Sunday, February 28, 2010

Will Haiti or Chile Type of Earthquakes Happen in US?



What is the probability that one of the four corners of USA lower 48 falling off into the ocean?

“Devastating” is a word that is pale to the reality of the horror that Haiti and Chile continues to suffer after their recent major earthquakes.

We have seen families torn apart, local businesses and government coming to a standstill, and charitable groups and church missionaries beating even our own government at being the first at the scene of the calamities - especially in Haiti. We have also found evidences in both Haiti and Chile of how buildings should not be built in areas that are prone to have major earthquakes.

Go to my Vlog to see a very good demonstration about how we can build building to withstand earthquakes at Video of Earthquake Proof Buildings

It is not a surprise to find that the west coast of USA is more prone to have earthquakes than the other states in the continuous 48 states. Here is a map that shows how the Tectonic plate in the Pacific Ocean has a large encompassing rim of earthquakes that have happened in just the last day or week. Notice the red dot in Chile. That is the one that just happened this week.



Here is the map that shows the probability of NYC having a 5.0 scale earthquake or higher in the next 50 years. It shows that we have a slim chance, but it is not very likely. So, corporations may continue to move out of NJ and NY because of the high cost of living and the unfriendly tax burden, but the threat of earthquakes will not be much of a consideration for people who might otherwise choose to move out of the state.



Fort Myers, Florida is also does not need to worry about earthquakes affecting their security.



On the other hand, Seattle, Washington seems to be in a high risk area for earthquakes expected to occur in the next 50 years. The colorful map is showing the highly increased probablity of earthquake activity.



And, it is no surprise that Los Angeles, California is also in a high risk area. Here is the map of the City of Angles area that shows a high probability of 5.0 scale or higher earthquakes in the next 50 years. Here, the map has a lot more colors. Hence, more earthquakes.




What is the likelihood that Hawaii and Alaska to suffer an earthquake? Well, it looks like they already had several in the last week. Perhaps, these were not as big a scale 5, but they are in the path of the shifting Pacific plates.

So, for me, I think that I might keep vacationing in Ft. Myers, Florida to keep my feet more firmly on the ground. (Yea, I know, I will need to look out for hurricanes in that area, but all places of paradises on earth have some challenges.

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