Earthquake day before WV mine disaster

earthquake.usgs.gov...

3.4
Date-Time

* Sunday, April 04, 2010 at 09:19:14 UTC
* Sunday, April 04, 2010 at 05:19:14 AM at epicenter
* Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location 38.599°N, 80.916°W
Depth 0.1 km (~0.1 mile) (poorly constrained)
Region WEST VIRGINIA


If I calculated correctly, this earthquake is less than 50 miles from the Upper Big Branch Mine.

Do you think an earthquake caused this disaster?

Do you think they used HAARP to cause the earthquake because Don Blankenship talks out against the global warming movement?

Is this legit or what? Why is no one addressing this?

Originally posted by filosophia
Is this legit or what? Why is no one addressing this?

Because it's a coincidence.
Are earthquakes the new boogeyman?

you know i was wondering about this.. I saw the map with the earthquake on it a few days ago and wondered if it had anything to do with the explosion...

Originally posted by hippomchippo

Originally posted by filosophia
Is this legit or what? Why is no one addressing this?

Because it's a coincidence.
Are earthquakes the new boogeyman?

Earthquakes release methane, which could have caused the explosion.

wow

and the further down the rabbit hole we go
the more we learn
thanks pointing this out

The conditions were so rough after the blast that rescuers only late Friday realized that they had walked past the bodies of the four missing miners on the first day without seeing, a federal mine safety official said.
"There was so much smoke and the conditions were so dire with dust in the air that they apparently bypassed the bodies that were on the ground," said Kevin Stricklin, coal administrator for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.
news.yahoo.com...

While it's true that earthquakes can cause the release of methane gas, it's also true that coal mining operations almost always release methane gas. That's why coal mines have strict guidelines about ventilation.

Had this explosion happened in a mine with proper ventilation (and a documented history of same), after a quake in the immediate vicinity (rather than tens of miles away), you might have a case where the quake had caused the explosion. Given that the mine in question had a several-year history of safety violations, including several involving improper ventilation, it's much more likely that the explosion was the result of an explosion of trapped methane gas released in the normal course of events.