Another 7.2 - 7.8 Quake; This Time in Indonesia

[Rex]

This is getting creepy....

Some reports say 7.2, others anywhere up to 7.8.

[MOIJTO]

Rock and Roll! Boy, the world is changing more than we expect, isn't it!

[Rex]

Rock and Roll! Boy, the world is changing more than we expect, isn't it!

If that uber-stoopid flick "2012" turned out to me right....

But the "Ring of Fire" has been rather active in the past couple of months, on our continent, South America's west coast and in Asia.

[danceronice]

Earthquakes happen. We're only in trouble if one of the supervolcanoes decides to go....

[missflick]

Earthquakes happen. We're only in trouble if one of the supervolcanoes decides to go....

Well, Yellowstone is overdue.

I watched a program the other night on Discovery Channel. They said that we are due for a HUGE earthquake alone the Cascade region (which is up the US coastline through B.C. and Alaska)

[Rex]

Well, Yellowstone is overdue.

I watched a program the other night on Discovery Channel. They said that we are due for a HUGE earthquake alone the Cascade region (which is up the US coastline through B.C. and Alaska)

I saw a special on the Yellowstone caldera thingie - they said if it blows, it would be as bad as a nuclear blast, if not worse. And the ash/debris cloud out blot out the sun in many places of the world. The US would take decades to recover from it. Not something one enjoys thinking about.

[reckless]

People are panicking about the quakes, but we really are not having an unusual year. On average, the US Geological Survey records 50 earthquakes per day. The NEIC detects 12,000 to 14,000 earthquakes per year. (That number goes up as we increase our ability to monitor activity, identify faults, and install more monitoring devices around the world.) According to the USGS, per year, we should annually expect 18 major earthquakes in the range of 7.0-7.9 and one larger above 8.0. In 1970 and 1971, we had 20 and 19 major earthquakes, respectively.

Last year, we had 16 quakes between 7.0 and 7.9, and 1 above 8.0. So far this year, through 1/4 of the year, we have had 4 and 1 (that might not include today's). In 2007, there were 4 quakes over 8.0 and 14 between 7.0 and 7.9. In two weeks of August that year, there was a 7.2 in Vanuatu, a 7.5 in Java, Indonesia, and an 8.0 in Peru (along with a host of under 7.0 quakes). In September that year, there was a 7.2 in the Santa Cruz Islands, 8.5, 7.9 and 7.0 quakes in Indonesia, a 7.5 in Japan, and a 7.4 in New Zealand.

I think the news media is a large reason for why people are so anxious about earthquakes. The Indonesia quake yesterday would have barely merited mention in most years, because it does not appear to have caused any major injuries or significant damage.

[nubka]

I saw a special on the Yellowstone caldera thingie - they said if it blows, it would be as bad as a nuclear blast, if not worse. And the ash/debris cloud out blot out the sun in many places of the world. The US would take decades to recover from it. Not something one enjoys thinking about.

At least there wouldn't be radioactive fallout...

[danceronice]

Well, it's not really overdue in geologic terms. Could be next year, could be in a thousand years. The 'due date' window is on a rather big scale.

And yeah, it would actually be MUCH worse than an average nuclear blast. One nuclear bomb--well, sucks to be you if you're in range, but long-range, long-term, there are worse things. A tactical nuke is even in some circumstances less devastating than a 'conventional' weapon like a bunker buster. The entire PLANET would be in trouble for decades from a supervolcano. To even approach that level of devastation would require a couple MAJOR nuclear nations setting off the majority of their warheads, and even then you don't have the pyroclast and the neverending ash cloud, and the erruption could keep going for weeks or months...

Yeah, it would suck.

[kedrin]

People are panicking about the quakes, but we really are not having an unusual year.

oh, fine. go and inject rationality into it.