5.1 Earthquake Hits California

An anonymous reader writes "A 5.1 earthquake hit Southern California at 9:09PM local time on Friday. It was preceded by a 3.6 earthquake, then followed by 3.4 and 3.6 quakes, as well as 100+ smaller aftershocks. The United States Geological Survey has a map showing the epicenter. There have been no reported deaths, though roughly 50 people have been displaced from their homes. 'The shake caused a rock slide in Carbon Canyon, causing a car to overturn, according to the Brea Police Department. Fullerton police received reports of water main breaks and windows shattering, but primarily had residents calling about burglar alarms being set off by the quake.'"

Comments

Other quakes today

[Anonymous Coward]

5.0 - deep Atlantic Ocean - http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ear...
5.8 - deep Atlantic Ocean - http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ear...
5.2 - 100 km east of Japan - http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ear...
5.0 - near New Guinea - http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ear...
5.2 - Nicaragua - http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ear...
and then there are the ones below magnitude 5

Re:Other quakes today

[dreamchaser]

This one, however, could be significant in that seismologists say it concerns them because the fault that caused it hasn't been active in awhile, and it runs directly through downtown Los Angeles. There is a small but significant chance that a larger quake could be coming.

Re:Other quakes today

[tompaulco]

Come, now. We've only had 5 earthquakes in the last day in Oklahoma, and not a one above 3.2. Seriously though, I have to wonder about whether the frequency is a bad thing. Are they earthquakes that would have occurred in the fullness of time, in other words, from plate shift? In that case, the more frequent the better, in my opinion. Rather a 100 small vibrations than one big shock. On the other hand, if the shocks are caused by emptied out caverns underground collapsing, then again, fracking would serve to lessen that by filling the caverns with fluid. Fracking is being used in Oklahoma mostly for forcing out natural gas. So they caverns are already empty. Fracking fluid should prevent rather than accelerate cave-ins.

Re:Other quakes today

[dreamchaser]

I guess both seismologists that I saw interviewed on the news were lying then. There's at least a 5% chance, according to them, of a larger quake in days or weeks to come.

Re:Other quakes today

[tlhIngan]

Unlikely. Large earthquakes don't provide smaller warning quakes ahead of time. If anything, we can rest a bit easier knowing that pressure has been released from the fault. I did feel it too, but living in Venice, a good distance from Brea and Orange County, it wasn't very powerful.

There is a theory that an earthquake does two things - it sets the next stress point, and the shaking may loosen and nudge other sticking points. The end result is the first may be a spot that can't handle the newly imposed loads and fail (another earthquake), the second is that even stable areas of the fault now have lubrication and can slip past each other where before they couldn't, forming yes, more earthquakes.

Unfortunately, there is no way to tell when the next quake will be a big one, a small one, or a devastating one.

The evidence has been that the number of earthquakes around the pacific rim ("ring of fire") has been increasing because of it.

It think the end result is pretty much "just continue on with life" - whatever the risk has gone down because of that failure may have increased the risk elsewhere (as in, not in the exact same spot - no one said it couldn't happen a little way down the fault).

Equivalent

[Anonymous Coward]

A 5.1 in California is the equivalent of an inch of snow in Ohio. People will kvetch about it but not cause any real issues.

Saw a forum post about this

[drinkypoo]

Some guy was complaining that his wife was angry because some of her wine glass collection fell over and broke. Wine glass collection, in Los Angeles. Good ideer! I keep my playing card house collection in a storage locker down there. I guess I should go check on it. You wouldn't believe what I went through to get those things moved.

Anyway, he also said that some people he knew weren't being allowed back into their neighborhoods or something. And when there isn't a gas leak, I'm surprised, knowing PG&E. So maybe there was some more significant damage around, if not major.

And in other news for nerds

[markdavis]

And in other technological "news for nerds"....

Hurricanes hit the Mid-Atlantic
Tornadoes spawn in the Midwest.
Snow falls in the Northeast.
Taxes go up.
Civil liberties go down.
Google makes money.

http://www.earthquakecountry.i...

About 30 Miles South of the Epicenter

[LifesABeach]

There was some rumbling, then a jolt, then afterwards for several seconds it felt like the ground was moving back and forth. On the second story, the towels were swaying. I think I will put those saftey straps on the IKEA book cases I purchase years ago.

Re:filed under lame news?

[causality]

I used to think living in the country somewhere, a drive away from a WalMart but out where a man's rights are respected, was crazy talk. Now it seems like a nice way to lay back and watch the world spin.

Most things that make sense to the informed are "crazy talk" to the rest.

Re:filed under lame news?

[Dupple]

mag 5 is a nothing quake. california really needs to get over itself

I think the problem is that California is getting under itself

And automobile alarms

[rotenberry]

During the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake every car alarm in the area was set off.

Although I now live in quake-free Texas the first thing I think of when a car alarm goes off is Earthquake! It must be the reptile part of the brain or something. Once my heart starts beating and the rest of my brain starts working I realize there is no earthquake.

In Dolby Where Available

[DJRikki]

Though would prefer 7.1

Re:filed under lame news?

[ColdWetDog]

And aliens.

We will rebuild

[houghi]

We will rebuild