Geologists say Alaska quake caused by huge rupture

Enough with the "end of the world" stuff. The headline says rupture, not "rapture"!

After giving a presentation at a geologists convention a few years ago, I was interviewed by the "Science Editor" of the local, big city newspaper. It became readily apparent after just a few minutes that this journalist had little or no scientific background. Although I tried as best as I could, you can't teach someone scientific "lingo" in a 20 minute interview. His article, published the next day, had a couple of quotes from me, but they were hardly in context and so badly reconstructed as to make them almost unrecognizable.

I also found out that the author of an article rarely ever constructs the headline. That is another editor's job. So, if that person understands even less about the subject, there is no telling what might happen. Let me give you an example from a trade publication: "Elf's 20-Year Experience Confirms Effectiveness of Smart Pigs." If you don't know about international oil companies and oil pipeline maintainence you would have no idea what the article was about!

So back to this thread. An earthquake (seismic shaking) is the manifestation of an energy release. Earthquakes can be caused by several different sources. Some of the more obscure sources are meteorite impacts and man-made nuclear explosions. Volcanic eruptions or subterranean movement of magma also causes earthquakes. You could even argue that a large truck or train passing by your house causes the ground to shake!

But for most purposes, earthquakes are related to movement of the earth's crust along more-or-less defined zones called faults. The recent Alaskan earthquake was caused by the release of energy stored in the crustal plates adjacent to the Denali Fault Zone. When the rocks there could no longer contain the stress and strain being put upon them by the subtle movement of the great crustal plates, the subsequent failure produced offset along the fault. The time it took the plates to move represent the duration of the quake. In this case the offset was measured at the earth's surface in the form of ground rupture. The ground rupture was measured to shift one side of the fault zone (relative to the other side) as much as 26 +/- feet. That's A LOT of movement. By way of comparison, the Northridge earthquake in the 1994 in Southern California caused a 1-foot vertical offset in the local foothills. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake had documented offset of about 20 +/- feet. Most of the "rupture" in the Northridge quake occurred at depth, along the faults associated with the earthquake. It could only be measured with instruments.

Interesting links bump

Thanks for the little tutorial. I have some maps I maintain in the general vicinity of the recent earth movement and they are geo-referenced. I believe that my coordinates have changed and that the map must be adjusted, but I am waiting until new official coordinates are available. That may not happen for several years. 26 feet of motion would be greater than the existing map error, and certainly something a GPS could register. Interesting stuff.

Thank you for the information. I know how reporters miss-report matters they know nothing about. They can't know everything about all subjects. I've been misquoted by them as well. Once a TV news reporter doing a live shoot in a windstorm in the Northwest said, "You can see the Cottonwoods swaying." No, you could see the Fir trees swaying. She couldn't distinguish between a deciduous tree and conifers and was likely a transplanted Easterner. I am really interested in understanding earthquakes from a geological perspective and that takes time, even reading real science links and completely avoiding all weird science like those on the Art Bell Curve and his aliens.

I am also interested in Bible prophecy and see that G~d has natural laws and doesn't break them so one can be a Biblicist, study geology and not join the false prophets of Art Bell. Pre-Trib Rapture is false and rupture is real. Earthquakes are mentioned many times in the Bible and five times in the book of Revelation (Re 6:12; 8:5; 11:13,19; 16:18). There is major shaking going on.

Here, Peleg's name means "earthquake." 1Chron 1:19 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg; because in his days the earth was divided: and his brother's name was Joktan. The earth being divided could well speak of an earlier very great rupture.

Here, are signs that could indicate enormous geologic changes, likely volcanoes erupting as well: Rev 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

If one views the US as a big eagle with the head in Alaska, the recent 7.9 quake at the "neck" shows great damage done to the eagle, the rupture, cutting of the neck at the highest point in America...Mt. [President] McKinley...on the Denali "Big One" faul.

At the same time many people are having Joel 2:28 dreams and visions of a dead eagle in the desert or an eagle with broken legs being attacked by Muslims or of a surprise attack or an ambush and Bush is preparing to go to war in Iraq. (Click on 2sheep and scroll down for those dreams and visions.) Here are some snips from a link on the subject:

We are going to remove a republican demigod in Iraq and replace him with an heir to the throne of Satan.
...
One of the high “callings” of Islam is to destroy all the nations of the world.
...
Do you want to understand Muslim culture? Then you must understand Jihad culture. Jihad culture is Arab warrior culture, and Islam is its murder cult. Ultimately, the Jihad mandate is the satanic counterpart to the great commission. Source: Allah and the Real-World-Order

G~d says my ways are higher than your ways and He definitely speaks through signs in the EARTH. The wise will be paying attention and planning accordingly.

Ac 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

" -- left the western half of the great fault unbroken -- " is a good observation. One problem many geoscientists have is to ASSUME that a fault causes an earthquake, and when their top-down view doesn't fit, they then speculate as they did in the text above.

A quake in the Earth sends out a variety of waves, initially spherically concentric, and a fault may or may not be re-activated by these waves. The waves will usually take the most efficient path. Sometimes this path of least resistance may rupture a mass of rock, and thus create a brand new fault.

In the above text, the waves re-activated part of the fault, but not all of the fault. The fault was responding to the waves of energy in the Earth, and not the other way around.