Earthquake

Lots of news about various Earthquakes lately. A big one (8.2) in Chile just recently:

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/chile- ... -it-n69666

And, a smaller one, although still noticeable, happened recently at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, USA:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/3 ... 60314.html


I remember seeing a TV program years ago on the volcano, etc., underground at Yellowstone and they showed projections of what might possibly happen if, or when, it every erupted. It could destroy just about all of the USA.....scary thought!!!

Those earthquakes are happening in an earthquake prone place. It seems no matter where you live, pick your natural disaster…you can't really get away from them. They do happen, the best thing a person can do is know the likely disasters in their area and prepare as best you can.

As for Yellowstone, the big disaster documentaries and videos are focused on an explosive volcanic eruption. USGS constantly monitors Yellowstone as it is a geologically active site and has lots of scientific value. It can erupt in tons of ways besides an explosive caldera forming event, and most of those ways are smaller with a more local impact. It's an incredibly complex thing, almost always more complex than any media will make it out to be. And disaster scenarios certainly get a ton of attention and they can be fascinating (and sometimes grossly exaggerated), but they unfortunately also create a ton of fear over something that is pretty unlikely.

You can check out the USGS Yellowstone Volcano Observatory and see tons of data, FAQ, geological history, and even real-time earthquake data. On the Three Volcanic Cycles of Yellowstone page, they talk extensively about the volcanic history and how the a caldera-forming explosive eruption in disaster scenarios is extremely unlikely, based on historical evidence and what we know about volcanoes. What's much more likely are lava flows or much smaller explosions. And even then, we'd likely have SOME warning about it and it's still not a likely event.

I've seen about this eartquake in Chile : amazing ! 8.2 !! Impressive.... Hope there isn't too much disaster

Saw in the news that there was also an earthquake a little over the scale of 5 in Panama a day after the earthquake in Chile.

http://news.msn.com/world/panama-quake- ... e-injuries

Silver_Surfer1 wrote:

Saw in the news that there was also an earthquake a little over the scale of 5 in Panama a day after the earthquake in Chile.

http://news.msn.com/world/panama-quake- ... e-injuries

I've heard about it ! Sad knews continues but that is what nature is...

Another brief note regarding the Yellowstone earthquakes, etc. I read some news reports yesterday that many animals had been seen running away from Yellowstone and some folks took this to mean that the animals had a sixth sense that something might be going to happen there soon and that is why the animals were leaving the area. However, upon reading further, other reports said that this type of thing happens often so nothing to be concerned about. I do believe that animals can sense things, but guess we will just have to wait and see what happens.

A thing to consider is that it's early spring. A LOT of animals are on the move this time of year. It seems quite standard to me. If you look at the links I provided in my last post, there's nothing happening there that doesn't fall within historical norms. Pretty much everywhere I've seen the 'animals leaving Yellowstone' reports are dubious sources at best and there's plenty of sources putting it in the proper perspective, and some evidence that one of the videos of bison supposedly fleeing the park was even outright faked. There has also been a lot of illegal bison hunting going on at Yellowstone as well, which may make the animals wearier of people. Anyway, here's a few good articles about Yellowstone and those animals videos.

The ever reliable rumor examination machine Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/critters/gnus/yellowstone.asp

A nice skeptical source for a lot of things you see on the 'net: http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/04/are-ani ... trophe-no/

And livescience, one of my favorite science news sites: http://www.livescience.com/44495-earthq ... hreat.html

Invoking Carl Sagan, have your baloney detection kit tuned to high when reading things on the internet. There are, unfortunately, a lot of people who fear-monger online over just about anything that seems intuitively abnormal. IMO, worry far about the things you can really control and do something about, not the things you can't. Earth's a geologically active place. Far better to ride with it than worry about all the things nature can throw at us, but have basic preparations for whatever is appropriate to your area.

Edit: Part of Europe sits on top of a similar geologic feature, and it seems that particular caldera is more active than Yellowstone. But like Yellowstone, there really isn't much evidence anything is going to imminently happen. http://www.wired.com/2013/01/the-restle ... a-volcano/