The 1906 Great San Francisco earthquake is one of the worst earthquake’s to happen yet. The magnitude was believed to be about a 7.8 on the Richter scale. What made it so destructive wasn’t just the magnitude of the earthquake but the fact that the fires were uncontrollable. These factors led to the San Francisco quake to be know as a tragedy.…
The New Madrid Earthquake lasted from 1811-1812 in New Madrid, Missouri. Geophysicist Mark Zoback had noted that the earthquakes were possibly caused by fault movement. On December 16, 1811, everyone in the New Madrid region was awaken at 2:15 AM by a big earthquake. The earthquake was felt from New England all the way over to Canada. Loud noises, and strange animal behavior were a part of the New Madrid Earthquake. House animals that had been tamed were acting crazy, while wild animals became tame.…
Los Angeles was built on a myriad of transform faults that include Santa Monica fault, the San Fernando fault, and Northridge/Santa Barbara fault. Even though these faults are not as well-known as the San Andreas Fault, where it margins are between the Pacific and North American plates that cross Southern California. Los Angeles is sitting near at least 60 known faults. The earth still moves frequently in these smaller less known areas. One example of this is the earthquake that was focused in the Northridge area happened in January 1994. It only lasted 30 seconds registering at 6.7 on the Richter scale but the aftershocks lasted for several days afterwards. Ground displacement is the second hazard main of earthquakes. Especially if there is a building or roadway on or near the fault line. This quake alone killed 60 people, and injuring thousands. It also caused fires and an explosion in the Granada Hills area, causing many buildings and freeways to collapse. There were also many homes left without power or water.…
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake was one of the biggest earthquakes California has ever had and people are still talking about it today. I have heard a lot about the earthquake and I know that it occurred on October 17, 1989 at 5:04pm and that it lasted 15 seconds. The earthquake was 6.9 on the Richter scale and was caused by a slip along the San Andreas Fault. People felt the earthquake for miles, from north of San Francisco to far below Santa Cruz. The earthquake killed 63 people, injured 3757 people, left 10,000 people homeless and caused over $6 billion dollars of damage. It was a big one!!…
The great San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a powerful earthquake that shook mainly the city of San Francisco (USA) the morning of April 18, 1906. The earthquake was of magnitude between 7.9 and 8.6 degrees Mw1 and its epicenter was according to the experts of the United States Geological Survey, on the coast of Daly City and southwest of San Francisco.…
Over time plate movement or subduction causes increasing strain on "sticking points" within the crust. Similar to if you rub two pieces of sand paper together, they will initially resist sliding until enough strain is built up. At that point, the "sticking point" is weakened and releases the built up strain. Before this theory was developed, scientists were unsure whether earthquakes caused faulting (plate movement) of faulting caused earthquakes.…
Earthquakes develop in the crust of the earth. The inner parts contains a lot of energy. Some of this energy can escape through cracks which can cause volcanic activity, but most of it is stored within the earth’s inner part, contained in the crust.The earth’s outer crust has rough edges and lines making it look a bit like a jigsaw puzzle.The energy stored here causes the pieces to slide, glide, knock and move around each piece. These pieces are also known as tectonic plates.…
While both the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake of Northern California, and the 2010 earthquake that devastated Port au Prince, and surrounding areas in Haiti, were very similar in magnitude (6.9 California, and 7.0 in Haiti), there is great contrast in the number of lives lost due to these natural disasters, with 63 dead in Santa Cruz county, and an estimated 220,000 lives lost in Haiti. From a geographical standpoint, the town of Léogâne was at the epicenter, of Haiti’s 2010 earthquake, the United Nations claims that this was “the worst affected area” with notable damage occurring to approximately 90% of the buildings in the area, and over 20,000 lives lost. (Millar, 2010). According to the Medical Examiners and Coroners investigating the earthquake…
There are also secondary effects that can be a disastrous to Los Angeles like faulting and ground ruptures, aftershocks, and fires. Earthquakes originate from the sudden movement of faults. As the faults move, in any direction, the blocks of rock on both sides of the fault will rub against each other and that cause the vibrations. The more the faults move, the larger the amount and intensity of vibrations in the earthquake will be. The reason that Los Angeles is prone to an earthquake at any given time is because the center of the city is located directly above a group of thrust faults. These faults occur at convergent boundaries. It is also located closely the fault known as the San Andreas Fault, which has produced some of the largest earthquakes the world has ever seen. Thrust faults can give way to immense pressure, which will cause one slab of rock to push against another slab of rock and ultimately it will push the other plate upward. Earthquakes have devastated Los Angeles in the past. The largest quake in modern history was the Fort Tejon Earthquake in 1857. It measured 8.0 on the Richter scale. Southern California was scarcely populated, so…
Naia, a water nymph employed by Poseidon, was collecting water from the river to send to the mortals. Poseidon and Zeus had been fighting for weeks, and for a rather meaningless reason. The gods of Olympus were sick of drinking just nectar, and wanted something that could wash the taste away from their mouths. That, of course, had to be water. When Poseidon refused to send all of his water to Olympus, Zeus erupted in anger and forced his army onto Poseidon’s seas. Naia was supposed to collect water from the sea, but she fled to the river due to the war going on. She wished she could do something to help, but it was no use, she had tried.…
Remembering as if it happened yesterday, waking up with my broken left ankle throbbing in pain. Limping out the door toward my SUV, I thought I should be on leave and enjoying the fresh snow in the mountains, but instead I am working today with a broken ankle. The base began a deployment exercise that day, and I did not want to report for duty. The day was gorgeous outside; the sun shining brightly and was a breathtaking day.…
California lies on a conservative plate boundary where the Pacific plate and the North American plate are the components. There are separated by a transform fault, known as the San Andreas Fault. The Pacific plate is moving north comparative to the North American plate however the fault is not smooth and so friction between the plates occur causing plates to lock. The continued pressure created by the movement of the plates around these locked portions of the fault causes the crust in these areas to denature, building up in elastic potential energy. When the stress builds it ruptures causing a sudden movement and allows the locked portions of the plates to jolt back into their correct positions. This movement causes the very sudden release of the stored energy as seismic waves which cause earthquakes.…
The earthquake had a magnitude of 6.7. About 57 deaths were attributed to the earthquake, with about 9,000 injured. This earthquake caused damage that cost billions of dollars and a large amount of time to repair. Parking garages collapsed, brick buildings collapsed in Hollywood, 9 freeway bridges were left in shambles and sections of freeways collapsed. Santa Monica was also affected by this earthquake. Furthermore, the Northridge earthquake triggered landslides in the Santa Susana Mountains, Santa Monica Mountains, and western San Gabriel Mountains. These landslides blocked roads and damaged water lines. The landslides also damaged homes, particularly in the Pacific Palisades…
Francisco, Northern California on April 18th at 5: 12 am. The San Francisco earthquake caused problems for many of the people in the community; it caused lots of devastations throughout the whole city.…
There is a lot that happens around the world we cannot control. We cannot stop earthquakes, we cannot prevent droughts, and we cannot prevent conflict. Earthquakes and the damages they bring have affected the lives of many people around the world forever. As our community grows so does the danger caused by these quakes also increases by mass. Earthquakes can affect our lives in many ways; this type of natural disaster can upset everything from small towns to huge metropolitan areas. Speaking of places, On October 17, 1989 the Loma Prieta earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay Area. It had killed 62 people, injured 3,756 others and left more than 12,000 people homeless. This earthquake had affected everyone in the area; here are some victims of this earthquake, Carol Bold and Michael .…