<p>Follow-up…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well… I did attend the Consequence-Based Engineering Institute, which was a week-long crash (maybe a poor choice of words?) course in earthquake engineering and disaster mitigation. I didn’t get a badge, but I got a t-shirt! :)</p>
<p>The article about elevated seismic activity was in the LA Times. They aren’t sure why, but maybe SoCal is going into an period of more activity as it has been relatively quiet the past few years.</p>
<p>Here’s the article from the LA Times: [L.A</a>. Quake Surge: Recent String of Earthquakes is Most in 10 Years for Southern California - latimes.com](<a href=“http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/ktla-quake-surge,0,922615.story]L.A”>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/ktla-quake-surge,0,922615.story)</p>
<p>Hunh. That’s interesting… I hadn’t seen that; thanks for the link! And yep, it’s too early to really say what the implications of the surge are, which is why seismologists are saying that they haven’t figured out what’s causing it. There’s no real overt cause, so from their perspective, it’s not really ‘better’ or ‘worse’ and it doesn’t say anything about what’s going to happen in the future… this is just ‘different’. In the seismic world, ‘different’ just means that you’ve got an anomaly. It’s not good, it’s not bad, it just is. With earthquakes, you just kind of have to roll with the punches, clean up the aftermath, and learn what you forgot to account for each time you have new data. It’s trial and error, to a certain extent. (Luckily, in California, they’re getting really good at reducing the “error” part of “trial and error” in seismic design… We know a lot more about how to design good buildings and infrastructure now than we did a hundred years ago, and our buildings and infrastructure are withstanding earthquakes better and better as we go along.)</p>
<p>EDIT:
If you’re in a seismically-active area… California, Seattle, St. Louis, Memphis, Charleston, Hawaii… PLEASE read this.
<a href=“http://www.ktla.com/media/acrobat/2010-03/52771424.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ktla.com/media/acrobat/2010-03/52771424.pdf</a>
Shift happens! Dare to prepare!</p>
<p>Yeah, I try not to freak out about quakes. I’m as prepared as I can be at home and my job is super duper prepared.</p>
<p>Back in the Jurassic when I was a geology grad student, we were taught that lots of small to middling earthquakes in California were a good thing. Smaller shifts, smaller damage. Longer between shifts, bigger shifts. Let the faults lock up too long, and the “big one” will hit. (as if there will only be one “big one” for all time!)</p>
<p>
Well, in geological time, the last few years is nothing… the number of years people have actually been in SoCal isn’t statistically significant.</p>
<p>It’s a fact that there is movement of the earth’s plates, and what happens will happen. All we can do is take whatever precautions we can to minimize damage to structures & minimize human injury/loss of life. Nature is powerful, awesome, etc. There is a lot of pent-up energy underneath the ground (and seas).</p>
<p>“I feel the earth move under my feet …” (sorry, couldn’t help myself)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If there’s one thing that I’ve learned for certain in the ten years since I started studying structural engineering, it’s that even with all the boundaries we’ve pushed and the things we think we’ve mastered as human beings, Mother Nature could shake us right off her back if she had half a mind to.</p>
<p>Yea, it’s always a good thing to prepare for the worst and expect the best. We do that a lot around here. I noticed that at the last tsunami, stores have finally wised up to folks who buy massive quantities (hoarding) & then return it when the danger has passed. The stores put up signs that all sales are final on these items and NO RETURNS. I think that was a very good thing as I’m irked by those who buy much more than they need at the 11th hour so that others who need can’t get their needs met.</p>
<p>List of Earthquakes 5.5 magnitude or more</p>
<p>-January 5, 2010
Salomon Islands
6.9, 6.2 &7.2 magnitude</p>
<p>-January 12, 2010
Haiti
-7.0 magnitude</p>
<p>-January 15, 2010
Venezuela
5.6 magnitude</p>
<p>-February 27, 2010
Chile
8.8 magnitude
Okinawa
7.0 magnitude</p>
<p>March 3, 2010
Southern Taiwan
6.4-magnitude</p>
<p>-March 5, 2010
Sumatra
6.5 magnitude</p>
<p>-March 8, 2010
Turkey
6.0 magnitude</p>
<p>-March 16, 2010
Chile
6.7-magnitude</p>
<p>-March 25, 2010
Philippines
6.1 magnitude</p>
<p>-March 16, 2010
Southern California
4.4 magnitude</p>
<p>-April 5, 2010:
Mexico’s Baja California :
7.2 magnitude </p>
<p>-April 7, 2010
Indonesia
7.7-magnitude </p>
<p>-April 11, 2010:
Spain
6.2 magnitude </p>
<p>-April 14, 2010:
China
6.9 magnitude </p>
<p>-April 17, 2010:
Papua New Guinea
6.3-magnitude</p>
<p>Should we count the volcano too?</p>
<p>Nah, volcano incidents happen all the time, too. Those are typically underwater.</p>
<p>I really think we’re gonna be okay, in general. This is not a harbinger of global apocalypse.</p>
<p>But my friend tells me these are the signs of the End of Days … ;)</p>
<p>Iceland wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t located smack dab on top of the Mid-Atlantic ridge. It can only grow by volcanic activity. Most of the many eruptions each year don’t measure on the gobal register because they don’t throw ash into the higher atmosphere.
So, if your friends start to link this to global warming, the coming apocopolypse, star charts, Mayan calanders, etc - no, it’s just what the earth does… This one has blasted some sand into the flight zones. Nothing new here…</p>
<p>Don’t forget the giant solar eruption that took place not long ago - the biggest eruption in 15 years!</p>
<p>Remember, this is a scientific phenomenon, so people, don’t worry about the government being wrong with expected number and size of earthquakes. Unlike Wall Street, this is something outside sociological factors. All the difference from before and now is media coverage, which is just change in perspective.</p>
<p>List of Earthquakes 5.5 magnitude or more</p>
<p>-January 5, 2010
Salomon Islands
6.9, 6.2 &7.2 magnitude</p>
<p>-January 12, 2010
Haiti
-7.0 magnitude</p>
<p>-January 15, 2010
Venezuela
5.6 magnitude</p>
<p>-February 27, 2010
Chile
8.8 magnitude
Okinawa
7.0 magnitude</p>
<p>March 3, 2010
Southern Taiwan
6.4-magnitude</p>
<p>-March 5, 2010
Sumatra
6.5 magnitude</p>
<p>-March 8, 2010
Turkey
6.0 magnitude</p>
<p>-March 16, 2010
Chile
6.7-magnitude</p>
<p>-March 25, 2010
Philippines
6.1 magnitude</p>
<p>-March 16, 2010
Southern California
4.4 magnitude</p>
<p>-April 5, 2010:
Mexico’s Baja California :
7.2 magnitude </p>
<p>-April 7, 2010
Indonesia
7.7-magnitude </p>
<p>-April 11, 2010:
Spain
6.2 magnitude </p>
<p>-April 14, 2010:
China
6.9 magnitude </p>
<p>-April 17, 2010:
Papua New Guinea
6.3-magnitude </p>
<p>-April 26, 2010
Taiwan
6.5-magnitude</p>
<p>Of course this discussion is moot now that we know the real cause of earthquakes: </p>
<p>“‘Many women who do not dress modestly … lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes,’ [senior Iranian cleric] Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi was quoted as saying by Iranian media…”</p>
<p>[Scantily-dressed</a> women cause earthquakes, Iranian cleric says - Telegraph](<a href=“Scantily-dressed women cause earthquakes, Iranian cleric says”>Scantily-dressed women cause earthquakes, Iranian cleric says)</p>
<p>Yes, women are so powerful…poor men don’t stand a chance against us, especially when we decide to dress immodestly. But who knew we could control the earth so easily?</p>
<p>We’ve been thinking of where we could relocate with retirement (out of the snowbelt) and between earthquakes, tornados, and other negative factors it becomes impossible to find utopia… No wonder most people stay put- they prefer the hazards they know…</p>
<p>That’s one benefit of the Midwest. Besides snow, you don’t have to worry about earthquakes/hurricanes/tornadoes (unless you live in the plain part of the midwest).</p>