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.
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