Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Is This The Big One?

Posted by timothy on from the shaky-ground dept.

Quivering Coward writes "There has been a marked increase in seismic activity in southern California in the past several days," pointing to this map from Caltech Earthquake Net, including a 5.2 and 3.6 this morning (2004/06/15). "Could this be the big one? Is 'the big one' ever going to happen? NASA is doing their part to predict the future of Earthquakes."

30 of 151 comments (clear)

  1. Run by Isosonys · · Score: 5, Funny

    Run go to another state. Just RUN. That is all Thank You.

    1. Re:Run by cluckshot · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You might have a day or two left but well the Lunar Land tides maxed on June 3 and they do it again on July 1. The orbital max differential occurred on June 15 for apogee and will max for Paragee on July 1. I suppose with all the other data we see a high probablility of Earthquake as the moon approaches the close approach on July 1.

      The time to be concerned is when the moon is at 45 Deg to the longitude of So. CA.

      Click on the Earth Moon Viewer Apogee/Paragee Calc if you want to check out the exact times etc.

      --
      Never Politically Correct ~ I prefer the facts If you don't like what I say, get a life, or comment yourself.
    2. Re:Run by troon · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Nitpick" is one word. "Paragee" is a two-letter misspelling of "perigee", although "mispelling" is a one-letter misspelling of "misspelling".

      Oh, and it's "insignificant", not "insignifigant".

      I had to be so careful not to make any typos in this post! ;-)

      --
      Ydco co ,df C erb-y go. a Ekrpat t.fxrapev
  2. What happens when I click on an earthquake? by Bob+Cat+-+NYMPHS · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That's from the Caltech quake map link. heehee.

    Anyway. A couple of small quakes and /. starts worrying about the end of the world? Get real.

    --
    The latest Slashdot meme.
    1. Re:What happens when I click on an earthquake? by Smidge204 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Unless, of course, all this shakin' is weakening the underlying structure gradually. (Small shifts, crack propagation, etc). If that's the case then your "it hasn't broken under worse conditions before, therefore it won't fail now" conclusion is, if you'll excuse the pun, a bit shaky.

      Of course, this only matters if you actually consider west California "civilization". For me this is all strictly academic. :)
      =Smidge=

    2. Re:What happens when I click on an earthquake? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      A couple of small quakes and /. starts worrying about the end of the world?

      Southern Cali == world?? You must be American.

      Apart from Californians themselves, I wonder for how many Americans this will literally be the end of the world as they actually die from depression when the output of mindless TV shows and movies slows down to a trickle.

      -hadohk

    3. Re:What happens when I click on an earthquake? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      The real question is What happens if everyone clicks on an earthquake at the same time?"

  3. Yeah, sure.. by Lord+Bitman · · Score: 4, Funny

    NASA is "predicting" the earthquakes

    --
    -- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
    1. Re:Yeah, sure.. by Pi_0's+don't+shower · · Score: 3, Informative
      Exactly. As every goephysicist knows, you cannot predict earthquakes! We just don't know enough about the Earth's interior, including all the fault lines and their details to be able to do it. The best we can do, as far as I know, is to detect tremors and give a few minutes warning. From the article above, here's what Arthur Smith has to say:
      Scientists cannot predict earthquakes - otherwise we would not have so many where hundreds or thousands of people get killed, like the recent one in Japan. After an earthquake has happened there are various things geologists look for in the "fault" associated with the earthquake to give some idea of how long it will be till the next one. The "fault" is the part of the earth's crust where two sections are sliding against one another in some fashion. To make real predictions would require knowing the location of all these faults (some kind of map), knowing at what stage each of them is (how much tension there is and what kind of things are preventing the fault from slipping) and how they interact with one another. Even for very carefully studied regions like southern California, we have only a very small fraction of the information that would be needed for true prediction.
  4. The future... is now by Jorkapp · · Score: 5, Funny

    We simply cannot allow this to happen. Should the ground open up, then the land of the molemen, warlocks, and trolls will release their soldiers! We must defend ourselves!

    Therefore, I am introducing the MWTDA (Molemen, Warlock, and Troll Defense Act). All citizens are to be in posession of:

    * Either a large water gun or a hose
    * Trashbags

    Military combat units are also under orders to be in posession of the forementioned weaponry.

    [Obligatory Simpsons Quote]
    [Homer] You're right. I'll deal with those murderous trolls.
    [Bart] Huh?
    [Homer] I mean - I'll deal with those murderous trolls. ...Later...

    [Homer] (Being chased) Marge! Lisa! Now!
    * Marge and Lisa open fire on the jockeys with a watergun and hose - incapacitating them.
    [Homer] Bart - Go get me a trashbag.

    --
    Frink: Nice try floyd, but you were designed for scrubbing, and scrubbing is what you shall do.
  5. All we have to do is ... by LennyDotCom · · Score: 4, Funny

    We just need to blow up a small tactical nuke deep within the fault line and we can save the west coast. Trust me I saw it in a movie once. It worked like a charm.

    --
    http://Lenny.com
    1. Re:All we have to do is ... by CamMac · · Score: 3, Funny

      The small tactical nuke encourages the fault line to shift earlier and with more force than it would have naturally.

      Most of California, despite heroic attempts by the Govinator, violently slips into the pages of History.

      Washington and all other civilization on the west coast is saved.

      --Cam
      PS The Church rewrites the Soddom and Gamora tale to reflect current events.

      --
      All jocks think about is sports. All nerds think about is sex.
    2. Re:All we have to do is ... by KnightStalker · · Score: 3, Funny

      Oh, I see you've somehow become aware of the secret state of Quincy, the east border of which extends from Vancouver, B.C. all the way to Cannon Beach, OR, and which (to the untrained eye) looks remarkably like the Pacific Ocean. *holds up mysterious chrome rod* Look over here, please...

      --
      * And remember, it's spelled N-e-t-s-c-a-p-e, but it's pronounced "Mozilla."
  6. Belive it or not... by Repran · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...but a russion scientist actually predicted this would happen.

    --

    -- Contradictions only exist in thought - not in reality.

  7. Science Fiction can inform us by justanyone · · Score: 3, Interesting


    I read a really cool sci-fi story once where there was a big earthquake coming, everybody believed it and moved east of the line (into Nevada) and waited.

    The big day came, the earthquake happened, and ... it was the Eastern part that fell into the ocean. The western sliver remained, newborn cliffs towering above a freshly minted surf far below, having swallowed the rest of the U.S.

    Maybe those of us in Chicago ought to have life rafts, too (grin).

    -- Kevin Rice

    --
    Unitarian Church: Freethinkers Congregate!
    1. Re:Science Fiction can inform us by sadler121 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Maybe those of us in Chicago ought to have life rafts...

      Though this is a joke, one musten forget the The New Madrid Fault Line, and how many geologists believe that a "big one" could eminate from there, causing much more damage, seeing that buildings in the midwest aren't as "earth quake" proof as those in the west.

  8. Earth moved by sckeener · · Score: 4, Funny

    Shhh...my wife thought it was me.

    --
    "Only one thing, is impossible for god: to find any sense in any copyright law on the planet." Mark Twain
    1. Re:Earth moved by pavlov112 · · Score: 3, Funny

      What about "wife" implies regular sex? I rather thought it was the opposite...

    2. Re:Earth moved by el-spectre · · Score: 3, Funny

      Heh... I like how a 6 digit # is '5, give or take'. Imprecise to an order of magnitude!

      --
      "Faith: Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel." - A.B.
  9. So what? by dacarr · · Score: 4, Interesting
    It's an earthquake. BFD. Yes, during Northridge, it levelled an apartment building, knocked over a freeway interchange ramp or two, and toppled the big screen at Anaheim Stadium, but that was really it. The damage and death toll for that six pointer was trivial. And ten years ago, I heard it predicted by seismologists that there would be a 50/50 chance of a major earthquake hitting within the next thirty years.

    I mean, come on, people, are we expecting The Big One to cause the entire state of California to break away at its borders, and we start floating around the Pacific Ocean in some sort of bad remake of Space:1999, with Arnold Schwarzenneger in charge of Earth Base California or something?

    --
    This sig no verb.
  10. Not Southern Cal by sfjoe · · Score: 4, Informative


    Many researchers believe the next major earthquake will be in northern California, not southern California. One reason is that the San Andreas fault 'creeps' in the south, slowly releasing energy (so the theory goes). In the north, the San Andreas is locked and last moved in 1906, when it released all its energy at once, devastating San Francisco.

    --
    It's simple: I demand prosecution for torture.
  11. The San Andreas fault is nice and all, but by bersl2 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What about the New Madrid fault? It's overdue for a 7+ magnitude earthquake, and it's in the middle of America.

  12. Re:Yep, any day now. By which I mean next 100000 d by somapoi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Umm ... .it floats on magma .. not on the ocean.

  13. No It's not the one. by EvilTwinSkippy · · Score: 3, Informative
    Wrong fault line. (The 5.5 Earthquake was out in the Pacific.)

    In fact, the earthquake patterns on the map show that today is a pretty ho-hum day.

    Nothing to see here. Move along.

    --
    "Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
    --Dr.W.Edwards Deming
  14. One great big, festering neon distraction by georgewad · · Score: 3, Funny

    I've an idea to keep you all occupied:
    Learn to swim

    --
    Karma: It's not just a good idea. It's the law.
  15. Learn to swim by Discoflamingo13 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'll see you down in Arizona Bay.

  16. If you keep making predictions... by Chemisor · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you keep making predictions, eventually one of them will come true.

    1. Re:If you keep making predictions... by bw5353 · · Score: 3, Funny
      "If you keep making predictions, eventually one of them will come true."

      Bah, that's far too much trouble for me. It is much easier to go for "If you keep reading other people's predictions, eventually you will find one that turned out to be true."

  17. Sorry about that.... by clintp · · Score: 4, Funny

    Those "earthquakes" are actually just the collective sobbing and shaking of the Los Angeles Lakers fans.

    --
    Get off my lawn.
  18. Re:Why, a quake goes off, of course. by TwP · · Score: 3, Informative

    NONE of you have ever wondered why the moon only shows us one face? What're the odds?

    The moon is gravitationally locked to the Earth's rotation. Tidal forces from Earth's gravitational field have induced a bulge in the moon; this buldge always points along the line from the center of the Earth to the center of the moon. At one time the moon was rotating faster then it is now, but the moon had to bend and flex as this bulge shifted around. Energy was lost to friction (rocks grinding against one another), and the moon's rotation slowed until it was gravitationally locked to the Earth.

    But don't take my word for it, I'm just a rocket scientist.