Tag: ring of fire

Another Los Angeles Earthquake

The Southern California Earthquake Data Center (SCEDC) operates at the Seismological Laboratory at Caltech and is the primary archive of seismological data for southern California. They list 233 significant faults in this area. The Puente Hills fault is not listed. How many more faults are not identified? Obviously no one knows.

The Los Angeles metropolitan area is built on an active earthquake zone. I live in the west end of the San Fernando Valley. A distance of about 55 miles (Yes, Los Angeles Metro area is even bigger than that!) The 5.1 quake in La Habra resulted in a two to three second jerk motion at my home. If you were in motion you most likely did not even notice the movement. ABC television network news gave the impression that the entire city was impacted. That is an incorrect report.

Are earthquakes frightening? YES. Are earthquakes memorable? Rarely.

Another Major Earthquake

I am no expert on earthquakes but Los   Angeles has had a major quake about every 20 years.  Following is a list of quakes in the Los Angeles region that was collected by Wikipedia.  I have bolded those that were major shakers in Long Beach, Inglewood, West Los Angeles, and the San Fernando Valley.

My unscientific evaluation is that we are due for another major shaker NOW.

Are you ready?

Year Date Area Magnitude Title
1769 July 28 Santa Ana River 6.5-7.0 Portola Expedition earthquake
1812 December 8 Wrightwood 6.9-7.5 1812 Wrightwood earthquake
1857 January 9 Parkfield–Wrightwood 7.9 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake
1933 March 10 Long Beach 6.4 1933 Long Beach earthquake
1947 April 10 near Barstow 6.5 1947 Manix earthquake
1948 December 4 near Desert Hot Springs 6.0 1948 Desert Hot Springs earthquake
1952 July 21 Kern County 7.3-7.5 1952 Kern County earthquake
1971 February 9 San Fernando 6.6 1971 San Fernando earthquake
1986 July 8 North Palm Springs 6.0 1986 North Palm Springsearthquake
1987 October 1 Whittier Narrows 5.9 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake
1991 June 28 Sierra Madre 5.6 1991 Sierra Madre earthquake
1994 January 17 Northridge 6.7 1994 Northridge earthquake

Earthquake – Northridge 1994 Magnitude 6.7

Northridge Earthquake Apartment Building

Aerial photo of Santa Monica Freeway

Aerial photo of Santa Monica Freeway

Freeway Collapse Northridge Earthquake 1994

It was 4:30 a.m. on January 17, 1994 when the house rumbled and swayed.  “Everybody into the hall”, I yelled.  With the doors closed to the bedrooms we sat there on the floor until the swaying had stopped.  Our neighbor was pounding on the front door.  He yelled, “Is everybody OK?”  That is when we left the hall and I opened the front door.

We were all OK and the damage was minor.  I missed two days of work because the freeways had collapsed.

New York City, Washington – what you experienced was a minor shake.  Here in Los Angeles we just go back to work.  Around the Pacific Ocean we are not alone.  Earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault are here.

“Ring of Fire”

Ring of Fire

From the U.S. Geological Survey: Volcanic arcs and oceanic trenches partly encircling the Pacific Basin form the so-called Ring of Fire, a zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The trenches are shown in blue-green. The volcanic island arcs, although not labelled, are parallel to, and always landward of, the trenches. For example, the island arc associated with the Aleutian Trench is represented by the long chain of volcanoes that make up the Aleutian Islands.

While there is no trench along the Pacific coast of the lower 48 and most of North America there have been some significant earthquakes. The most famous being the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. It had an estimated magnitude of 7.9. Los Angeles’ most recent significant earthquake was called the “Northridge Earthquake” that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:31 a.m. hitting the San Fernando Valley and resulting in widespread devastation that impacted the freeway system throughout the city.

Today I saw a spokesperson for the USGS on CNN who said we would not have an earthquake greater than 8.0 magnitude. However, there is some contradicting opinion. The Los Angeles Times had an article on October 10, 2010 about a study “of a magnitude 8.1 earthquake that could run 340 miles from Monterey County to the Salton Sea.”

My home is in the San Fernando Valley and I do have two cabinets in my back yard holding emergency supplies. In addition I have a propane barbeque that could act as a stove. I will be reviewing those supplies this weekend.