Richter TNT for Seismic Example
Magnitude Energy Yield (approximate)
-1.5 6 ounces Breaking a rock on a lab table
1.0 30 pounds Large Blast at a Construction Site
1.5 320 pounds
2.0 1 ton Large Quarry or Mine Blast
2.5 4.6 tons
3.0 29 tons
3.5 73 tons
4.0 1,000 tons Small Nuclear Weapon
4.5 5,100 tons Average Tornado (total energy)
5.0 32,000 tons
5.5 80,000 tons Little Skull Mtn., NV Quake, 1992
6.0 1 million tons Double Spring Flat, NV Quake, 1994
6.5 5 million tons Northridge, CA Quake, 1994
7.0 32 million tons Hyogo-Ken Nanbu, Japan Quake, 1995; Largest Thermonuclear Weapon
7.5 160 million tons Landers, CA Quake, 1992
8.0 1 billion tons San Francisco, CA Quake, 1906
8.5 5 billion tons Anchorage, AK Quake, 1964
9.0 32 billion tons Chilean Quake, 1960
10.0 1 trillion tons (San-Andreas type fault circling Earth)
12.0 160 trillion tons (Fault Earth in half through center,
OR Earth's daily receipt of solar energy)
$125 billion in damages HIGHLY LIKELY. In LA county alone!
Can America continue life as usual (considering 8% of Americans LIVE in Southern California!) KNOWING there is a catastrophe looming?
It amazes me people go about living their lives (building highways, houses, businesses, and other infrastructure) on a mass of land that is likely to shift 25 feet to the north. (and not without a little shaking! )
I'm just saying... (I know - pretty much to myself!) I worry for my country, which is already on shaky ground - so to speak. Can we afford to sit idle while the next predictable disaster happens? I am afraid we need leadership which is not there on the scale we need.
If we were smart, we would rezone America. Southern California should be left to campers and beach bums. (I know - there's a joke there somewhere!)
p.s., There was a 3.2 on the San Andreas a short while ago - and more rumblings in Brawley.
Very strange. Yes, I have noticed a few quakes today... including a a 4.0 near Guadalupe Victoria, Baja California, Mexico, a 3.0 near Jacumba Hot Springs, CA, and a 3.2 near Valle Vista, CA couple hours ago...
But what's interesting is - this uptick in seismicity (noticed by a few including myself) has not been reported in ANY U.S. news outlets that I can find...
Interesting observation; but we Californian's having our head's in the sand about earthquakes.......come on.
Some facts:
Number of deaths caused by lightning in the US from 1990 through 2003: 756 (avg. 58 per year)
Number of deaths caused by tornados in the US from 1990 through 2003: 768 (avg. 59 per year)
Number of deaths caused by hurricance in the US (thousands in the last 100 years).
Number of deaths caused by earthquakes in Calif. during the last 105 (!!!) years: 369 (avg.<4 per year)
Personally, I don't give these 'natural disasters' a second thought.
What is of greater concern to me is the number of traffic deaths in this state.
In a 19-year period (up through 2009) there were 75,016 traffic related deaths in Ca. (avg. 3,948/yr !!)
The "other driver" gives me more concern here in Calif. than the combination all the natural disasters that are possible.--as the statistics should conclude.
Just being sarcastic Don... yet, I watch your backyard with baited breath..
Someday soon, there will be a movement of earth of 25 feet or so- spanning some 300 miles - shaking like Californians have NEVER seen. (in their lifetimes anyway)
The Southern San Andreas breaks loose every 180 years on average. Last rupture? 300 years ago.
You are sitting on a time bomb. So your statistics are a moot point... sorry.
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Originally Posted by Marc
