Rare Earthquake in Minnesota

Thunder? No, make that an earthquake in western Minnesota

Excerpt:

A rare earthquake, albeit modest, rippled in and around Alexandria in western Minnesota early Friday.

The temblor at 2:20 a.m. measured 2.5 in magnitude, falling into the "weak" category, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Not surprisingly, there were no reports of damage or injury.

The quake probably "felt like a truck rumbling by or thunder," said USGS geophysicist John Bellini.

Comment: More details from USGS. Image capture from Star Tribune article (first link). Interesting Minnesota earthquake history here. Info on the Largest Earthquake in Minnesota (July 1975). I've never experienced and earthquake. Kathee was in San Francisco on business once and experienced one. (Not that I want too!)

Larger earthquakes - sign of the times? or something more?

Are larger earthquakes a sign of the times?

Excerpt:

Beginning in late 2004, a flurry of massive, tsunami-spawning earthquakes have rocked the world, first slamming Indonesia, then Chile and most recently Japan. Temblors that size are rare indeed: only 7 quakes as large or larger than 8.8 — the magnitude of last February's Chilean event — have occurred since 1900.

So what does it mean that three of those seven shocks have happened almost within the span of six years? While some scientists argue that these 'megaquakes' could be the vanguard of an extended outburst of strong seismic events, many others suggest that the apparent cluster of recent temblors is nothing more than a statistical fluke.

Comment: Maybe something more! See "earthquake" in NT. Consider "there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth" (Revelation 16:18)

The Pacific Northwest and a megaquake

Northwest at risk of earthquake like one in Chile

Excerpt:

The disaster in Chile has brought new attention to an undersea fault along the Pacific Northwest capable of producing the same type of mega earthquake and inflicting heavy damage on bustling cities like Seattle, Portland and Vancouver.

The fault has been dormant for more than 300 years, but when it awakens -- tomorrow or decades from now -- the consequences could be devastating.

The last rupture unleashed the largest known quake to hit the Lower 48 -- a magnitude-9 that sent tsunami waves crashing into Japanese coastal villages.

Recent computer simulations of a hypothetical magnitude-9 quake found that shaking could last 2 to 5 minutes -- strong enough to potentially cause poorly constructed buildings from British Columbia to Northern California to collapse and severely damaging highways and bridges.

Such a quake would also send powerful waves rushing to shore in minutes. While big cities such as Portland and Seattle would be protected from severe flooding, low-lying seaside communities may not be as lucky.

The Pacific Northwest "has a long geological history of doing exactly what happened in Chile," said Brian Atwater, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and University of Washington. "It's not a matter of if but when the next one will happen."

The Pacific Northwest fault behaves much like the one that broke offshore Chile that triggered a magnitude-8.8 quake. Shaking lasted 2 1/2 minutes and the temblor destroyed or badly damaged 500,000 homes.

Located just 50 miles off the coast, the 680-mile-long Casacadia fault is part of several seismic hotspots around the globe where plates of the Earth's crust grind and dive. These so-called subduction zones give rise to mountain ranges, ocean trenches and volcanic arcs, but also spawn the largest quakes on the planet.

There's an 80 percent chance the portion of the fault off southern Oregon and Northern California would break in the next 50 years and produce a megaquake.

Comment: Interesting

Top 10 Quakes

Graphic source

Wiki: Ring of Fire

How vulnerable is the US to quakes?

Are We Prepared for an 8.8 Quake?

Excerpts:

Fortunately, we do not expect a magnitude-8.8 earthquakes to be widespread in the United States. Such large magnitude earthquakes require very long faults that are capable of rupturing all at once. Only two such faults appear to have the capability to generate very large earthquakes: the Cascadia subduction zone along the coast of Washington, Oregon, and Northern California and the Aleutian subduction zone along the southern coast of Alaska.

Geologic evidence suggests the Cascadia fault last ruptured in 1700 and generated a 9-magnitude earthquake. In 1964, the Aleutian fault generated a 9.5-magnitude quake. The only other fault of comparable length is the San Andreas fault, but it appears to rupture along shorter segments and generate slightly smaller earthquakes.

Paradoxically, one effect of very long fault ruptures is that the shaking generated at the far end of the fault will be reduced by the time it travels to the other end of the fault. Distance is your friend in the earthquake business. Thus, the threat from these very large earthquakes is duration not strength of shaking. For example, the 1964 Alaskan earthquake lasted more than 4 minutes, whereas the magnitude-6.9 Loma Prieta quake in 1989 lasted less than 10 seconds.

...

Beyond California, there are many areas — Oregon, Washington, Utah, the New Madrid region that includes Memphis, the Southeast and Northeast — that are facing major earthquakes and are not doing enough about it. The lack of significant earthquakes in those regions in the modern era has left policymakers with only the possibility of disaster and not a ready example of what can happen.

Of the areas outside of California, the central United States remains my greatest concern. A major earthquake similar to those that occurred in the early 1800’s would devastate the region and have a serious impact on the national economy.

Comment:

The Earth Utterly Shaken

Big quake question: Are they getting worse?

Excerpt:

One scientist, however, says that relative to the time period from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, Earth has been more active over the past 15 years or so.

Comment: The ultimate one! Revelation 16:17-19

Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell.

Chile vs Haiti

Chile was ready for earthquake, Haiti wasn't

Excerpt:

Chile is wealthier and infinitely better prepared, with strict building codes, robust emergency response and a long history of handling seismic catastrophes. No living Haitian had experienced a quake at home when the Jan. 12 disaster crumbled their poorly constructed buildings.

Comment: K and I are almost through the Bible. Now in Revelation and soon to start over. Currently both of us are using ESV study Bibles. Great notes! If interested, there are a lot of references to earthquakes in the NT.

A humdinger of an earthquake!

Comment: I'm a futurist on the Book of Revelation (I believe the events of Revelation 6 to the end of the book are future.) Why am I a futurist? Answer: Revelation 1:19, "Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this" AND Revelation 4:1, "Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this"

Thinking about Earthquakes, I find these references in Revelation interesting

Keyword Search results: Earthquake

Note the 16:18 reference:

And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth

Also found this WIKI article interesting: Largest earthquakes by magnitude & Deadliest earthquakes on record

The Revelation 16:18 earthquake is said to be "as had not occurred since men were on the earth"!

That's gonna be a humdinger of an earthquake!

Quake moves New Zealand 12"

Massive quake moves NZealand closer to Australia

Excerpt:

A massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake last week has moved the south of New Zealand closer to Australia, scientists said Wednesday.

With the countries separated by the 2,250-kilometre-wide (1,400-mile-wide) Tasman Sea, the 30 centimetre (12 inch) closing of the gap in New Zealand's southwest won't make much difference.

But earthquake scientist Ken Gledhill of GNS Science said the shift illustrated the huge force of the tremor, the biggest in the world so far this year.

Comment: Now that's some power!

What .... only $ 50,000?!

US gives 50,000 dlrs for quake-hit Italy

Excerpt:

The United States said Monday it would donate 50,000 dollars in emergency aid to Italy after a powerful earthquake killed at least 100 people.

"We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed in the earthquake. Our embassy in Rome will provide 50,000 (dollars) in emergency relief funding," State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters.

Comment: I find this hard to believe: With trillions being thrown here and there and billions given to banks, and automakers; we are only giving Italy $ 50,000 for earthquake relief!?

Chinese Communism: "the party stands naked"

Earthquakes and the Mandate of Heaven

Excerpts:

The massive quake that shook China's Sichuan province this week is one of the worst natural disasters – in terms of lives claimed and property destroyed – that the world has seen in some time. But an earthquake, according to Chinese tradition, is not a mere act of nature, nor is it simply a matter of fate. Traditionally, every earthquake announces profound changes that will affect the entire society.

...
Journalists on location, as well as survivors, likewise observe that the buildings first to crumble, and that killed the most victims, were public edifices – schools and hospitals. Everyone in China knows that a common form of corruption in the ranks of the Communist Party consists in economizing on materials and construction standards.

Children crushed by the walls of their school are victims of the corruption of builders, businesses and government officials as much as they are victims of the earthquake. This the people know, and all the gesticulations of aid agencies and national leaders will not be able to eradicate this source of collective hatred of the people towards the party.

So it is with China and with tyrannical regimes: The party is convinced it controls everything. But it is often unexpected events that reveal fault lines in the system, the hypocrisy of public discourse, and the most unbearable injustices. Even as the people of Sichuan attempt to recover from this deadly quake, we learn that scores of children have died from an epidemic of hand, foot and mouth disease that has sickened tens of thousands. All of this reminds us of the panics of recent years provoked by the SARS virus, avian flu and the AIDS epidemic.

Epidemics and natural catastrophes (or not-so-natural catastrophes, if the Three Gorges Dam should also crumble) are more serious threats to the Communist tyranny than democratic pamphlets disseminated on Web sites. The party has resolved to imprison dissidents. But in the face of viruses, popular beliefs and earthquakes, the party stands naked.

Comment: Check out earthquake in the book of Revelation. The coming "BIG ONE": "there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth." (Revelation 16:18)

China: Lax building codes contributed to disaster

An Unnecessary Tragedy

Excerpt:

China's massive earthquake wasn't without precedent. In 1993, a magnitude 7.5 tremor killed about 9,000 people in the northwestern Sichuan Basin. Monday's event happened when, according to the United States Geological Survey, the Earth's crust underlying the high Tibetan Plateau edged west, rubbing up against the crust underlying the Sichuan Basin and southeastern China. It was a shallow event, meaning the collision happened only a few miles below the Earth's surface -- intensifying the destruction. Its tremors were felt even 2,000 kilometers away, in Bangkok.

The Chinese government was aware of this threat and took measures to protect against it. In 2006, Chinese regulators updated the country's building codes and made major changes in regard to new buildings' required "earthquake loads," or the ability of a structure to withstand shaking. China's code is now on par with similar codes in seismically active areas of the world. China has become one of the most active users of modern approaches of structural control and health monitoring of civil infrastructure structures. Virtually all major new civil structures, such as long bridges and athletic stadiums, are heavily instrumented with sensors that can detect and assess rapid changes in the building's condition. Innovation is booming.

As in other countries, however, China's problem is that there are many older structures that do not meet the stricter new codes, or don't maintain it once the building is constructed. From initial reports, the geographical distribution of destruction suggests that near the center of the industrial city of Chengdu, where the damage has been limited, building codes had been enforced. But in the rural areas -- which were hit hardest -- these codes weren't followed. This pattern, where the surrounding, poorer areas of large cities suffer the most casualties, is often observed in the aftermath of natural disasters in developing nations. The types of catastrophic collapses seen in the first news reels from China this week are reminiscent of similar scenes most recently from Bam in Iran in 2003 and Turkey in 1999.

Those earthquakes were of a smaller magnitude but had a similar impact in terms of deaths. And many of those deaths were entirely unnecessary. There is no excuse for the collapse of schools or other public buildings such as hospitals, whether they were built recently or decades ago. If any local authority wanted to use public buildings that did not meet current codes, Beijing could have required local governments to retroactively strengthen those structures. In this regard, the Chinese government can do much better.


Comment: Lindsay T. from 4th Baptist has friends in Dujiangyan

Island lifted 10 feet

A man looks at an exposed coral reef on the remote island of Ranongga. The seismic jolt that unleashed the deadly Solomons tsunami this week lifted an entire island metres out of the sea, destroying some of the world's most pristine coral reefs

Quake lifts Solomons island out of the sea

Excerpt:

In an instant, the grinding of the Earth's tectonic plates in the 8.0 magnitude earthquake Monday forced the island of Ranongga up three metres (10 foot).

Submerged reefs that once attracted scuba divers from around the globe lie exposed and dying after the quake raised the mountainous landmass, which is 32-kilometres (20-miles) long and 8-kilometres (5-miles) wide.

Corals that used to form an underwater wonderland of iridescent blues, greens and reds now bleach under the sun, transforming into a barren moonscape surrounding the island.

Comments:

Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883, by Simon Winchester, is a fascinating book that describes plate tectonics. The above article describes a recent dramatic lifting of the earth!