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March 29, 2005
More earthquakes to come?
The Washington Post has quite an interesting write-up about the potential for additional quakes (subscription required).
I hope they don't mind that I am quoting from their article called "Quake in December Set Stage for More Upheaval"
First is stated that yesterday's quake didn't come as a surprise. A Lori, who is a geologist at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California, says:
"What happened today was not a surprise. A number of scientists have been talking about an increased likelihood of more earthquakes in this area because of the rupture that happened in December. And it may not stop here."
The article continues:
"In December, a section of one plate about 700 miles long suddenly plunged about 30 feet beneath another, causing a magnitude 9.0 earthquake that created the devastating tsunami. That event probably increased pressure on the next section of the plate boundary just to the south, causing yesterday's similar sudden thrust of one plate beneath the other, this time apparently involving a smaller section of perhaps 200 to 300 miles."We think it's very likely that the extra stresses put on by the quake happening to the northwest is very likely to have triggered this earthquake. It would have happened sometime, but the timing may have been moved up by the quake to the north," according to Bruce Presgrave geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center"
And:
"There is now an increased possibility that yet another massive quake could occur soon, farther along the same plate boundary, experts said.""The timing of the next event is unpredictable because it depends on a host of factors, including whether pressure had been released along the boundary by previous quakes. But more quakes are inevitable."
Dengler also says that:
"It's just a question of when, and how big"
I guess the message is that more is to come. The question is, how we prepare ourselves for it. And, may be, what the governments around the region are doing to protect buildings and other sensitive installations. Additionally, how can knowledge captured now and earlier be finally used to create actionplans, and clear comumunication. When the earthquake happened last night, the blogger sphere sprang into action first. I found the first article online in Yahoo Singapore, around 12.25 AM or so. CNN started to report around the same time. All the major stations provided updates when I got ready at aroudn 6.45 AM, to go to work.
The local Malaysian stations entertained, with programmes called "Motivasi Pagi". Where are the lessons learnt from last time?
Posted by Andreas at March 29, 2005 01:26 PM
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Comments
Malaysian high rises are not safe at all. My apartment had cracks on the wall. It's not really the goverment's fault tho. It's just that Malaysia isn't in the earthquake-prone areas.
Okay, I gave my lecture on earthquakes (woo! fun!) and the aftershocks and the hop-scotching of earth quakes from fault to fault. Basically, what happens is that one earthquake can trigger another earthquake half way across the world. The boundaries between plates are consistently building up stress. The stress is released when the friction between the two plates can no longer hold the amount of pressure from the stress build-up and then boom. U got an earthquake.
As everyone knows, an energy cannot be created nor destroyed. So what happens when an earthquake releases such tremendous amount of energy? They become seismic waves which would travel across the crusts until it hits another boundary. This energy would then increase the stress of that boundary to the point where friction can't hold it any longer boom there's your second earthquake. It's very common in North America.
Anyways, the problem is when and where would it occure. Geologists have still yet to figure out when it occurs because they do not have the technology for it. They can only tell with ultra sensitive seismometers 20 seconds before it strikes. Utterly pointless. Where it strikes, well there is a possibility in finding that out. That would depend on the direction the energy went to. That by itself would be a big task.
My presentation is found at http://mezza-9.net/quakes.ppt (a few spelling errors). It doesn't really talk about why fault jumping occurs but it gives a basic overview of how earthquake occurs and what basic prediction methods are available. =) Feel free to ask me if you're lost. The presentation is meant to be a visual aid so some things are no explained very well. =)
Posted by: Ivy at March 29, 2005 07:16 PM
I think Malaysian bloggers were the first to report the news and provide first hand reports.
I wonder how safe the highrises in Malaysia are?
Posted by: Adam at March 29, 2005 06:24 PM