Friday Headlines, April 4, 2014
THE LATEST IN THE GEOSCIENCES
Today’s round-up:
Massive earthquake in Chile
Not-nearly-as-massive earthquake in California
Experts: Strict building codes saved lives in powerful Chile earthquake
A massive 8.2 magnitude earthquake struck the coast of Chile on April 1st, triggering Tsunami warnings throughout the Pacific Ocean basin. The death toll, however, is amazingly low, currently below ten.
Earthquakes along the western margin of South America are common, as the Pacific plate (which forms much of the ocean floor below the Pacific Ocean) is being subducted below the South American plate.
This earthquake did generate a small tsunami, a time-lapse movie of which can be watched below.
Read more about the video on Wired.com.
Scientists pinpoint origin of 5.1 La Habra earthquake
On Friday, March 28, an earthquake shook much of the Los Angeles area, knocking food off of shelves and chandeliers off of ceilings. The magnitude of the quake was 5.1, and has now been pinpointed to lie below a more significant, but less well-known, Puente Hills fault.
The earthquake did not cause the Puente Hills fault to move, which means that the fault remains locked, still storing energy that could result in a major quake.
Penny Higgins - Storyteller • Artist • Scientist 