Earthquake!

oosik · Nov 12, 2013

The wife & I had just moved to Anchorage, Ak prior to the Good Friday quake in 1964. It was a real ground mover, however, we got many in the 4.5 - 5.2 per month after that and by the time we left AK in 1982 quakes were a normal expected occurrence. You didn't get really excited until that chandelier in the hallway really started swinging.

Xfaxman · Nov 12, 2013

There have been 10 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or greater, in the last 7 days in central Oklahoma.

Click for locations: USGS

oosik · Nov 12, 2013

You know - what you say Xfaxman - I would be searching for something very solid to hang on to. There was one amazing thing came out of the '64 quake. Those who went thru it and remained inside swore they would be outside for any future big ones and those who were outside wanted to be inside.

2LaneCruzer · Nov 12, 2013

Xfaxman said:
There have been 10 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or greater, in the last 7 days in central Oklahoma.

Click for locations: USGS

I'm just about a mile from one of those.

SPIKER · Nov 13, 2013

I know one thing the high Pressure injection wells where they are disposing the Frack Fluid into have caused what are becoming known as cluster quakes. They are shallower and come close together with less magnitude than a natural quake. There have been hundreds noted in recent years around these high pressure injection wells here in Ohio. They have recently put some bans in place from what I remember hearing. I'm OK with the Fracking and Drilling of the wells (Production) themselves but the disposal wells are a different story in my opinion.

I moved out to CA for 2 years just a few weeks after Northridge quake, into High Desert Edwards AFB. I was there for several smaller and one pretty good quake. I woke up (worked 2nd shift) feeling really panicked for some reason, a few seconds later it all broke loose with the quake. I had to jump out of bed and grab my big ole TV that was up on the horizontal shelf. It almost fell off it slid forward about 6" dropped the front legs off the top and was sliding farther ahead. a second later it would have slid all way off of that I'm sure. I have felt 2 earthquakes here in Ohio that were actually centered one above Lake Erie and one to the south east in last 5 years. Felt one back in 85 or 86 when I was in school on 2nd floor but the shaking was not uncommon in that building in winds so figured that was what it was...

The quake up in Canada was a pretty good one, and did some damage to the building I was working in that showed up as a pretty good crack thru the slab a few weeks later it shifted the floor ~1" & caused a sewer pipe to break as well. I told them about it showing up after the Quake but no one put 2 & 2 together other than me. The Lunchroom tile pulled apart and slid from the damage.

Mark

dave1949 · Nov 14, 2013

Some New Madrid fault earthquake history:
New Madrid, MO - Official Website - Strange Happenings during the Earthquakes

"The New Madrid earthquakes were the biggest earthquakes in American history. They occurred in the central Mississippi Valley, but were felt as far away as New York City, Boston, Montreal, and Washington D.C. President James Madison and his wife Dolly felt them in the White House. Church bells rang in Boston. From December 16, 1811 through March of 1812 there were over 2,000 earthquakes in the central Midwest, and between 6,000-10,000 earthquakes in the Bootheel of Missouri where New Madrid is located near the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

In the known history of the world, no other earthquakes have lasted so long or produced so much evidence of damage as the New Madrid earthquakes. Three of the earthquakes are on the list of America’s top earthquakes: the first one on December 16, 1811, a magnitude of 8.1 on the Richter scale; the second on January 23, 1812, at 7.8; and the third on February 7, 1812, at as much as 8.8 magnitude."

Gary Fowler · Nov 14, 2013

dave1949 said:
Some New Madrid fault earthquake history:
New Madrid, MO - Official Website - Strange Happenings during the Earthquakes

"The New Madrid earthquakes were the biggest earthquakes in American history. They occurred in the central Mississippi Valley, but were felt as far away as New York City, Boston, Montreal, and Washington D.C. President James Madison and his wife Dolly felt them in the White House. Church bells rang in Boston. From December 16, 1811 through March of 1812 there were over 2,000 earthquakes in the central Midwest, and between 6,000-10,000 earthquakes in the Bootheel of Missouri where New Madrid is located near the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

In the known history of the world, no other earthquakes have lasted so long or produced so much evidence of damage as the New Madrid earthquakes. Three of the earthquakes are on the list of America’s top earthquakes: the first one on December 16, 1811, a magnitude of 8.1 on the Richter scale; the second on January 23, 1812, at 7.8; and the third on February 7, 1812, at as much as 8.8 magnitude."

Of course all these numbers are just theoretical as they had no way of measurement back then and very few folks were living in the epicenter area at the time. They could have been larger OR smaller in amplitude than what is theorized. For sure no one was "fracking" or high pressure injection of anything then.

dave1949 · Nov 14, 2013

Gary Fowler said:
Of course all these numbers are just theoretical as they had no way of measurement back then and very few folks were living in the epicenter area at the time. They could have been larger OR smaller in amplitude than what is theorized. For sure no one was "fracking" or high pressure injection of anything then.

True. On the other hand, there is something down there we probably don't want to mess with. :laughing:

It is my understanding that the minor quake swarms in Ohio that SPIKER mentioned were linked with reasonable certainty to high pressure injection; being there is no other known cause to suspect, and given the coincidence of quakes and injections.

Pilot · Nov 18, 2013

Grew up in So.Cal. The 1954 Tehachapi quake center was 70 miles away, woke us up with rock & roll & it wasn't music. Magnitude 7.2. Then in'71 we had the Sylmar quake, a 6.6. And of course being California there were a lot of smaller ones over the years.

In about '67 I was stationed at Vandenberg AFB, 55 miles north of Santa Barbara. We lived in a government leased duplex. Another couple moved in one morning. They were from New York and as we got acquainted they asked about earthquakes. We were casual about the subject, saying yeah, they happen but usually not much to worry about. About 10 minutes after they went back to their unit, we had a quake, probably a 4 or maybe a 4.5. They came running over, "Was that an earthquake?" So they could write home and tell their relatives they hadn't been in California one day and they had experienced an earthquake.