outside assistance, for three to four days, minimum. Now if a 8.5 or 9 kicks in (and unlike Washington / Oregon's Cascadia fault, most geologists think the San Andreas, the largest fault in the local area, is only "good for" an 8), we could wind up in much worse shape than we planned for, and even an 8 - no matter where it hits in southern California, is going to be very bad... but I don't think we're going to be in a situation like the one that recently affected Japan. The fault can't kick out a 9+ quake. But an 8, or a 7 under downtown, could still be really, really bad... Of course, I could live in Tennessee, where floods or tornadoes would be my nemesis, or in Florida, and have to watch for hurricanes and floods... pretty much where ever you decide to live, SOME sort of natural catastrophe can potentially reach out and wreck your whole life, so I try not to worry about it all too much...

I feel pretty safe in Western PA. Tornadoes are rare and generally weak, earthquakes are rarer and weaker, floods are relatively common in the valleys but if you live on a hill like I do, problem solved. Sometimes there is too much snow. But not that much compared to the great lakes region. It's pretty peachy here.

[gambit]

i' wondering if my life would benefit from the fear of a one-off earthquake vs. the adverse effects of living in {censored}ing England the rest of my life.

[Phil O'Keefe]

What's wrong with #$%^& England?

[gambit]

What's wrong with #$%^& England?

 

its made me who i am today.