California earthquakes show worrying increase
Are we getting close to a major seismic event on the west coast? Within the past several days, we have seen hundreds of earthquakes happen in southern California, there have been large earthquakes offshore near the Cascadia Subduction Zone, and there has been a very alarming swarm of earthquakes at Mt. Hood.
We haven’t seen this much seismic activity along the west coast in quite a long time, and many are concerned that this could be leading up to something really big.
At this moment, scientists are carefully monitoring the area around the Salton Sea. According to the USGS, in one 24 hour period over the weekend more than 600 earthquakes of at least magnitude 1.0 shook that area of southern California…
More than 600 small earthquakes have been recorded this weekend in a rural area near the Salton Sea in Southern California, with the largest having a magnitude of 5.3, a US Geological Survey geophysicist told CNN.
Geophysicist Randy Baldwin said 603 temblors with a magnitude of at least 1 happened in the area from Saturday to just before sunrise Sunday.
The magnitude 5.3 quake was felt throughout the region.
In fact, it is being reported that it was even felt at an apartment building that was 95 miles away from the epicenter of the earthquake…
People in Chula Vista, San Diego, El Centro and Indio felt the 5.3 quake, according to the USGS, Did You Feel It reports. The tool collects information from people who report they’ve felt an earthquake and creates an interactive map.
Saturday morning’s shaking could be felt in an apartment building near Del Mar, California, approximately 95 miles away from the location of the earthquake.
When I wrote about the alarming rise of earthquake activity on the west coast a week ago, just over 1,000 earthquakes had occurred in California and Nevada over the previous seven days.
Now that number is up to 1,757, and it seems to be going up with each passing hour.
Elsewhere, a pair of magnitude 5.9 earthquakes were reported off the coast of Oregon on Friday…
Elsewhere, two 5.9 magnitude earthquakes struck in the Pacific Ocean around 89 and 98 miles west of the coastal town of Gold Beach, Oregon, after 1 a.m. PT Friday, the USGS reported.
At least four earthquakes ranging in magnitudes from 3.9 to 5.9 occurred in that area in the previous few hours, according to USGS.
The entire west coast of the United States sits along the infamous “Ring of Fire”, and so there are always quakes in the region, but 5.9 is unusually large.
And the fact that these quakes were not too far from the Cascadia Subduction Zone is particularly alarming.
The day before, residents of San Jose were shaken by a magnitude 3.6 earthquake…
A 3.6-magnitude earthquake shook San Jose on Thursday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.
The 3.7-mile deep quake hit at 5:15 a.m. Pacific time, according to the USGS. Dozens of people from as far away as Oakland and San Rafael reported feeling the tremor to the agency.
“Well, that’s one way to wake up!” read one Twitter post. “Earthquake in San Jose. Anyone else can’t go back to sleep?”
And just a few days before that, Disneyland was rattled by a very unusual swarm of earthquakes…
A swarm of earthquakes struck the Disneyland area this morning, including one which left a southern California visitor wondering if he was still on a theme park ride. While relatively light, the 2.7 magnitude earthquake which struck at 12:41 am this morning, was felt by more than 300 people that reported it to the USGS using their “Did you feel it?” online survey tool. The quake hit at a depth of 2.7 miles and was followed by 9 aftershocks, most of which struck within 4 miles of the Disneyland complex.
Have you ever watched a disaster movie in which several smaller seismic events precede the big monster event at the end of the movie?
Just because so many unusual seismic events are happening in California right now does not necessarily mean that something bigger is on the way, but without a doubt now is a time to be on an increased state of alert.
To me, one of the most disturbing developments of the past week was the large earthquake swarm that occurred right at Mt. Hood on Saturday…
The earthquake rumbled at 8:51 p.m. June 5, just south of the summit of Mount Hood. It was preceded by several earthquakes in the hour before the quake, and tens of aftershocks have occurred since, the Cascades Volcano Observatory of the U.S. Geological Survey reported in a news release Saturday night.
Since the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980, there hasn’t been a major volcanic eruption in the United States.
We should be thankful for that, but eventually all of the volcanoes on the west coast are going to go off.
It is just a matter of time.
But for those living in southern California, a historic earthquake is the larger threat. Scientists assure us that “the Big One” is way overdue, and when it finally arrives many believe that it will permanently alter the geography of the California coastline.
Despite all of our advanced technology, there is nothing that we can do to stop “the Big One” from coming, and experts acknowledge that the death and destruction that we will witness during such an event could be off the charts.
It has often been said that “as California goes, so goes the nation”.
Today, that saying appears to be more true than ever.
But the state of California is also living on borrowed time, because a historic disaster of epic proportions could literally hit the state at any moment.
See more here: endoftheamericandream.com
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Jerry Krause
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Hi PSI Readers,
Two days ago, here at PSI, there was an article, written by Marilyn M. Singleton, with the title ‘The Covid-19 Craziness Proves That Einstein Was Right’. She began: “One of Albert Einstein’s many aphorisms, “three great forces rule the world: stupidity, fear and greed,” is particularly apt in the Covid era.” (https://principia-scientific.com/the-covid-19-craziness-proves-that-einstein-was-right/)
‘FEAR’ is the focus of this comment.
This article began: “Are we getting close to a major seismic event on the west coast? Within the past several days, we have seen hundreds of earthquakes happen in southern California, there have been large earthquakes offshore near the Cascadia Subduction Zone, and there has been a very alarming swarm of earthquakes at Mt. Hood.” Unless I make an effort, I can have no idea who wrote this article but I know (because I can read and comprehend what I read) that the article’s author is trying to CREATE FEAR in the mind of a READER.
Galileo insisted that his book be published in the Italian language because he was writing about his experience to PRACTICAL READERS and not to the intellectual elites. (my opinion)
My comment is to put a PRACTICAL SPIN on the observations that the author has reviewed. For my PRACTICAL UNDERSTANDING is simply that these “hundreds of earthquakes” are reliving stresses as one plate slides beneath another plate. And I PRACTICALLY consider that if there were none of these hundreds of earthquakes occurring we might be getting close to a major seismic event as great stress are created as one plate sides beneath another plate.
Have a good day, Jerry (A PRACTICABLE SCIENTIST)
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Jerry Krause
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Hi PSI Readers,
Given the predicted Volcano Activity at Iceland and the actual occurrence of said activity, I cannot ignore the “swarm of earthquakes at Mt. Hood” and the possibility of increased volcanic activity there. After all, Mt Saint Helens blew its top only a few decades ago. And it is within 100 miles (to be conservative) of Mt Hood. But I remind you that earthquakes and volcanic activity
are quite different geological natural phenomena.
Have a good day, Jerry
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Herb Rose
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Hi Jerry,
Justifiable fear is a good thing. It is unfounded fear that causes problems. Plates are held in place at many locations like a series of ropes tying something down. When some of these ropes begin to break the stress on other ropes increases and then they begin to break. When enough break the stress becomes to great and the remaining ropes break releasing the plate, resulting in a major earthquake. The numerous earthquakes are a warning, not fear mongering and people should take whatever actions they deem prudent by assessing the threat to them. Major quakes are always preceded by clusters of smaller quakes.
When magma is moving ninth crust it produces earthquakes. This is how they are able to predict an imminent eruption. If you recall it was an earthquake that cause the side of Mt. St. Helens to collapse resulting in the eruption. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are not the independent phenomena you profess.
Have a good day,
Herb
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Jerry Krause
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Hi Herb,
Thank you! Thank you for your comment!! For it gives me a context for what I wanted to share. Fear is not good (period). Why??? FEAR of a NATURAL PHENOMENA is STUPID, STUPID because you or I or anyone else cannot not do anything to prevent a violent volcanic eruption or a violent massive earthquake!!!
You state one can made precautions. People lost there lives when Mr Saint Helen blew its side out (according to you). You could be correct but what remains after the event is a crater not unlike that at Crater Lake OR.
You stated the Saint Helens eruption was triggered by an earthquake. Another possibility is the volcanic eruption created an quake of small magnitude which didn’t damage any building in nearby (maybe less than 10 miles away) towns. While the direct result of the eruption was that several people on the mountain were killed. Of course, you could claim that these people should have had “Justifiable fear” and not been on the mountain.
The PRACTICAL PROBLEM of this JUSTIFIABLE FEAR is that it had existed for hundreds of years and maybe even thousands of years. Do you want to predict the month (or winter) during which Mt Hood might erupt so snow skiers should stay off it slopes during that winter???
Have a good day, Jerry
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Herb Rose
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Hi Jerry,
What you can do with any danger or threat is fight or flight. To say you cannot do anything about it is stupid. Get away from the danger, which is what most of the people did when warned about the imminent eruption of Mt St Helens. All of those who died had been warned and told to evacuate by those who studied the seismic activity. It was the resident who refused to evacuate and those who went to record the event and picked the wrong vantage point, ignoring the fear mongering that suffered the consequences. The video of the event shows the landslide and then the eruption that did not leave a crater but half a mountain which is now rebuilding..
There will always be danger but choices about the risk versus the reward must always be made even when driving your car.
The people of Johnstown Pa knew that if the dam broke there would be a massive flood but that flood only occurred when there was a rare freakish storm that resulted in an overflow of the dam. A train sped ahead of the flood water blowing its whistle to warn of the danger but the actions people chose in response to the threat determined their fate and there was no right answer. On one train those who abandoned the train to flee to higher grown were drowned by the flood water while those who remained on the train survived. On another train those who fled survived while those who remained died. There is always danger but it is the assessment of that danger and your response to it that matters.
Have good day,
Herb
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Jerry Krause
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Hi Herb,
“What you can do with any danger or threat is fight or flight.” Absolutely agree with you. But the decision is that of the individual. And to fight means one is willing to give up one’s life or one’s occupation. Which might be why Einstein is said to have stated: “Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one’s living at it.”
Forty or so miles east of the capital of OR where I live people had to make that choice because there was a wildfire. Some stayed to fight (to stay and hose down their wooden properties) and some flied because they considered their properties could be replaced. But a grandmother and two grandchildren got caught and died while trying to flee.
But what I consider to be an OBSERVED FACT was that smoldering fire, which ignited this wildfire, was allowed to smolder for two weeks (and it does not matter WHY?). For my opinion it is that this was PURE STUPIDITY!!! And it not the first wildfire in OR which was allowed to smolder until it ignited a wildfire which cause great destruction of trees and property.
And Herb, once a wildfire begins there are those fire fighter who chose to FIGHT and who die fighting the result of STUPIDITY.
Some wildfire are begun naturally by lighting storms and some are caused accidentally by humans. For humans are naturally accident prone.
However, in your comment about the Johnstown Pa disaster, the dam was built but a spillway to handle any 1000 year, or 100 year, flood was not constructed. So I do not consider this disaster was the result of an accident; it was the result of STUPIDITY.
And THANK YOU, THANK YOU for giving me a context for my comments.
Have a good day, Jerry
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Jerry Krause
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Hi Herb,
I have overlooked an obvious fact.
Earlier you wrote: “When magma is moving ninth crust it produces earthquakes. This is how they are able to predict an imminent eruption. If you recall it was an earthquake that cause the side of Mt. St. Helens to collapse resulting in the eruption. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are not the independent phenomena you profess.”
What I overlooked was the magna did NOT blow Mt Saint Helen apart with such a destructive force. It was a HUGE VOLUME OF HIGHLY COMPRESSED CARBON DIOXIDE GAS. It was Robert Beatty, a mining engineer who alerted me to this fact which I had forgotten.
So I expect that any magna did not start flowing up from below until the pressure of the compressed gas was suddenly released (an explosion which occurred very, very rapidly).
Have a good day, Jerry
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Tom O
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A very interesting back and forth. I tend to agree, in part, with both of you. I do think that a swarm of activity is, in fact, both a stress reliever and a stress builder, and is something to be evaluated. Without a doubt, movement in one area is relieving the stresses being felt there, but that also is shifting stress to a different area. The question then becomes, where on the fault line is the larger earthquake going to take place.
Nonetheless, it should cause a person to evaluate their situation. If it frightens you, you can’t evaluate the threat, so fear is not a good emotion when you are doing risk evaluation. I don’t see the thrust of the article as being fear generation. I do think it is necessary to have information, the more the merrier, to properly evaluate the circumstances. I don’t see an article like this, or one that describes past mudslides or wild fires, as fear mongering, I think they allow the reader to look at their current circumstance with a view of past activity.
I will also take exception at one comment made in the exchange, and that was regarding the Johnstown flood. The comment was about the lack of a spillway on the dam, and condemning that as an act of stupidity. The fact that the spillway wasn’t there is undoubtedly an act of ignorance – they did not realize they needed one. The act of calling it stupidity, on the other hand, WAS as act of stupidity.
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Jerry Krause
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Hi Tom,
“The fact that the spillway wasn’t there is undoubtedly an act of ignorance – they did not realize they needed one.”
Do I understand this correctly: ignorance absolves one of any stupidity? Better be ignorant than stupid?
Have a good day, Jerry
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MattH
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There is absolutely no excuse for refusing to acknowledge torrential downpours. A stalled low pressure system can deliver such for a number of days. A sequence of low pressure systems can have similar consequences.
To not include a spillway is most probably a result of budgetary constraints and is clearly criminal negligence and gross stupidity.
Another example of gross stupidity was NASA sending Challenger 13 to destruction when the contracting engineers had the courage to refuse to sign off on the launch .
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Herb Rose
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Hi All,
The dam had a spillway .A net was constructed across the spillway to prevent fish from escaping the lake. When the downpour came it washed debris into the lake that collected in the spillway, causing the water to overflow the dam. Negligence or stupidity none of the multimillionaires from Pittsburgh (Mellon, Carnegie, etc.) ever were held accountable or paid any restitution.
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MattH
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Hi Herb .
Thank you for the clarity. So rather than Gross Stupidity it was Net Stupidity. ( laugh now )
Cheers. Matt
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Jerry Krause
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Hi Herb, MattH and hopefully other PSI Readers,
First, PSI has become the NATURE ‘journal of the WORLD because it does not censure. So please donate and I will again, more generously than in the past.
Secondly Herb, I am A PRACTICAL SCIENTIST and you make up stuff. How do I know this??? You just wrote: “A net was constructed across the spillway to prevent fish from escaping the lake. When the downpour came it washed debris into the lake that collected in the spillway, causing the water to overflow the dam.” NO FISHNET WILL EVER FORM A DAM OF ANY CONSEQUENCE. EVEN TOO MANY FISH WILL TEAR THE NET!!! And no fish would escape the reservoir until its water began to overflow the spillway. The spillway is to avoid a disaster and any fish escaping becomes a nonissue.
Finally, I go with Matth’s comment. And I believe he is familiar with fishnets but we (I at least) overlook the obvious. Which could be an explanation of why there was probably NO SPILLWAY.
I will even go a step further; there was an authority who would not listen to anybody else once he/she had MADEUP HIS/HER MIND. Are you familiar with anybody like this???
Have a good day, Jerry
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Herb Rose
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Hi Jerry,
No Jerry you are not a practical scientist, you are a dumbass. When any river or stream is damned it must have a spillway to maintain the stream or river flow. It is constructed near the top of the dam and designed to not erode from water flow while the dam, as in the Johnstown case, can be of earthen construction. In Johnstown when the water began to flow over the dam they knew it was doomed and telegraphed Johnstown about the imminent flood before the dam broke. I know people in Johnstown, have visited the site, and know the story. Did you know that more people died from the fire in the burning debris than drowned?
Before you start spouting your nonsense about what you believe to be true, you should try to find out some information about the subject maybe then you won’t appear to be a total fool.
Herb
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Jerry Krause
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Hi Herb,
Give me the references to your information so I can read it too.
Have a good day, Jerry
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Herb Rose
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Hi Jerry,
Part of the problem is that you can’t read.(I never said fish net). As I said I visited the sight (near Ebensburg Pa.) and had a tour. If you do a search you will find lots of articles on the flood.
Herb
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