East Coast vs. West Coast Earthquakes: Same Disaster, Different Creatures
First Posted: 8/23/11 09:26 PM ET Updated: 8/24/11 11:22 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Associated Press)– The East Coast doesn’t get earthquakes often but when they do strike, there’s a whole lot more shaking going on. The ground in the East is older, colder and more intact than the West Coast or the famous Pacific Ring of Fire. So East Coast quakes rattle an area up to 10 times larger than a similar-sized West Coast temblor.
“They tend to be more bang for the buck as far as shaking goes,” said Virginia Tech geology professor James Spotila.
Tuesday’s 5.8-magnitude quake was centered in Virginia and was felt up and down the Eastern seaboard for more than 1,000 miles. There hasn’t been a quake that large on the East Coast since 1944 in New York.
While this was a rarity for the East, a 5.8 quake isn’t unusual for California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska, where one occurs about once a year. Those states have had 103 quakes 5.8 or bigger since 1900, compared to now two in the East.
More here.
This is weird. One side is older?
Hi Susan Polgar,
Its sad,that Nature at times,behaves cruel,to living creatures across globe.
May be,if living creature’s are more friendly towards Nature,may lead to better understanding of Nature,that in turn could avert Nature’s dent on living life.
By
Venky [ India – Chennai ]