A new map released by the federal government is showing that over half the U.S. is at greater risk for experiencing earthquakes.
The U.S. Geological Survey has updated the national seismic hazard maps for the first time since 2008. The new maps use research from the massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami off the Japanese coast along with the 2011 earthquake that shook Virginia and caused significant damage to national monuments in Washington, D.C.
Parts of Washington, Oregon, Utah, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming and Tennessee have moved into the top two hazard zones in the new map according to project chief Mark Petersen.
Sixteen states have all or part of their territory in the highest risk category: Alaska, Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois, Kentucky and South Carolina.
Most of the major regions are in the western part of the country, however, there is a major hazard area comprising of southeast Missouri, western Kentucky & Tennessee and eastern Arkansas.
A major earthquake woke up Mexico and Guatemala Monday morning, leaving at least four people dead.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck around 6:23 a.m. local time on the Pacific Coast about a mile from Puerto Madero on the Guatemalan border. The quake was initially measured at 7.1 but reduced to 6.9.
Two people died in the Guatemalan town of Pati when their home collapsed on them. A third was confirmed dead from a heart attack brought on by the stress of the quake. A wall in Huixtla crushed a man when a building collapsed.
Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina said on the radio that a newborn was killed when hit by a collapsing wall but emergency personnel did not confirm it.
Massive power outages have left most of Guatemala without electricity. Early reports had hundreds of homes with significant damage and utility poles down for hundreds of miles.
A scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey said there is a possibility that a massive earthquake off the Alaskan coast Monday could be connected to an earthquake that struck hours earlier in New Zealand.
A 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck shortly after noon pacific time near the largely uninhabited Kermadex Islands, northeast of the country’s North Island. The quake was followed by an aftershock of 6.3 minutes later. The Alaskan quake of magnitude 7.9 struck off the Aleutian Islands shortly before 2 p.m. pacific time.
“The timing of it is such that we call the surface waves, the waves that travel around the circumference of the earth, arrived about the time the earthquake occurred,” Oppenheimer said.
However, Oppenheimer said the strength of the Alaskan quake indicates that it would have likely happened within a short time if it was not triggered by the New Zealand quake.
“There is just so much stress relieved within an earthquake of magnitude 7.9,” he said.
The Alaskan quake triggered a small tsunami with waves about half a foot high. Seismologists attribute the low height to the 63 mile depth of the quake.
New Zealand was hit with a trio of strong quakes Tuesday morning. Two quakes, magnitude 6.9 and 6.3, struck within minutes of each other. The third, a 6.2 magnitude quake, struck about 45 minutes later.
An earthquake rattled Virginia’s capital on Wednesday night, felt as far north was Washington D.C.
The quake, which measured 3.2 on the Richter Scale, was significantly smaller than the quake in the same region 2 ½ years ago that caused the Washington Monument to be closed until last week.
Virginia officials say over 1,300 people in the region reported feeling the impact of the quake. Quake reports came in from as far away as Maryland and the District of Columbia. No major damage was reported and no one was injured.
Residents told the Washington Post the quake reminded them of a big truck driving past their home or a very powerful thunderstorm.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered only 7/10th of a mile underground about 30 miles west of Richmond.
History has been made by the U.S. Geological Survey in issuing the first earthquake warning for an area east of the Rocky Mountains.
The USGS issued a joint statement with the Oklahoma Geological Survey saying that the risk of an earthquake greater than 5.0 on the Richter scale has significantly increased after a rash of smaller quakes.
“We haven’t seen this before in Oklahoma, so we had some concerns about putting a specific number on the chances of it,” Robert Williams of the USGS said. “But we know from other cases around the world that if you have an increasing number of small earthquakes, the chances of a larger one will go up.”
The number of earthquakes per mile in Oklahoma this year is the same as California.
Most of the buildings in Oklahoma are built to withstand a light earthquake but officials say a medium size quake could cause mass devastation. The last major quake was November 2011, when a 5.6 magnitude quake destroyed 14 homes.
Scientists say that magma is slowing starting to build inside Washington’s Mount St. Helens.
However, the scientists say there is no indication of an impending eruption like the one that killed 57 people in 1980.
“The magma reservoir beneath Mount St. Helens has been slowly re-pressurizing since 2008,” the U.S. Geological Survey said in a Wednesday statement. “It is likely the re-pressurization is caused by the arrival of a small amount of additional magma 2 to 5 miles beneath the surface.”
The USGS said they will be working this summer with the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network at the University of Washington to monitor ground deformation and seismic activity at the volcano. They will also measure gases and gravity field which can monitor subsurface magma.
Vancouver was shaken up Wednesday night as a major 6.6 earthquake struck off the coast of Vancouver Island.
The quake measured magnitude 6.6 and struck just after 8:10 p.m.
The USGS said that three strong aftershocks followed the main quake over the next two hours measuring magnitudes 5.0, 4.2 and 4.2.
Emergency Management B.C. reported that the quake, located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, did not cause a tsunami for the region.
“We can confirm at this time that there is no reporting of any injuries or any significant damage, so all folks are safe,” said Pat Quealey, assistant deputy minister for Emergency Management BC.
Witnesses say while the quake was very strong, it only occurred for a short time and most people didn’t have time to react before the quake ended.
A powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake shook Mexico City and the surrounding regions Friday.
The quake was so strong that people rushed into the streets out of fear that building would collapse.
Mexican authorities said that walls cracked and fell along with the collapse of some smaller buildings but no major building collapses or deaths.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake occurred along a fault line that was considered dormant by most geologists. However, Gavin Hayes of the USGS says the plates in the Guerrero Seismic Gap were locked, which allowed a potential build up of devastating energy.
The last quake along that fault was a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1911.
The USGS says the fault line has the potential to cause a quake that is above magnitude 8.4 and could kill more than the 9,500 people in the 1985 magnitude 8.1 Mexico City quake.
Central Idaho has been experiencing a rare outbreak of small and medium strength earthquakes that has confounded seismologists.
The U.S. Geological Survey is sending in three portable seismographs to the Challis, Idaho area to help experts understand what might be behind the outbreak.
“It certainly has gotten the attention of the state and our regional partners,” Harley Benz of the USGS told The Oregonian. “So what we’re trying to do is put in an array to get a better feel for the location of the events and the depths and the rate of activity.”
The largest quakes have happened since Thursday. The central Idaho region experienced a 4.1 magnitude quake Thursday, 4.9 on Sunday and a 4.4 on Monday. Dozens of other earthquakes under 3.3 magnitude has been happening on a semi-regular basis since March 24.
The region is the same as the deadly 1983 6.9 magnitude earthquake that is still the state’s strongest quake. However, the seismologists say the current quakes are happening on a previously thought dormant fault line and not the one that lead to the major 1983 quake.
A magnitude 8.2 earthquake off the coast of northern Chile left at least six people dead and injured hundreds.
The quake was significant enough that government and local officials forced an evacuation of the coastline in anticipation of a tsunami. The waves peaked out about 7 feet above normal before officials allowed residents to return 10 hours after the quake.
The only major damage from tsunami waves struck Iquique by flooding city streets and washing away fishing boats. The city was also hosting several military units after the quake caused the collapse of a wall in the city’s women’s prison resulting the escape of all 300 prisoners.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had 20 aftershocks including one that registered magnitude 6.2. The initial quake was so large that the USGS reports the capital of neighboring Bolivia reported a 4.5 magnitude earthquake.
Mike Simons, a seismologist with the USGS, said that despite the intensity of the current quake, scientists are expecting a more massive quake to strike Chile.
“Could be tomorrow, could be in 50 years; we do not know when it’s going to occur. But the key point here is that this magnitude-8.2 is not the large earthquake that we were expecting for this area,” Simons said.
