More Shaking in Southern California & Baja Mexico
April 15, 2010 - 4:25 PM | by: Claudia Cowan
Earthquake country-- brace yourself. Southern California and Baja are experiencing a significant increase in seismic activity.
The region's faults were relatively quiet for about 10 years, but not in 2010.
So far this year, there have been more than 70 earthquakes greater than magnitude 4.
That's more quakes than in any other year of this decade, and more than in the last two years combined.
Scientists are studying the numbers, and can only theorize as to what's behind the uptick.
Turns out, we can blame much of this shaking on just one quake: The 7.2 temblor that hit Mexicali, in Baja, California, a few weeks ago.
It was followed by more than a thousand aftershocks, including dozens of very strong-- the region was rocked just yesterday by a 4.4 temblor. In fact, that that one event, the Mexicali quake, accounts for more than 50 of the 70 mag-4-quakes we've seen so far this year.
Dr. Lucy Jones with the USGS says "everytime a big earthquake happens,everytime any earthquake happens, it makes another earthquake more likely, and if it's a really big earthquake, it makes lots of earthquakes more likely."
Scientists also say major earthquakes tend to occur in cycles, and that Southern California's last cycle happened about a decade ago.
The region was hit with the 7.3 Landers quake in 1992, and the deadly Northridge Quake in 1994. This recent surge could mean we're heading into a more active seismic period, with bigger earthquakes on the way.
There's also the possibility that a major quake could trigger activity in another fault, perhaps one that was ready to starting shifting. That could be significant because the San Andreas fault, the source of some of California's most catastrophic quakes, is long overdue for a major event.
Scientists say there's no cause for panic, and no reason to think that the so-called "Big One" is any more likely to hit: earthquakes are still impossible to predict.
Here's the bottom line:
If the Southern California-Baja region is headed into a new period of siesmic activity, not only will we see more earthquakes, chances are, we'll see stronger ones.
-Claudia Cowan
April 15, 2010 - 4:25 PM | by: Claudia Cowan
Earthquake country-- brace yourself. Southern California and Baja are experiencing a significant increase in seismic activity.
The region's faults were relatively quiet for about 10 years, but not in 2010.
So far this year, there have been more than 70 earthquakes greater than magnitude 4.
That's more quakes than in any other year of this decade, and more than in the last two years combined.
Scientists are studying the numbers, and can only theorize as to what's behind the uptick.
Turns out, we can blame much of this shaking on just one quake: The 7.2 temblor that hit Mexicali, in Baja, California, a few weeks ago.
It was followed by more than a thousand aftershocks, including dozens of very strong-- the region was rocked just yesterday by a 4.4 temblor. In fact, that that one event, the Mexicali quake, accounts for more than 50 of the 70 mag-4-quakes we've seen so far this year.
Dr. Lucy Jones with the USGS says "everytime a big earthquake happens,everytime any earthquake happens, it makes another earthquake more likely, and if it's a really big earthquake, it makes lots of earthquakes more likely."
Scientists also say major earthquakes tend to occur in cycles, and that Southern California's last cycle happened about a decade ago.
The region was hit with the 7.3 Landers quake in 1992, and the deadly Northridge Quake in 1994. This recent surge could mean we're heading into a more active seismic period, with bigger earthquakes on the way.
There's also the possibility that a major quake could trigger activity in another fault, perhaps one that was ready to starting shifting. That could be significant because the San Andreas fault, the source of some of California's most catastrophic quakes, is long overdue for a major event.
Scientists say there's no cause for panic, and no reason to think that the so-called "Big One" is any more likely to hit: earthquakes are still impossible to predict.
Here's the bottom line:
If the Southern California-Baja region is headed into a new period of siesmic activity, not only will we see more earthquakes, chances are, we'll see stronger ones.
-Claudia Cowan
