Posted on 03/11/2011 6:49:41 PM PST by decimon
The 8.9-magnitude earthquake that rumbled through Japan today (March 11), triggering a devastating tsunami, was the strongest felt in that country since seismic monitoring was invented. It's also comparable in scale to a few other recent temblors, including last year's 8.8-magnitude quake in Chile and 2004's 9.1-magnitude undersea rupture off Indonesia that caused a tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people.
But researchers say these catastrophes shouldn't be taken as evidence of a larger trend. According to the United States Geological Survey, the number of earthquakes with magnitudes greater than 7 has remained constant in the last century. And the occurrence of a few big quakes in a few years is most likely a statistical anomaly. (The upcoming "supermoon," by the way, also did not cause the Japanese earthquake.)
"Statistics are way too small to say that this just couldn't happen randomly," Henry Pollack, a professor of geological sciences at the University of Michigan, told LiveScience.
However, increasing populations in earthquake-prone areas mean that smaller quakes can put more people at risk than in the past, researchers say.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Paroxysm ping.
Yeah but I dont remember too many tsunamis when i was growing up.
btt
I predict there will be .... Earthquakes! ;^)
Look no further than:
MOTHRA!!!!!
The “supermoon” is supposed to occur on March 19 I believe. We shall see.
Those were some mothra fractures, eh?
Three big subduction zones producing big quakes isn’t suprising. We haven’t been measuring the size of earthquakes very long and have only just recently “discovered” plate tectonics. It is quite hasty to be making great discoveries on scant evidence. Everywhere we look, we see evidence of dramatic earth movement and massive volcanic events. I would bet we haven’t seen anything yet though our lives are far too short to be patient.
Here's my plan...Global Swelling.
Because the United States has refused to pump oil in the Northern Hemisphere the planet is swelling. Massive Earth Quakes will continue until all the excess oil is pumped out.
For people who don't do their parts by owning SUV's can buy "Swelling Off-Sets" from me.
I've been to a science fair and know how to use PowerPoint so I'm pretty sure that makes me qualified to make up evidence...I mean conduct research in this area.
You can all send me money to my PayPal account.
Run with it!
Run with it!
Japan, NZ, Sumatra...
...Did we already forget the EQ in Haiti?
Japan, NZ, Sumatra...
...Did we already forget the EQ in Haiti?
The Haiti earthquake was horrific in terms of damage but was apparently just a magnitude 7.0 quake.
Some idiot will probably blame the earthquakes on the fracking of shale gas and oil wells in the US! They will demand an ONSHORE drilling “moratorium”, to go along with Herr Obama’s offshore drilling ban!
As the Moon rotates around the Earth tonight, I expect quakes to travel toward the East. So, Hawaii, Aleutians, California and points east are next.
Get out those GOD bags and have your money, keys and medications handy. I pray there is no New Madrid component to this current swarm.
As the Moon rotates around the Earth tonight, I expect quakes to travel toward the East. So, Hawaii, Aleutians, California and points east are next.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.