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Why Do So Many Big Earthquakes Strike Japan?
Live Science ^
| 11/22/2016
| Denise Chow
Posted on 11/23/2016 11:45:55 AM PST by JimSEA
A magnitude-6.9 earthquake struck yesterday off the coast of Fukushima, Japan, likely along the same fault that ruptured in 2011, unleashing a massive 9.0-magnitude temblor that triggered deadly tsunamis and caused widespread destruction. Over the course of its history, Japan has seen its share of shaking, but what makes this part of the world so susceptible to big earthquakes?
The answer has to do with Japan's location. The island nation lies along the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an imaginary horseshoe-shaped zone that follows the rim of the Pacific Ocean, where many of the world's earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. In fact, 81 percent of the world's largest earthquakes happen in this active belt, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). [Image Gallery: This Millennium's Destructive Earthquakes]
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
TOPICS: History; Science
KEYWORDS: geology; godzilla; mothra; rodan; tectonic
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"The Earth's surface is broken up into about a dozen or so major chunks that are all moving around. Where they all interact at their edges, interesting things happen," Douglas Given, a geophysicist with the USGS in Pasadena, California, previously told Live Science.
The New Zealand quake also involved multiple plate boundaries.
1
posted on
11/23/2016 11:45:55 AM PST
by
JimSEA
To: JimSEA
2
posted on
11/23/2016 11:47:15 AM PST
by
BenLurkin
(The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
To: JimSEA
Ring of Fire ring any bells?
3
posted on
11/23/2016 11:50:25 AM PST
by
PIF
(They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
To: BenLurkin
To: PIF
Pacific rim. Just look at earthquake maps.
5
posted on
11/23/2016 11:52:13 AM PST
by
DIRTYSECRET
(urope. Why do they put up with this.)
To: JimSEA
Ah, because it’s an island arc formed by a subduction zone? Duh...
6
posted on
11/23/2016 11:53:28 AM PST
by
Axenolith
(Government blows, and that which governs least, blows least...)
To: PIF
7
posted on
11/23/2016 11:53:38 AM PST
by
HerrBlucher
(For the sake of His sorrowful passion have mercy on us and on the whole world.)
To: JimSEA
To: JimSEA
It’s tipping over due to overpopulation.
9
posted on
11/23/2016 11:55:57 AM PST
by
Cboldt
To: JimSEA
Why Do So Many Big Earthquakes Strike Japan?
10
posted on
11/23/2016 11:59:30 AM PST
by
mountn man
(The Pleasure You Get From Life, Is Equal To The Attitude You Put Into It)
To: Axenolith
Ah, because its an island arc formed by a subduction zone? Duh... Correct. The Indonesian Archipelago is the same way, and so is off the west coast of North America from Eureka, CA all the way to the north end of Vancouver Island.
11
posted on
11/23/2016 12:00:39 PM PST
by
RayChuang88
(FairTax: America's economic cure)
To: JimSEA
The fact that the active faults are dip-slip aggravates the situation. You not only get destructive ground motion but but tsunami’s generated by upward/downward movement offshore. Its a double whammy.
12
posted on
11/23/2016 12:05:18 PM PST
by
HerrBlucher
(For the sake of His sorrowful passion have mercy on us and on the whole world.)
To: JimSEA
Horrible article title. “They” should have dropped the “Do “ and the replaced the “?” with a period, and turned it into a statement.
To: BenLurkin
Because, plate tectonics!
14
posted on
11/23/2016 12:18:16 PM PST
by
SuziQ
To: JimSEA
Building your civilization on a major subduction zone can yield some bad days!
15
posted on
11/23/2016 12:32:11 PM PST
by
Reily
To: Reily
That’s why the Japanese were always invading China and Korea.
16
posted on
11/23/2016 12:34:56 PM PST
by
dfwgator
To: dfwgator
17
posted on
11/23/2016 12:37:46 PM PST
by
Reily
To: JimSEA
18
posted on
11/23/2016 12:37:58 PM PST
by
NormsRevenge
(Semper Fi - Monthly Donors Rock!!!)
To: JimSEA
Because it sits on the ring of fire.
19
posted on
11/23/2016 12:38:43 PM PST
by
Harmless Teddy Bear
(Not a Romantic, not a hero worshiper and stop trying to tug my heartstrings. It tickles!)
To: Harmless Teddy Bear
Because it sits on the ring of fire. And it burns....burns....burns.....
20
posted on
11/23/2016 12:39:12 PM PST
by
dfwgator
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