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Originally posted by summer5
reply to post by ItsEvolutionBaby
Yes, thank you! I have replied on that topic as well. I have not heard (or seen) any birds in south western VA, only crickets.
Add that to the list.
Earthquakes, Magnitude 3.5 and Greater, 1974 - 2003 The state ranking is based on data from an earthquake search from the USGS PDE catalog (Hawaii from HVO), with a date range of 1974 to 2003, and a magnitude range of 3.5 and greater. The following table shows the results of the search. See the maps that display the data. In the case of a tie, States are listed in alphabetical order.
Location: The location is the most obvious anomaly for such a powerful quake. Although the area of the U.S. where the earthquake initiated sits on the edge of an ancient tectonic plate called the Craton Plate, it is considered a relatively dormant or settled area. In other words, it's not a very active earthquake zone. Therefore, any noticeable earthquake is unusual, let alone a 5.9 monster that was reportedly felt 500 miles away.
Unusually Shallow Depth: The initial hy
mic activity, like the ring of fire. And the depths of those shallow-focus earthquakes are usually in the tens of kilometers deep. The Earth's crust in the Eastern U.S. where "the fault lines are more healed" is described by CBS News as "older and colder" than out West. Which, according to Wikipedia, means it should have been a deep-focus earthquake with a depth ranging from 300 to 700 kilometers. Certainly not one barely below the Earth's surface.
Distance Felt: As my introduction stated, I've never "felt" an earthquake whose epicenter was farther than 50 miles away. Of course, this doesn't mean that it's not possible, as clearly this was felt upwards of 500 miles from the epicenter. The CBS article quoted above that referred to the crust as "older and colder" also uses that argument to explain why tremors were felt so far away: "The East is far less seismically active -- but when earthquakes do hit, that hard ground is far more effective at conducting the seismic waves.
Odd Seismograph Reading: A reporter from Press Core received an anonymous email from someone claiming to be in the U.S. Air Force that stated the Virginia earthquake “wasn’t a natural earthquake and not a HAARP earthquake." The reporter was instructed to find a seismograph of the Washington DC area earthquake and compare it to a past earthquakes and seismic readings of the alleged underground nuclear test by North Korea that resulted in a 4.7 magnitude tremor at a depth of zero.
'Remarkably Low' Number of Aftershocks: Amy Vaughan, a geophysicist with the USGS Earthquake Information Center in Colorado told CBS News that "For the size earthquake that occurred, I think the number of aftershocks so far has been remarkably low." Don Blakeman, another geophysicist at the Earthquake Information Center, added "Typically, the larger the quake, the longer and the greater extent of aftershocks. Shallow earthquakes like the one in Virginia also tend to generate numerous aftershocks." The lack of aftershocks led the USGS to report that the Virginia quake may be just a foreshock of something larger to come. A foreshock is an earthquake that occurs before a larger seismic event (the mainshock) and is related to it in both time and space. I'm not sure what this means other than it's just another abnormality about this quake.
Instantaneously Knocked Irene Off Course: Kevin Hayden and Glenn Kreisberg reported "Coincidentally, the time frame leading up to Virginia/DC/New York area experiencing freak seismic activity, Hurricane Irene begins to weaken and move off course, avoiding its initial path of Havanna, inland Florida, the Carolinas, and eventually, the Washington, DC area. The newly projected paths show that it may barely clip the eastern coast, if at all. Just as Ophelia did when it threatened the same region." Irene stalled and changed directions similar to Ophelia seen in the graphic provided. Clearly, these types of drastic changes are not a natural path for hurricanes.
ON NOVEMBER, 18, 1755, THE EARTH beneath the waters off Cape Ann heaved. Within seconds, the seismic waves generated there traveled to the twisting lanes and wharves of pre-Revolutionary Boston. According to historical accounts, chimneys toppled from roofs, steeples parted from churches, and gables crumbled from building fronts and shattered on the lanes below. The weather vane atop Faneuil Hall snapped. Vibrations were felt from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Chesapeake Bay. Estimated at a magnitude 6.2, the Cape Ann earthquake is one of New England's strongest in recorded history.