[Las Vegas Ron]

This is essentially statistically insignificant.

Statistically a 7.8 is a huge quake no matter how you want to look at it.

I lost my home in the 6.8 quake in Northridge in 94, I saw a 2,200 square foot home turned literally 90 degrees and rested on its side in Sherman Oaks.....and still in tact.

I couldn't even imagine a 7.8

I guess maybe I react to this kind of news a little bit differently.

[ohiogrammy]

I was in the San Francisco quake that was 7. I believe, that was indeed scary!

[Strategerist]

By statistically insignificant, I mean with a limited number of unitary events, and a yearly average of 18 7.0+ quakes , you're NOT going to steadily have 4 events or 5 events in every three month period.

You're RANDOMLY going to have, say, 6 7.0+ earthquakes in a three month period (or even, say, 7, or perhaps 8), and then perhaps in the next three months have 3 or 2 or 1.

The basic point is that, when 4.5 M 7.0+ quakes in three months is normal, and you have 6, it's not time to start planning for the Apocalypse or casting about for wacky explanatory theories.

In the past few years, there have been stretches of months on end with unusually low numbers of strong earthquakes. However, nobody starts a thread in "Breaking" entitled "NOT MANY STRONG QUAKES LATELY!"