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Twenty Interesting Earthquake Facts
Reported by: Colleen Coyle
Email:
[email protected]
According to the USGS, Southern California experiences about 100,000 earthquakes per year. With only several hundred greater than a 3.0 magnitude, most of these quakes are not felt by residents. Though California has an active earthquake history, surprisingly, it is not the most earthquake-prone state. Read below to find out which state takes the crown and learn other interesting facts to beef up your earthquake knowledge!
20 Random (yet, interesting!) Earthquake Facts:
1. The earliest recorded earthquake occurred in 1769, thirty miles southeast of Los Angeles.
2. In the past 3 million years, the San Andreas Fault has moved at about the rate your fingernails grow - 2 inches per year!
3. The largest earthquake recorded in the world was a 9.5 magnitude quake in Chile on May 22, 1960.
4. Scientists predict that at the current rate of the San Andreas Fault, Los Angeles and San Francisco will be side-by-side each other in 15 million years.
5. Most earthquake waves carry a frequency of less than 20 Hertz. Humans can only hear sounds in the frequency range of 20-10,000 Hertz. Therefore, most of the rumbling heard during an earthquake is actually buildings and other structures shaking, not the waves themselves.
6. Moonquakes and icequakes do exist! Moonquakes are simply earthquakes on the moon. Tidal stresses and the varying distance between the Earth and the moon seem to be related to the occurrence of moonquakes. Antarctica experiences frequent, but small icequakes. These shakings take place directly in the ice sheets instead of in the ground underneath.
7. The largest earthquake recorded in the US was a 9.2 magnitude quake that shook Prince William Sound, Alaska on March 28, 1964.
8. Tidal waves are not a result of an earthquake. They occur due to gravitational pull between the moon, sun, and Earth. However, a tsunami is a result from an underwater earthquake that displace a great amount of water.
9. Tectonic plates created the world's greatest land mountain range, the Himalaya-Karakoram located in Asia. It houses 96 of the world's 109 peaks over 24,000 feet.
10. Around 500,000 earthquakes are detected in the world each year. Only 100,000 can even be felt and only 100 of those quakes cause damage.
11. Many believe that the fires resulting from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake caused more damage than the earthquake itself.
12. After an earthquake, many California residents will continue to see the water in swimming pools continue to slosh back and forth. This is termed a "seiche" and is a result of the shaking caused by an earthquake. It can stop moments or last for hours.
13. The intensity of an earthquake measures the shaking caused by the quake in relation to location. The magnitude, or measured value of earthquake size, does not vary with location.
14. There is no such thing as "earthquake weather".
15. Florida and North Dakota have the least amount of earthquakes in the country.
16. The San Andreas Fault can get over 10 miles (52,800 feet) deep at various locations. The world's tallest building in Dubai is 2,720 feet tall. Starting far below the Earth's crust, you would have to stack about 19 copies of this building on top of each other to reach the surface of the Earth again.
17. Alaska is one of the most active earthquake spots in the world. It also grabs the title as the most earthquake-prone state. A 7.0 magnitude quakes happens almost every year with even stronger quakes happening on average every 14 years.
18. From 2000-2009, the USGS recorded 6 earthquakes with a magnitude between 7.0-7.9 in the United States.
19. In 2009, a little over 14,400 earthquakes rattled places worldwide with only 4,000 of those quakes happening in the United States.
20. About 90% of the world's earthquakes occur in the "Ring of Fire". This is an earthquake-prone zone surrounding the Pacific Ocean.
Some of this information was gathered from the USGS research. More information can be found at the USGS Homepage.
