Quakes!

i felt both of the sizable quakes in southern california over the last week. the conclusion i've drawn from both is that when the big one hits, it's very likely i won't be wearing pants.

that magnitude 7 off the coast is certainly impressive-looking on the map, even if it is only partially visible.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think the shit is about to hit the fan."
-- What do you know that makes you think that this is not a prelude to the "big one"?

I like Billy Murray's line better...

"What about the Twinkie?"

Or Ernie Hudson's: "Tell him about the Twinkie"

Thankfully, it's a *good* sign, not a bad one.

Large magnitude quakes come about because of unreleased/pent-up tension between the plates. Regular, steady release of tensions is ideal.

The fact that a M7 hit alone shows a significant release, which would be less likely before an even larger release.

Of course, stranger things have happened..

You know better? How?

I'm down here and more surprising than the quake (which felt no more than a large truck driving by outside) was how much they talked about it on the radio. There wasn't this much made of the quake in *Ohio* (20 years ago). Geez, wimps.

i'm no geologist, but note that the M7's happened at the top and bottom of the map, with san francisco slap bang in the middle.

depending on which way the faults slipped, would that mean that the stress is increasing under SF?

Hey Jeremy,

Use the PubSub Earthquake subscription page to be alerted to new shakers--if you're really about to slide into the Pacific, at least you'll get a heads-up before everyone else:

http://www.pubsub.com/earthquakes_text.php?

Pick the region you want to monitor and the way you want to be alerted, and then stock up on canned food.

I'm inclined to believe Jeremy on this one as he is probably hearing alot from his local yokel speculators about this stuff out there in Cali.

Howevere, more activity, though it could mean regular relase of pent up frustration by the earth, could also mean that there's alot going on down there that could really prove that this is a leadup to a big one.

Just don't watch any "End of the World" movies in the next month.

don't forget the obsessively rocking earthquake RSS feed:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/rss.html