Co-inky-dinks *UPDATE*
Bookworm on Apr 18 2008 at 7:36 am | Filed under: Uncategorized
Today is the 102nd anniversary of the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. Nature celebrated this anniversary in style, by visiting a bone-shaker on the American Midwest. I found it an amusing coincidence, especially since nobody seems to have gotten hurt in today’s reminder that the earth is never still.
UPDATE: And wonderfully, there is still at least one person who remembers that moment in time.
Email This Post To A Friend
5 Responses to “Co-inky-dinks *UPDATE*”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
The Left will make the Earth still, Book. After it corrects Global Climate Warming/Cooling.
Hello Bookworm,
Regarding today’s earthquake in the Midwest, I’m not sure how people are aware that that region has perhaps the most devastating fault system in the country. It’s called the New Madrid fault system. The last time it let loose was in 1811-1813. The largest of these earthquakes (there were a series of them) was in early 1812, I think.
In that monster quake, the ground liquified and swallowed up entire small towns into the earth, the Mississippi River briefly flowed backwards going north rather than south, the earth released dark plumes of gas that nearly blotted out the sun and smelled of sulfur. The quake could be felt as far as Charlotte, South Carolina all the way to Quebec.
I did a bit of research on this quake a while back and was horrified to learn that we built major cities right on top of that fault system, in the very area that was affected the most, the most notable one being St. Louis.
Some scientists speculated that if another large quake occurred, it could depress the Mississippi Valley and create an inland sea at the very heart of America. Since our nation’s transportation grid is still heavily dependent on crossing the Mississippi River through rail and bridges, it’s frightening what might happen if that fault rips loose.
I checked last year and there has been an increase in size and number of minor quakes all up and down this system. Today was the first one to cause significant damage.
I wasn’t aware, Thomas, until I spoke with my sister this morning. She and her husband are both love geology in an amateur way, and they both started talking very excitedly about the New Madrid fault system. My bro-in-law explained that it’s not well known only because the area was so minimally populated at the time.
In the bit of research I did on this topic, I read first hand accounts published in some Gazette in Kentucky. The quake was so incredible that people didn’t know what to make of it. Some men went out of the homes, climbed atop trees (and even the trees toppled). Some just slept in the open air waiting for the Apocalypse to happen.
You see, it wasn’t just one quake. It was a series of quakes that (if I may correct my earlier comment) happened over the course of a year and a half, with many of them well over 6 or 7.0.
I read newspapers in Raleigh, Charlotte, New York, Philadelphia and Quebec and all of them felt the quake.
There is no doubt that 1812 was a watershed year for our country. It was also the year that we were invaded for the first time as the United States of America by the British.
The news this morning said that this quake had a 400 to 500 year cycle. This contradicts my memory (which is, of course, fallible) that this fault system had a 200 year cycle, and that the proverbial “Big One” could strick at any time now.
Actually, this is what was written in The News-Enterprise on March 6th of this year 2008:
http://www.newsenterpriseonline.com/articles/2008/03/07/news/news01.txt
This is what this morning papers said:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/nation/story/85FD230AAFCED4D08625742F003769F5?OpenDocument
Of course, Bookworm, if it’s on a 200-year cycle like most geologists said prior to this morning, that means that the big quake can happen at… well, any time now…
Hello Bookworm,
My comment is on moderation on this one.