Saturday, September 3, 2016

The Ridgecrest Earthquakes

The recent earthquakes around Ridgecrest, California, were odd inwards a span of ways.  The first, on July 4, was a 6.4 magnitude quake, piece the second, a 24-hour interval later, was a 7.1 magnitude quake, roughly eleven times to a greater extent than powerful.  The initial earthquake has hence been categorized equally a pre-shock, having occurred earlier a stronger 1 though both bring been followed past times numerous aftershocks; the showtime quake was centered 6.6 miles below the surface of the desert piece the minute was four miles deeper.

Well northeast of the San Andreas Fault, these rigid earthquakes developed on ii perpendicular error lines that stretch beneath the Mojave Desert at the S halt of the Owens Valley.  The latter runs NNW to SSE between the Sierra Batholith as well as the fault-block White Mountains Range of the western Great Basin; both of these ranges perish on to ascent as well as the crust of the Great Basin is nether increasing tension (pulled apart inwards a West-East direction).

These earthquakes demonstrate the complexity of error lines inwards Southern California, many of which are non completely mapped.  While the earthquakes occurred far from the San Andreas Fault (which volition eventually deliver "The Big One") their occurrence may reverberate increasing push clit per unit of measurement area inside the latter Fault as well as their crustal movements may trigger additional earthquakes equally push clit per unit of measurement area is transferred to other error lines that crisscross the region.

See also: The Nature of Aftershocks and Earthquakes & Tectonic Plates

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