I am a earthquake seismologist. AMA. 5th anniversary of Louisa Quake

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't worry about cities. If a big quake hits the east coast virtually the entire coast will be impacted. The ground here is vastly different fro Ca. We sit on very hard, very cold rock which will allow for a significant amount of energy to be transferred vast differences. The good news is the ground doesn't liquefy.

I am less worried about the huge quake (very unlikely) than the moderate quake at the wrong place. For a magnitude 8 to happen, we would probably have some type of surface expression the faulting. We do not see that in the east.

[Anonymous]

Given that seismologists have long ignored the possibility of an east coast quake, they have long ignored east coast faults. As the area is so different geologically, it is hard to draw east coast conclusions from west coast data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't worry about cities. If a big quake hits the east coast virtually the entire coast will be impacted. The ground here is vastly different fro Ca. We sit on very hard, very cold rock which will allow for a significant amount of energy to be transferred vast differences. The good news is the ground doesn't liquefy.

I am less worried about the huge quake (very unlikely) than the moderate quake at the wrong place. For a magnitude 8 to happen, we would probably have some type of surface expression the faulting. We do not see that in the east.

Cold rock or old rock? Why does the temperature matter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you see as the worst case scenario for earthquake destruction in the U.S.

A magnitude 6 earthquake in an east coast city.

More so than a big quake hitting L.A., Portland, or Seattle? Or another San Madrid quake?

Probably. LA can handle it. It will be bad. New Madrid will be bad, but the nearest cities are more than 50 km away, which would limit the effect. A 6.0 in NYC could be really bad. Dense, non-earthquake resisent structures.

Just compare the damage from the Haiti EQ to that from Tohuku (excluding the Tsunami).

The structures in NY are similar to the structures in Haiti? Huh. We have engineering standards and aren't just building using stacked cinderblocks.

The New Madrid quakes of the 1800s were felt all the way in Boston - how would a large scale quake not affect many cities that now exist?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't worry about cities. If a big quake hits the east coast virtually the entire coast will be impacted. The ground here is vastly different fro Ca. We sit on very hard, very cold rock which will allow for a significant amount of energy to be transferred vast differences. The good news is the ground doesn't liquefy.

I am less worried about the huge quake (very unlikely) than the moderate quake at the wrong place. For a magnitude 8 to happen, we would probably have some type of surface expression the faulting. We do not see that in the east.

Cold rock or old rock? Why does the temperature matter?

Both. Cold is important because of density. Dense material are better transmitters of wave energy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is your office talking non stop about the earthquake in Italy today??

I am not going to the office, as I have a medical test today. My g
uess, though is no. We will focus on what pays our bills.

Who do you work for ? An architect firm? USGS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is your office talking non stop about the earthquake in Italy today??

I am not going to the office, as I have a medical test today. My g
uess, though is no. We will focus on what pays our bills.

Who do you work for ? An architect firm? USGS?

She said she can't tell. Given that, DOD, CIA, DIA. Some intelligence org. Listens to see if evil little fat men are digging deep holes and making things go "BOOM!"

[Anonymous]

No question, just wanted to comment that I was on the Big Island in Hawaii during a 6.7 earthquake (October 2006). It was during my honeymoon. Wow! It happened in the very early hours of the morning, awakened by the shaking, sirens and Japanese tourists running a rounding yelling that a Tsunami could come (we were in an ocean front hotel). Once we were allowed to return to our room, furniture and accessories (lamps, coffee makers, etc) were all over the place. Also, we were supposed to switch hotels but could not check into the new hotel up the coast because of no power and they had not deemed it structurally sound.

I was the. On the playground here in NoVA during the Louisa earthquake. I think that one was a 5.8. The earth shaking was REMARKABLY different (as in the one in Hawaii was so much worse/stronger -- truly felt 100x worse than the Louisa earthquake).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Given that seismologists have long ignored the possibility of an east coast quake, they have long ignored east coast faults. As the area is so different geologically, it is hard to draw east coast conclusions from west coast data.

East coast earthquakes are not ignored. There are fewer of them to study, so there is less data. But, when they happen they are studied. In fact, there is an annual meeting focusing on east coast issues (eastern section of the Seismological society of america).

[Anonymous]

What should our children do if an earthquakes occurs while they are in school? What should earthquake drills look like in our schools? (Location in the DC metro area)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH has felt tremors from 5 earthquakes. What are the chances of that?

Even in Northern VA, I felt shaking from 7 earthquakes since I lived hear. It is not surprising.

Born and raised here, never felt an earthquake.

Then move to California for 4 years, NOT ONE EARTHQUAKE did I feel...however DC got hit by one while I was there.

Hey, maybe I'm a good luck charm!

[Anonymous]

When frakking triggers the mid country superquake will we end up with an inland sea or just another great lake?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What should our children do if an earthquakes occurs while they are in school? What should earthquake drills look like in our schools? (Location in the DC metro area)

The risk from earthquakes is objects falling on people. Thing to do is to go under the desk. At home, under a sturdy table. That way, any debris that falls will not directly hit you.

After the shaking stops, you should evacuate the school to the field.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When frakking triggers the mid country superquake will we end up with an inland sea or just another great lake?

Fracking will not fundamentally make an earthquake that big. So no Oklahoma Sea.

[Anonymous]

Could the Troll Empire (RIP) or Sauron's deep digging to produce Orcs be responsible for a quake large enough to shake the Shire?

What about the conditions of Mordor itself? How'd the Ring (Precious) start the earthquake there?

What were the preconditions that allowed for the situation when the Eye of Sauron implodes and creates a shock wave which causes an earthquake that shatters the ground and the ground starts to collapse? Was that Orc-building business to blame? Fault lines?

For reference:

http://lotrproject.com/map/#zoom=3&lat=-1332&lon=1486&layers=BTTTTTTTT