The Violent Earthquakes

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4/23/12
Earth Science
Earthquake essay

Earthquakes are a very dangerous natural disaster, if strong enough; they could destroy the best-built buildings. They are caused by a sudden shift in the tectonic plates. Earthquakes can also cause other types of disasters too. They could cause tsunamis or volcanic eruptions. However earthquakes erupt unpredictable and can kill many people unpredictable. Seismometers can detect the strength of the earthquake, which then gives a number on the Richter scale to determine how powerful it is going to be. There are many different levels of earthquakes, some can be so small that people can not even notice them, and others could be so strong that it causes the strongest buildings built to collapse. The scale goes from micro, all the way up to rare great. In the past decade there has been a lot of earthquake activity for the United States. After a lot of research scientist today say that the last earthquakes are man made. The study says: “The speeding up in activity that began in 2009 appears to involve a group of source regions of oil and gas making, with the Guy, Arkansas, region, and in central and southern Oklahoma. Horton. (2012) Provided strong evidence between the Guy, AK, activity to deep waste water injection wells,” According to the Federal Energy Information Administration, shale gas production has grown on average, from 2006 to 2010, by nearly 50%. Many Scientist say that the earthquakes are not all because of the tectonic plates, but because of the gas productions. Earthquakes happen almost everyday, but they are just so micro that people do not even notice them. Researchers have documents saying, there was earthquakes up to the last 7 days. The Good Friday Earthquake of Friday, March 27, 1964 had a magnitude of 9.2, and was the most powerful recorded earthquake in U.S. and North American history, and the third most powerful ever measured by seismograph. The New Madrid Earthquake, the largest earthquake ever recorded in the next United States, occurred on February 7, 1812. It got its name from its main location in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, by New Madrid, Louisiana Territory. This earthquake was preceded by 3other major quakes: two on December 16, 1811, and one on January 23, 1812. These earthquakes destroyed about half the town of New Madrid. There were also many aftershocks in the area for the rest of that winter. There are estimates that the earthquakes were felt strongly over 50,000 square miles, and somewhat across almost one million square miles. The historic San Francisco earthquake of 1906, by comparison, was felt somewhat over 6,000 square miles. The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco and the coast of northern California at 5:12 A.M. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most usually usual guess for the magnitude of the earthquake is a minute magnitude of 7.8; however, other ideals have been future from 7.7 to as high as 8.3. The major shock occurred offshore about 2 miles from the city, by Mussel Rock. It ruptured along the San Andreas Fault both north and south for a whole length of 296 miles. Shaking was felt from Oregon to Los Angeles, and inland as far as central Nevada. The earthquake and resulting fire is remembered as one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States. The death charge from the earthquake and resulting fire represents the greatest loss of life from a natural disaster in California's history. The economic crash has been compared with the more current Hurricane Katrina disaster.