Earth Quake

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Lawman
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Earth Quake

Post by Lawman » Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:36 am

Just felt an Earth Quake.

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BJL
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Re: Earth Quake

Post by BJL » Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:58 am

Probably felt this one.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/rec ... 09kdb2.php
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timmy
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Re: Earth Quake

Post by timmy » Tue Aug 11, 2009 3:19 am

What have they done since the 2005 tsunami for notifying people? Feeling something would sure give me pause for thought.

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Re: Earth Quake

Post by BJL » Tue Aug 11, 2009 6:42 am

Another USGS update: from http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... QD9A0A8Q81

USGS: huge earthquake hits in Indian Ocean

By FOSTER KLUG (AP) – 2 hours ago

WASHINGTON — U.S. officials on Monday reported that a huge 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck in the Indian Ocean and issued a regional tsunami watch for India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh that was lifted later.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was about 160 miles (257 kilometers) north of Port Blair in India's Andaman Islands and about 20.6 miles (33 kilometers) deep.

"The danger for a tsunami is real," William Leith, an earthquake manager at the USGS, said in an interview.

By comparison, however, Leith said that Monday's Indian Ocean quake, though very large, was "many times smaller" than a massive earthquake in December 2004 off Indonesia's western island of Sumatra that triggered a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people.

The tsunami alert was later lifted.

Also Monday, an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 shook Tokyo and surrounding areas.

Quakes that occur that far apart are typically not related, Leith said, but it was too early to say for sure; he said scientists would be studying the two quakes.

The Indian Ocean earthquake was reported to have struck about 225 miles (365 kilometers) south-southwest of Myanmar, 510 miles (825 kilometers) west of Bangkok, and 1,420 miles (2,295 kilometers) southeast of New Delhi.
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Re: Earth Quake

Post by m24 » Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:33 am

The problem, according to 'my knowledge' (don't know about any updates), is that we have not been able to device a technology which can predict when and where a earthquake will hit, giving enough time for the authorities to take enough action. It can only be measured as of now. And any time an earthquake hits any of the coastal areas, they give a tsunami warning, by default, whether a tsunami follows or not. Well, I guess, something is better than nothing.

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Deepak
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2) Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
3) Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target.
4) Identify your target, and what is behind it.

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Re: Earth Quake

Post by timmy » Wed Aug 12, 2009 12:24 am

What I've seen on this takes two forms:

Regarding the earthquake itself, in the San Francisco USA area of the San Andreas Fault, they have points located with laser ranging that will tell them when the distance between these scientifically selected points change. This can calculate the compression of underlying layers of rock and an idea of an impending earthquake can be gained.

My understanding is that, as one tectonic plate slides under another (as in the case of the San Andreas Fault), if there can be relatively constant movement, where compression forces don't build up so much because the rock layers move relatively easily, then smaller tremors constantly occur. However, when the movements are prevented in such a way that there is a great deal of compression, then when the plates do move to relieve that large amount of compression, there's a large earthquake.

Combining all of the various sensors' input data, including the measuring system I mentioned, gives a fair indication of what's happening and what may be expected.

But I think that the San Andreas Fault is the exception, regarding this level of monitoring. I'm sure such sophistication is not presently available, say, in the area of where the Indonesian quake occurred.

A second method I've seen are ocean level buoys. A system of these is, as I understand it, in place in the Pacific Ocean, and consists of a series of scientifically located buoys that sense changes in the ocean's level. By combining and analyzing input data from these buoys, regular cyclical changes in ocean level (like tides) can be differentiated from events like tsunamis, and a warning can be given to the USA West Coast that will give a warning with as much time as it takes the tsunami to cross the ocean and reach the West Coast.

As I recall, such systems were being implemented and were in operation when the Indonesian quake took place, but none were in the Indian Ocean at all -- they were in the Pacific. Last I heard, there were plans to put them into the Indian Ocean, but I don't know what has become of such plans.

Now, if, say, there was a 6 hour warning to evacuate a city on the West Coast of the USA, there's inevitably going to be a large loss of life. The bungling, short sightedness, and political stupidity that would prevent an effective evacuation was demonstrated in the cases of recent hurricanes in the USA in New Orleans and Houston. Even after Katrina in New Orleans, evacuating Houston wasn't a very well orchestrated situation. For instance, authorities blocked off incoming major road arteries, but they did not use them to move traffic out of the city and the outgoing roadways were blocked. The tremendous traffic jams were exacerbated by authorities blocking the exits, causing fleeing residents to be trapped on a huge snarled parking lot.

Hurricanes, at least, give much more warning than could be provided by a tsunami detection system, and the estimates of evacuating a large West Coast city in the event of an oncoming tsunami indicate that a large loss of life would occur, simply because such large cities could not be emptied quickly enough.

How, say, the East Coast of India would fare, say maybe a city like Kolkata, or Chennai, or in Bangladesh, is anyone's guess, but I don't think that these cities would be able to evacuate any better than the USA's West Coast, even if a tsunami detection system were in place. For one thing, the traveling distances of a likely tsunami are much shorter.

All in all, the situation in the event of another tsunami seems to be rather bleak.

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Re: Earth Quake

Post by tirths » Wed Aug 12, 2009 12:47 am

Lawman wrote:Just felt an Earth Quake.

Lawman
I thought I was the only one! Felt like something moved below my back :wink: or may be due to I was bit sleepy :p
Next day news paper didn't say about it and thats very strange.

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Re: Earth Quake

Post by m24 » Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:22 am

What you say is true and may be applicable for certain places, Timmy. I am attaching a link from USGS where a scientist says specifically that there is no earthquake prediction system. Certain models are there which can be tried and tested, but that's about it. http://www.usgs.gov/corecast/details.asp?ID=76

As for the political front, it was rather pathetic the way Bush handled Katrina and New Orleans. But then, we are the fools who expect our political class to stand up to the cause.

And what you have said about the East coast of India is also absolutely true. If we're hit by a quake or a tsunami there, God alone knows what will happen afterwards. Disaster Management systems are all there in the books, but if it were to implemented, well, that'll be another story.

Regards

Deepak
Jeff Cooper advocated four basic rules of gun safety:
1) All guns are always loaded. Even if they are not, treat them as if they are.
2) Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
3) Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target.
4) Identify your target, and what is behind it.

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