Slashdot Mirror
4.0 Earthquake Near Concord, California
craighansen writes: Just felt a small earthquake, which I confirmed at USGS was a magnitude 4.0 at 2015-05-03 22:13:19 UTC, followed by a magnitude 2.7 a minute later, both located near Concord, California.
According to the USGS Earthquake Facts and Statistics, there are 13,000 4.0 - 4.9 earthquakes every year (so about 1 every 40 minutes).
For those of us who actually live in northern California (where Concord is located), nothing under 5.0 is worthy of notice. Perhaps in Concord, New Hampshire it might be newsworthy.
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
A story for those who don't understand orders of magnitude?
As a former Californian, the magnitude scale goes something like this:
3.5 - Huh, what? When did that happen?
4.0 - Ehh, something moved slightly...
4.5 - Oh, I actually felt that one there.
5.0 - Heh, that actually qualifies as an earthquake.
5.5 - Oh boy, we are starting to shake pretty good. Stay away from the glass, this one might be a little rough.
6.0 - Find a doorway quick and hang on! This one will be rough.
6.5 - Oh crap, duck and cover! 20sec of destruction, 2 weeks of "The Big One is coming! Are you prepared? Will you die?!" news stories.
7.0 - Oh $h17!!! This one is going to hurt.
8.0 - Wait, what? You mean the Big One is real?
Scale +/-0.5 depending on where you are located in California (i.e. Bay area vs. Inland empire). A 4.0 ranks as barely noticable ...
Below are the California earthquakes of equal or greater magnitude (i.e., not much to speak of) this year...
The point is, a 4.0 earthquale is NOT NEWS! Sorry
5/3 4.01 in Concord
4/24 2 quakes at 5.5 off the coast near Eureka
4/10 4 quakes: 4.5, 4.5, 4.85, & 4.8 off the coast near Eureka
3/30 4.02 in Baker
3/27 4.2 near Fresno
2/14 4.49 near Death Valley
1/29 4.26 near Eureka
1/28 2 quakes: 5.14 & 5.6 near Eureka
1/20 2 quakes: 4.71 & 4.9 near Monterey
1/14 4.06 near Eureka
1/4 4.5 near Santa Clarita
1/1 5.3 off the coast near Eureka