Kim:
But would these earthquake events be severe anyway, as part of the natural scheme of things, given that the Earth's core/substrata is still in an unsettled state. Certainly, one could make a case for that. Certainly mankind's choice to settle in densely populated areas near fault lines or close enough that the effects are widespread, makes the event more significant. Metaphorically speaking, if mankind wasn't so close to the forest, would he/she hear a tree fall or feel the thud or rumble of the earth after it hit the ground.
In any case, it's also mankind's suspension of belief that it could happen here or be felt here, that mankind continues to live in a state of denial. Even so, one could be a fatalist and say, if it happens, I'll take my lumps and move on (mankind as a resilient entity). Certainly here in DC and surrounding areas, many folks were in denial, when the 5.8 Central Virginia Earthquake occurred last year.
One thing that gets my goat is that there are some who say these events are caused or exacerbated solely by mankind's actions (i.e. climate change and increased natural disaster occurrence as by-products of mankind's existence). My position is that mankind-induced effects and natural processes are both responsible. Not one, absent of the other.
Not wanting to foray into political territory here, but IMHO both those who maintain positions of absolute denial and mankind as the sole reason for climate change/global disasters are wrong.
Restating the above and what's important here to note is that mankind is resilient. Cataclysmic event(s) may be inevitable, but I do believe that we are given a choice to succumb to the inevitability or use the gifts that the good Lord has given us to survive, absent of the final event. Again, metaphorically speaking, we are the Timex Watch of the good Lord's Creations.
Kim: Probably repeating what you said below, so I am apologizing beforehand.
Mark Lewack
Emergency Actions Coordinator
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
1900 E Street NW, Suite 1300
Washington, DC 20415
(202) 606-5415 (Office)
(301) 807-8943 (Cell #2)
Mark.Lewack@opm.gov
From: californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com [mailto:californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Kim Noyes
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 11:38 AM
To: californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [californiadisasters] Great Earthquakes of Recent Memory - The 1 year anniversary of the February 21st/22nd Christchurch Earthquake
This was all seen as coming up in the future (conceptually-speaking) back in the 1990's when seismologists and geophysicists and emergency managers and others were oft-quoted or oft-recorded stating that with the exploding human population and its move from the countryside to the cities which are disproportionately prone to be built nearer coasts and fault lines as a consequence of the continued spread of industrialization and urbanization in the Developing World. This was married to a fortuitous quiescence of Great Quakes or otherwise catastrophic large quakes at a number of exceptionally dangerous seismic zones during the past few decades or longer which allowed their threat to be ignored or diminished as perceived by locals. What has happened will continue to happen and was always going to happen once the human race made the choices it made. We made and continue to make our bed and will most certainly will sleep in it.
Kimmer
2012/2/22 Lewack, Mark A. <Mark.Lewack@opm.gov>
Anybody want to comment on these?
1. We are approaching the 1 year anniversary of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami (Occurred on March 11, 2011), and the 6 month anniversary of the Central Virginia Earthquake (Occurred on August 23, 2011).
Tohoku article: http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/2479-japan-tohoku-earthquake-lessons-learned.html
Central Virginia article: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/se082311a.php#summary
2. Today, February 22nd, is the First Anniversary of the Christchurch, New Zealand Earthquake (http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Emotional-Ceremony-Marks-New-Zealand-Earthquake-Anniversary-139956793.html). People are up-in-arms about the slow pace of recovery there.
3. There was a 4.0 magnitude Earthquake yesterday in SE Missouri, just days after the 200th Anniversary of the Great Central U.S. Earthquake. It was felt in 9 states (http://articles.boston.com/2012-02-21/news/31084001_1_new-madrid-seismic-zone-earthquake-magnitude).
4. The last major earthquake to affect the Lower 48 of the U.S. was the Northridge Earthquake (6.7 Magnitude) - January 17, 1994 - http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1994_01_17.php
5. The Quintuplet of Recent Damaging Quakes:
Tohuku (March 11, 2011): http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2011/usc0001xgp/
Haiti (January 12, 2010): http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2010rja6.php
Chile: (February 27, 2010): http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2010/us2010tfan/#summary
New Zealand (February 21, 2011): http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/2011/usb0001igm/#summary
New Zealand (September 3, 2010): http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2010atbj.php
6. For recent earthquake events visit: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.php
Mark Lewack
Emergency Actions Coordinator
U.S. Office of Personnel Management
1900 E Street NW, Suite 1300
Washington, DC 20415
(202) 606-5415 (Office)
(301) 807-8943 (Cell #2)
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