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Nevada Earthquake Swarm Increases Chance of Larger Quake

An anonymous reader writes Hundreds of small earthquakes have been gaining in strength in northwestern Nevada. The Nevada region bordering California and Oregon was hit by 18 quakes in less than 24 hours, with magnitudes measuring from 2.7 to 4.5. According to CNN: "This does not necessarily mean a big one will come, state seismologists said, but they added that it's good to be prepared, just in case. Seismologists refer to such quake groupings as swarms, and the U.S. Geological Survey has detected them regularly. They can produce thousands of small tremors."

3 of 65 comments (clear)

  1. Anybody notice? by reboot246 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    The headline and summary say the exact opposite.

    " . . .Increases Chance of Larger Quake" - Everybody panic!

    "This does not necessarily mean a big one will come, state seismologists said . . ." - Calm down.

  2. Re:Preferable to Rarer, Larger Quakes by dtmos · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Having been in all three (well, I wasn't exactly inside the tornado, but it was much too close for comfort), I agree that the earthquake is the choice of the lot -- if one has to be in one of the three.

    However, if the question is, "Which would you rather live in -- an earthquake-, tornado-, or hurricane-prone area?", my answer would be the hurricane-prone area, because these days they're by far the most predictable and, therefore, escapable. I'm comforted by the fact that should one appear, I will have enough warning to be elsewhere when it hits. It's a lot harder to say that about tornadoes and earthquakes.

  3. Re:hm... by Charliemopps · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sounds like fracking to me....

    Given that fracking was illegal in Nevada until about a month ago, I'd say you're wrong.