The New Madrid Fault. Booms. Earthquake. Methane Gas Releasing. Sinkhole.

THE FOLLOWING WILL BE IMPORTANT REGARDING THE NEW MADRID FAULT...
The following video...

Published on Jan 15, 2013

Plug in all the data and see for yourself, here's the links:

BOOMS:
Guthrie, Oklahoma: http://kfor.com/2013/01/04/mysterious-boom-heard-in-guthrie/
Cater County, Oklahoma:http://www.kten.com/story/20271784/loud-booms-heard-across-texoma-has-confirm...
QUAKES:
Spencer, Oklahoma:http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usc000eli9#summary
Healdton, Oklahoma:http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usc000ei5q#summary

BOOMS:
Evensville, Indiana http://www.14news.com/story/20537321/did-you-hear-the-booms
http://tristatehomepage.com/fulltext-news?nxd_id=575392
QUAKE:
Marion, Illinoishttp://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nm011113a#summary

BIRDS FALLING DEAD:
Seymour, Tennesee http://www.newschannel9.com/news/top-stories/stories/dead-birds-fall-sky-3646...
QUAKE:
Madisonville, Tennesseehttp://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/se010813a#summary

BOOMS:
Lexington County, South Carolinahttp://www.wistv.com/story/20525068/searching-for-the-cause-of-booms-reported...
Columbia County, Georgiahttp://www2.wjbf.com/news/2012/dec/06/3/several-loud-booms-reported-columbia-...

Explosion Sounds:
Trumbull County, Ohiohttp://www.wkbn.com/content/news/local/story/Explosion-Sounds-Reported-in-Tru...

BOOMS:
Jamestown, New York http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/local/loud-boom-jolts-southern-tier

BOOMS:
Salem, Massachusetts http://salem.patch.com/articles/did-you-hear-a-loud-bang-eary-saturday-morning
Barrington, Rhode Islandhttp://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_news/east_bay/explosion-heard-on-bay-nothi...

QUAKE:
Hawkesbury, Canadahttp://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/ld60023403#summary
Boothbay Harbor, Mainehttp://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000enwr#summary

Canada Seismic Hazard map:
http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/environment/naturalhazards/earthqu...

USGS Earthern US Seismic Hazard Map:
http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/files/2012/08/Screen-Shot-2012-08-28-at-1....

BOOM/QUAKE Map of everything pinned:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=200270150651160417375.0004d3458c51989c71...

Areas prone to collapse sinkholes

The map below shows areas of the United States where certain rock types that are susceptible to dissolution in water occur. In these areas the formation of underground cavities can form and catastrophic sinkholes can happen. These rock types are evaporites (salt, gypsum, and anhydrite) and carbonates (limestone and dolomite). Evaporite rocks underlie about 35 to 40 percent of the United States, though in many areas they are buried at great depths.

source: USGS

Monster Sinkholes An Indication That Major Earth Changes Are Coming Along The New Madrid Fault?

 By Michael, on December 2nd, 2012

The most powerful earthquakes in the history of the United States happened along the New Madrid Fault in 1811 and 1812.  Those earthquakes were reportedly felt more than 1,000 miles away.  Scientists assure us that one day we will once again see very powerful earthquakes along the New Madrid fault.  It is only a question of when it will happen. Today, the New Madrid fault zone covers portions of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi.  However, a major earthquake of magnitude-8.0 or greater would likely have a dramatic effect all the way from the Great Lakes all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico.  When most Americans speak of the “big one”, they think of what may happen along the coast of California someday, but the truth is that a New Madrid earthquake could potentially do far more damage.  So is there evidence that the New Madrid fault zone is waking up?  Yes, there is.  According to Bloomberg, there has been “a sixfold increase in the number of earthquakes that have shaken the central part of the U.S. from 2000 to 2011″.  Much of that increase is being blamed on human activity such as mining, drilling and fracking.  So could human activity aggravate the fault zone so much that it could set off a truly history-making earthquake at some point?  Well, the potential is certainly there.  That is why so many people are so concerned about the monster sinkholes that have appeared in the region in recent months.  For example, a massive sinkhole down in Louisiana is now over 8 acres in size and it has forced hundreds of people to flee from their homes.  You can see video of the Louisiana sinkhole right here.  Over in Ohio, a giant sinkhole has suddenly formed that is more than 30 feet deep and that is the size of four football fields.  That sinkhole caused part of State Route 516 to collapse and authorities say that it will likely be closed for many months.  You can see video of the gigantic sinkhole in Ohio right here.  Are these monster sinkholes an indication that major earth changes are coming along the New Madrid fault?  Has reckless human activity awoken a sleeping giant that we should never have messed with?

The sinkhole down in Louisiana is of particular concern because it has been venting natural gas.  A few days ago it reportedly “burped” which sounds kind of ominous.  Could we see some kind of an “explosion” at some point?

Many of those living in the area may not be able to return to their homes for quite a long time.  The following is from a recent Huffington Post article…

At the eight-acre, Bayou Corne sinkhole in Assumption Parish, owners of slab houses are waiting for methane-gas monitors to be installed in December. The sinkhole deepened in November and coughed up debris and hydrcarbons late in the month. Cypress trees fell into the gap. Residents are watching natural gas being flared from the site and are ventilating homes while bayous around them bubble.

But if human activity is capable of producing sinkholes that are 8 acres in size and capable of causing a “sixfold increase” in the number of earthquakes in the middle part of the country, is human activity also capable of setting off the New Madrid fault?

Sadly, even most Americans that are living in that part of the country don’t really understand how incredibly massive and how potentially destructive this fault zone actually is.  The following is from a recent report from WREG in Memphis, Tennessee…

Many people don’t realize that north Alabama lies in the impact zone of the New Madrid fault line, a sleeping giant that is approximately twenty times larger than California’s famed San Andreas fault. 

The biggest earthquake in U.S. history happened in the New Madrid seismic zone in 1812, and in just the last few weeks, activity along the fault line is starting to heat up. 

If the earthquakes that happened along the New Madrid fault zone in 1811 and 1812 happened today, the devastation would be unimaginable.  Back then, there were not that many people living in the area.  But even so, the destruction was incredible…

Accounts of the 1812 quake vary since there were no measuring instruments at the time, but most geologists say evidence shows it was at least a magnitude 8 earthquake, and possibly a 9 or higher.

The shaking was so intense that church bells started ringing as far away as Boston and New York.

Chimneys toppled from the Deep South to Canada, and President James Madison was awoken by the violent shaking as he slept in the White House.

Eyewitnesses said it even caused the Mississippi River to flow backwards for a time.

Unfortunately, there are now indications that the fault zone is becoming more active as a recent Examiner article explained…

Tuesday evening, two shallow earthquakes, although small, were felt in Mt. Carmel, Ill. as well as five miles outside Edmond, Okla. Illinois had the largest at 3.6 magnitude, leaving Oklahoma with a smaller 2.9 magnitude quake as reported by the USGS.

The fact that both of these quakes were shallow and follow on the heels of Kentucky’s 4.3 just 10 days ago makes the questions begin to fly. Is the New Madrid waking up? Is it gearing up for ‘the big one’? When Ky. Experienced a 4.3two weeks ago, it was felt across 10-12 states. Although it didn’t knock runners off their feet, it did alarm many. Knoxville was among the cities that felt the quake. The shaking was not minor in many areas, and it scared people as walls shook and many began to pray.

This is something that I have written about previously, and we all need to keep our eyes open for more reports about earthquakes in the middle part of the country.  When the “big one” does finally hit the New Madrid fault zone, it will be one of the biggest news stories ever.

We are talking about a catastrophe that would be so immense that it would be hard to imagine.  According to ABC News, a study by the Mid-America Earthquake Center found that in the event of a major earthquake along the New Madrid fault, “nearly 750,000 buildings would be damaged, 3,000 bridges would potentially collapse, 400,000 breaks and leaks to local pipelines and $300 billion in direct damage and $600 billion in indirect losses would occur.”

You can ready much more about the New Madrid fault right here.

All of this is even more frightening when you consider that there are 15 nuclear reactors along the New Madrid fault zone.

In the event that the “big one” strikes, we could be looking at Fukushima times 15.

We have been blessed to have avoided a major earthquake like that for so long in the middle part of the country, but there is no guarantee that the New Madrid fault zone will always be stable – especially considering how much it is being aggravated by man-made activity.

There are even some that believe that eventually we will see an earthquake of magnitude-9.0 or higher along the New Madrid fault.  Such an earthquake could literally change the face of the entire continent.  We are talking about an event that could potentially change the course of the Mississippi River and create bodies of water where none existed previously.

We seem to be moving into a time of increased seismic activity on the earth, and many scientists are convinced that the New Madrid Fault zone is definitely overdue for a major earthquake.

Massive sinkhole swallows Florida home

By Andrew Mach, Staff Writer, NBC News

A home in Hudson, Fla., along Florida's west coast, was ripped apart Wednesday after a massive sinkhole opened beneath it.

No one was inside the house, belonging to 79-year-old Susan Minutillo, when it quietly crumbled to the ground, neighbors said.

“You just look over there and the whole back end of the house just flipped right down into the hole,” neighbor Mike Richards told First Coast News in Jacksonville, Fla.

Ironically, Minutillo was having her home evaluated for the risk of sinkholes when the ground opened up. As crews were surveying her property, she stepped out to run an errand, and by the time she got home, about half of her house was already in the ground, according to Pasco County Fire Rescue crews.

...As many as 150 sinkholes are reported in Florida each year. 

read more at NBC

LOUISIANA SINKHOLE...DANGEROUS GASES BEING RELEASED

12 May 2011 A large sinkhole has developed at the corner of Downing and S. Edsel in Detroit.

7.6 Magnitude Earthquake Shook Costa Rica and a Wide Area of Central America

Powerful Earthquake Reported in Costa Rica

By DANICA COTO

NOSARA, Costa Rica September 5, 2012 (AP)

A powerful, magnitude-7.6 earthquake shook Costa Rica and a wide swath of Central America on Wednesday. There were no immediate accounts of injuries, but communications were down near the epicenter.

The USGS said the 8:42 a.m. quake struck about 38 miles (60 kilometers) from the town of Liberia. It was centered about 25 miles (41 kilometers) below the surface. The magnitude initially was estimated at 7.9.

In the town of Hojancha near the epicenter, city official Kenia Campos said the quake knocked down some houses and landslides blocked two roads.

"So far, we don't have victims," she said. "People were really scared ... We have had moderate quakes but an earthquake (this strong) hadn't happened in more than 50 years."

There were no initial reports of damage or deaths in the capital of San Jose, said Douglas Salgado, a geographer with Costa Rica's National Commission of Risk Prevention and Emergency Attention.

Salgado said, however, officials were having problem accessing the earthquake zone or reaching people there and were flying over the area to assess damage to highways and other structures.

The earthquake didn't knock out phones or electricity in the capital 88 miles (141 kilometers) from the epicenter, Salgado said by telephone, but communications were down near the epicenter.

"There's chaos in San Jose because it was a strong earthquake of long duration," Salgado said. "It was pretty strong and caused collective chaos."

At the Hotel Punta Islita in the Guanacaste area, "everybody is crying a lot and the telephone lines are saturated," said worker Diana Salas, speaking by telephone, but she said was no damage there

In the coastal town of Nosara in northwest Costa Rica, trees shook violently and light posts swayed. Teachers chased primary school students outside.

A tsunami warning was in effect for Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a bulletin. It said it was unknown if a tsunami was generated, but the warning was based on the size of the earthquake.
source: http://abcnews.go.com

M7.6 - 10km NE of Hojancha, Costa Rica2012-09-05 14:42:10 UTC

Summary

Location and Magnitude contributed by: USGS, NEIC, Golden, Colorado (and predecessors)

General

50 km

20 mi

Powered by Leaflet

Costa Rica
10.120°N, 85.347°W
Depth: 40.8km (25.4mi)

Event Time

1. 2012-09-05 14:42:10 UTC
2. 2012-09-05 08:42:10 UTC-06:00 at epicenter
3. 2012-09-05 08:42:10 UTC-06:00 system time

Nearby Cities

1. 10km (6mi) NE of Hojancha, Costa Rica
2. 11km (7mi) ESE of Nicoya, Costa Rica
3. 30km (19mi) ESE of Santa Cruz, Costa Rica
4. 44km (27mi) SW of Canas, Costa Rica
5. 140km (87mi) W of San Jose, Costa Rica
6. 
   

All Regions	Pacific Ocean	Hawaiʻi	Indian Ocean	Caribbean Sea
Page last loaded at: Wed, 05 Sep 2012 16:05:08 UTC. Tsunami Messages for All Regions (Past 30 days) Click on the map or table below for more information.

All Regions	Pacific Ocean	Hawaiʻi	Indian Ocean	Caribbean Sea
Page last loaded at: Wed, 05 Sep 2012 15:59:18 UTC. Tsunami Messages for the Pacific Ocean (Past 30 days) Click on the map or table below for more information. Image last created on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 15:58:43 UTC.

Powerful earthquake reported in Costa Rica

DANICA COTO,

Updated 9:08 a.m., Wednesday, September 5, 2012

NOSARA, Costa Rica (AP) — A powerful, magnitude-7.6 earthquake shook Costa Rica and a wide swath of Central America on Wednesday, collapsing some houses, blocking highways and causing panic, but there were no immediate reports of deaths.

The USGS said the 8:42 a.m. quake struck about 38 miles (60 kilometers) from the town of Liberia. It was centered about 25 miles (41 kilometers) below the surface. The magnitude initially was estimated at 7.9.

In the town of Hojancha near the epicenter, city official Kenia Campos said the quake knocked down some houses and landslides blocked two roads.

"So far, we don't have victims," she said. "People were really scared ... We have had moderate quakes but an earthquake (this strong) hadn't happened in more than 50 years."

There were no initial reports of damage or deaths in the capital of San Jose, said Douglas Salgado, a geographer with Costa Rica's National Commission of Risk Prevention and Emergency Attention.

Salgado said, however, officials were having problem accessing the earthquake zone or reaching people there and were flying over the area to assess damage to highways and other structures.

The earthquake didn't knock out phones or electricity in the capital 88 miles (141 kilometers) from the epicenter, Salgado said by telephone, but communications were down near the epicenter.

"There's chaos in San Jose because it was a strong earthquake of long duration," Salgado said. "It was pretty strong and caused collective chaos."

At the Hotel Punta Islita in the Guanacaste area, "everybody is crying a lot and the telephone lines are saturated," said worker Diana Salas, speaking by telephone, but she said was no damage there

In the coastal town of Nosara, roughly 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of the epicenter, trees shook violently and light posts swayed. Teachers chased primary school students outside at the quake hit. Roads cracked and power lines fell to the ground.

A tsunami warning was in effect for Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a bulletin. It said it was unknown if a tsunami was generated, but the warning was based on the size of the earthquake.

___

Associated Press writers Jack Chang and E. Eduardo Castillo contributed to this report from Mexico City.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com

Costa Rica

en.wikipedia.org

Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and the Caribbean Sea to the east. Wikipedia

California Earthquake Swarm. Strongest In 30 Years.

California earthquake swarm is strongest in 30 years, officials say

August 27, 2012 

SOURCE: LA TIMES

Hundreds of small earthquakes shake Imperial County

The seismic activity is not unusual for the area where the quakes were centered, which is between the San Andreas and Imperial faults, experts said.

LEFT: El Sol Market on Main Street in Brawley, Calif., was hit hard by the earthquakes that hit Imperial County on Sunday. (Brandy Ronek, Associated Press/ August 26, 2012)

By Kate Mather, David Zahniser and Abby Sewell, Los Angeles Times

August 26, 2012, 9:33 p.m.

An "earthquake storm" continued to rattle Imperial County late Sunday, with the region experiencing hundreds of mostly low-intensity temblors that could be felt in neighboring counties.

The seismic activity is not unusual for the area around Brawley, a city of about 25,000 where the quakes were centered and located between the San Andreas and Imperial faults, experts said. The spurt of smaller quakes does not necessarily herald that the Big One is on its way, they said.

After a series of milder quakes in the morning, a magnitude 3.8 temblor hit at 10:02 a.m. about three miles northwest of Brawley, and was followed by a nearly continuous series of quakes in the same general area, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The two largest quakes, which struck at about 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m., measured at magnitudes of 5.3 and 5.5, respectively.

By 5 p.m., the USGS had recorded about 300 earthquakes, and the count continued to rise throughout the evening. The vast majority of the temblors measured under magnitude 3.0.

The reason for the recurring swarms in the Brawley seismic zone is not fully understood. The most recent swarm was in 2005, when the area was shaken by hundreds of quakes, with the largest measuring magnitude 5.1, said USGS seismologist Rob Graves.

A previous swarm in 1981 reached a magnitude of 5.8, the highest on record in the area.

Graves said the swarms can last for days, but do not typically foreshadow a bigger quake in the Los Angeles area.

"This type of activity has occurred in the past, and it has not preceded a large earthquake," he said, adding, "That doesn't mean it will always happen that way."

The earthquakes caused "cosmetic" damage to at least three buildings dating to the 1930s in downtown Brawley, said Capt. Jesse Zendejas of the Brawley Fire Department. Crews were still assessing other areas of the city, he said, but no injuries had been reported.

The Imperial County Office of Emergency Services was working with the American Red Cross to set up a shelter at the Imperial Valley College gymnasium for families who were displaced after about 20 mobile homes shifted from their foundations.

The area saw scattered power outages, including at Pioneers Memorial Hospital. The hospital's generators kicked in, but officials decided to evacuate patients as a precautionary measure in case the building had suffered structural damage, said assistant hospital administrator Art Mejia. Hospital officials were inspecting the building with state regulators Sunday evening and had not seen evidence of such damage, he said.

The quakes rattled residents such as Alfonso Alvarez, who has a business renting bounce houses and other party supplies. Alvarez, 28, said he and his family had relocated to the front yard after feeling a series of 15 quakes in two and a half hours.

"It's been pretty bad. Some of them are slow and then they get intense," he said. "We're so anxious right now we can't sit still."

The USGS' "Did You Feel It?" system showed the quakes were felt as far away as San Diego, Temecula and San Clemente, including in the control room of the shuttered San Onofre nuclear plant. (There was no damage reported to the plant.) The 5.3 quake was also felt in Moreno Valley, Indio, National City and Palm Desert.

SOURCE: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0827-quakes-20120827,0,1002369.story

California earthquake swarm 'pretty bad,' buildings damaged

August 27, 2012

Parts of Southern California were rattled by an earthquake swarm that officials said could last for several days.

Hardest hit was Imperial County, where most quakes were centered.

A number of families were displaced and hospital patients evacuated as a result of a swarm of hundreds of earthquakes earlier in the day.

No deaths or critical injuries were reported as a result of the quakes, the largest of which measured magnitudes 5.3 and 5.5.

Some buildings were damaged by the earlier quakes, including 20 mobile homes that shifted from their foundations, according to the Imperial County Office of Emergency Services. The office was working with the American Red Cross to set up a shelter for displaced families at the Imperial Valley College gymnasium.

The quakes cause scattered power outages, including at Pioneers Memorial Hospital, which lost power for about three hours. Assistant hospital administrator Art Mejia said generators immediately kicked in, but officials decided to evacuate patients as a precautionary measure in case the facility had suffered structural damage.

"We decided to err on the side of caution," he said. 

Patients in critical condition were transferred to other hospitals in the area or in San Diego and Riverside counties, while others were either discharged or moved across the street to a medical office building.

Mejia said Sunday evening that hospital staff and state regulators were walking through the hospital to assess the damages, but so far, the damages appeared superficial, including fallen ceiling tiles.

He said they hoped to be able to return patients to the hospital in a matter of hours.

Officials were urging residents to conserve water Sunday, and some schools were planning to close Monday, including Brawley Union High School, schools in the Brawley Elementary School District, Del Rio Community School and Mulberry Elementary. 

County officials said updates would be posted on the Imperial County Emergency Medical Services Agency and the Imperial County Public Health Department's Facebook pages, and residents with questions about issues like school closures and water issues may call 760-351-2686.

The earthquakes caused cosmetic damage to at least three buildings dating to the 1930s in downtown Brawley, said Capt. Jesse Zendejas of the Brawley Fire Department. Crews were still assessing other areas of the city, he said, but no injuries had been reported.

The succession of quakes rattled Brawley resident Alfonso Alvarez, who has a business renting “bounce houses” and other party supplies. Alvarez, 28, said he and his family had felt 15 quakes over two and a half hours and, after the biggest one, had relocated to the front yard.

“It’s been pretty bad. Some of them are slow and then they get intense,” he said. “We’re so anxious right now we can’t sit still.”

SOURCE: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/08/california-earthquake-swarm-pretty-bad-buildings-damaged.html

"Earthquake storm" continues to rattle Imperial County, surrounding areas

August 26, 2012

An “earthquake storm” continued to rattle Imperial County on Sunday, with the region experiencing about 300 temblors throughout the day but causing little damage.

The majority of the quakes were low-intensity, but two reached magnitudes above 5.0 -- 5.3 and 5.5 respectively -- early in the afternoon.

"Obviously, all this activity is related or interconnected, but it doesn't really follow the typical main shock, aftershock activity," said Rob Graves, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological survey.

Such earthquake storms are not unprecedented or unusual in that region. The most recent, Graves said, also centered near Brawley, was in 2005, when the area was shaken by hundreds of earthquakes, the largest measuring magnitude 5.1. A previous swarm in 1981 reached a magnitude of 5.8.

The earthquakes caused cosmetic damage to at least three buildings dating to the 1930s in downtown Brawley, said Capt. Jesse Zendejas of the Brawley Fire Department. Crews were still assessing other areas of the city, he said, but no injuries had been reported.

The cause of the swarm phenomenon is not entirely understood, Graves said, although he noted that the Brawley area is a transition between known active earthquake faults, including the Imperial fault to the south and the San Andreas fault to the north.

The current swarm 

could last for days, 

Jones said.

The data collected during this event may give clues to what causes the phenomenon, he said.

The succession of quakes rattled Brawley resident Alfonso Alvarez, who has a business renting “bounce houses” and other party supplies. Alvarez, 28, said he and his family had felt 15 quakes over two and a half hours and, after the biggest one, had relocated to the front yard.

“It’s been pretty bad. Some of them are slow and then they get intense,” he said. “We’re so anxious right now we can’t sit still.”

The USGS' "Do You Feel It" system shows the quakes were felt as far away as  San Diego, Temecula and San Clemente. The 5.3 quake was also felt in Moreno Valley, Indio, National City and Palm Desert.

Lucy Navarro, who works at the front desk at the Vacation Inn in El Centro, said she felt two of the afternoon’s quakes, including the one that reached 5.3 magnitude at 12:30 p.m.

“The first one was pretty strong," she said. "That one scared me because it really shook me. I could see the building move."

The first quake — a magnitude 3.8 temblor — occurred at 10:02 a.m. about three miles northwest of Brawley, and was followed by a series of other quakes in the same general area, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The agency's data have changed throughout the day, but the two largest quakes measured at magnitudes of 5.5 and 5.3.

Seismologist Lucy Jones of the USGS said the activity was not uncommon for the area, a region known as the "Brawley Seismic Zone" that sits between the San Andreas and Imperial faults. Similar swarms occurred in the area in the 1970s, she said, the most recent in 1981.

"This is a classic Brawley Seismic Zone swarm," she said. "It's relatively hot."

Experts can't predict what size temblors could come, but Jones said they have never seen a Brawley swarm produce anything larger than a magnitude 5.8 quake. That rattler was part of the 1981 swarm.

"We've never seen a Brawley swarm followed by a big earthquake on another fault," she added.

The current swarm could last for days, Jones said.

source: LA TIMES

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/26/2969293/a-series-of-earthquakes-rattle.html#storylink=cpy

A series of earthquakes rattles San Diego area

Associated Press

Posted:   08/27/2012

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Dozens of small to moderate earthquakes struck southeastern California on Sunday, knocking trailer homes off their foundations, shattering windows and rattling nerves in a small farming town east of San Diego.

The largest quake, at 1:57 p.m., registered at a magnitude 5.5 and was centered about three miles northwest of the town of Brawley, said Robert Graves, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey. Another quake about an hour and a half earlier registered at magnitude 5.3.

No injuries were reported.

...

read more at http://www.mercurynews.com/california-earthquakes/ci_21405235/series-earthquakes-rattles-san-diego-area

Earthquake swarm puts California town on edge

Published August 27, 2012

Associated Press

BRAWLEY, Calif. –  A series of small to moderate earthquakes that shattered windows and knocked trailer homes off their foundations is putting this small farming town east of San Diego on edge as they continue to feel jolts that scientists said could last for days.

The largest quake, registered at a magnitude 5.5, struck at 1:57 p.m. Sunday and was centered about three miles northwest of Brawley, said Robert Graves, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey. Another quake about an hour and a half earlier registered at magnitude 5.3.

No injuries were reported.

More than 30 additional earthquakes with magnitudes of at least 3.5 shook the same area near the southern end of the Salton Sea, Graves said.

"The type of activity that we're seeing could possibly continue for several hours or even days," Graves said.

The quakes pushed 20 mobile homes at a trailer park off their foundations and rendered them inhabitable, said Maria Peinado, a spokeswoman for the Imperial County Emergency Operations Center. A red-tiled roof apparently collapsed and landed on a wooden fence.

Sporadic power outages, at one point affecting 2,500 Imperial Irrigation District customers, also prompted authorities to evacuate 49 patients from one of the county's two hospitals, Peinado said. Police also received numerous calls about gas leaks and water line breaks.

"Sunday's quake cluster occurred in what scientists call a transition zone between the Imperial and San Andreas faults, so they weren't assigning the earthquakes to either fault, Graves said."

By late Sunday, a magnitude-5.1 quake followed by several more with magnitudes of at least 4.0 shook the area.

"It's not uncommon for us to have earthquakes out here, but at this frequency and at this magnitude it's fairly unusual," said George Nava, the mayor of Brawley, a town of 25,000.

"And the fact that the aftershocks keep coming are a little alarming," he said.

At the El Sol Market, food packages fell from shelves and littered the aisles.

"It felt like there was quake every 15 minutes. One after another. My kids are small and they're scared and don't want to come back inside," said Mike Patel, who manages Townhouse Inn & Suites.

A TV came crashing down and a few light fixtures broke inside the motel, Patel said.

The first quake, with a magnitude of 3.9, occurred at 10:02 a.m. The USGS said more than 300 aftershocks struck the same approximate epicenter.

Some shaking was felt along the San Diego County coast in Del Mar, some 120 miles from the epicenter, as well as in southwestern Arizona and parts of northern Mexico.

USGS seismologist Lucy Jones said earthquake swarms are characteristic of the region, known as the Brawley Seismic Zone.

"The area sees lots of events at once, with many close to the largest magnitude, rather than one main shock with several much smaller aftershocks," Jones said.

The last major swarm was in 2005, following a magnitude-5.1 quake, she said.

Sunday's quake cluster occurred in what scientists call a transition zone between the Imperial and San Andreas faults, so they weren't assigning the earthquakes to either fault, Graves said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/27/earthquake-swarm-puts-california-town-on-edge/#ixzz24m4PzBFU

The following is posted by the video poster...

Published on Aug 26, 2012 by dutchsinse

90 miles ENE of Tijuana Mexico -- near the border of California and Mexico -- a series of mid-range earthquakes (5.0M and 4.0M) struck.. followed by multiple DOZENS of subsequent earthquakes in the same location ... a swarm ... not really aftershocks.. since the largest of the tremors was a 5.4M.

Which, to me, means we need to watch for a LARGE earthquake at the end of this chain reaction.. the 5.4M wouldn't be large enough to cause such movement that we're actually having.

If you live in the southern California area -- or along the west coast extending near the fresh lava fields off the coast of Oregon... also along the edge of the north American Craton... New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri.. and the east coast states extending northeast to New Brunswick Canada.

Be prepared for followup movement in adjacent areas to the south California swarm zone.