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Dec 1, 2008 11:45 AM | 11
Some California residents are all shook up after a moderate 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck about 150 miles west of Eureka on Friday, and a handful of minor quakes rattled interior Southern California over the weekend. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
The first tremblor hit off the Pacific coast at 5:42 a.m. local time (8:42 a.m. Eastern), according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Two magnitude-4.1 quakes struck north of Trona, Calif., yesterday and Saturday, the USGS said. Seven smaller quakes ranging from magnitude 3.0 to 3.3 hit before and after those shakeups.
The earthquakes serve as a reminder to Californians that their state sits on fault lines. Much more rare: a spate of minor earthquakes in central Arkansas last month that now has seismologists wondering if bigger ones are to come, the Associated Press reports.
Five quakes ranging in magnitude from 2.2 to 2.7 struck the area in November, prompting seismologists to plan to install three seismographs around Magnet Cove, where one of the temblors occurred, to determine whether they were hydrothermal quakes (from super-hot fluid under Earth’s surface that causes rocks there to move), or stemmed from an undiscovered fault, the AP says. If it’s the latter, more quakes could strike the area, which doesn’t typically experience them.
"It is abnormal. It is significant," Haydar Al-Shukri, director of the Arkansas Earthquake Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, told AP. "We need to carefully watch this activity."
For more on earthquakes, including how they’re predicted and measured, see our in-depth report.
Image of seismograph machine by iStockphoto/James Benet
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11 Comments
Add CommentWell, even if this recent spate of quakes is NOT an indicator of things to come, it's still a good idea to install monitors in AR and keep tabs on what's up there.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSure .... they need government funding also! Especially in light of the upcoming "feel good" politics.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI look for the strongest activity near the Lunar and Solar eclipses,,, Jan 25th & Feb 9th... This will be the stongest pushing and pulling effect on oceanic and atmospheric tides.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThats pretty scary! At least with hurricanes you KNOW they are coming, earthquake can come at anytime with no warning!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.anonymity.cz.tc
The word is "temblor" meaning earthquake, NOT "tremblor" as in paragraph two of the news
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisUh oh. An increase in earthquakes? Do I need to start giving my money to "earthquake neutral" companies to offset whatever it is I'm doing to cause this increase?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEarthquakes in the east are not a new thing. They just aren't as frequent or as big as west coast ones, so do not recieve the news coverage that the California ones get.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEzzy, Your comment that the earthquakes to the area east of the west coast are smaller than those on the west coast is incorrect if you include the one that created Reelfoot lake in the early 1800s. That quake was felt from as far as Boston, over 1200 miles to the east.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI don 't see how--the Clinton's have moved out.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWouldn't be nice if a EQ warning/tracking system existed like there is for hurricanes? It is only a matter of time before a major quake hits a populated area and more than structural damage will have to be worried about. More attention needs to be paid to finding the warnings the earth gives us before it decides to shake, rattle and roll. I've been following research by a company in northern CA called Quakefinder (www.quakefinder.com). They may be onto something as their research into data gathered from sensors near the Alum Rock quake in Oct 2007 are very intriguing. I encourage all to check them out and see their theories and research into electromagnetic fields and earthquakes.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe USGS predicted a major earthquake for the New Madrid Fault in Dec. 2005. The expectation was that the floor of Lake Michigan would drop one whole foot. That is why the prophets were seeing huge tidal wave hit Chicago. With prayer and repentance just like Nineveh in the book of Jonah, Chicago was spared. Read Matthew 24 for starters if you do not take this seriously. We should have food stores, grainries in place that will not split and spill. We know earthquakes are coming. People should pray and have water and food on hand to last a month. In such an hour as thou thinkest not, the Son of man cometh. We need tents made since after Katrina it was learned that there were not enough tents in the whole world for the need down there. Turn a listening ear to the LORD. As it was in the days of Noah...... New Orleans, Las Vegas and San Francisco, Los Angeles...
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