Why was the damage caused by the Northridge quake so much greater, when the Nisqually earthquake was slightly stronger?
The Nisqually Quake had a deeper focus, while the Northridge quake was shallower
. Earthquake prediction is an area of intense scientific research. Occurs along an active fault.
Why did the Northridge earthquake cause so much damage?
The Northridge earthquake produced
extremely strong ground shaking
, which caused the greatest damage in the United States since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. … The Northridge earthquake occurred on a blind thrust fault—a buried thrust fault that does not extend to the surface.
Why does a higher magnitude earthquake cause more damage?
Shallow quakes
generally tend to be more damaging than deeper quakes. Seismic waves from deep quakes have to travel farther to the surface, losing energy along the way.
What was the most damage caused by an earthquake?
The most deadly earthquake in history was in
Shaanxi, China in 1556
. It’s estimated to have killed 830,000 people. This is more than twice that of the second most fatal: the recent Port-au-Prince earthquake in Haiti in 2010. It’s reported that 316,000 people died as a result.
Where would damage be more when an earthquake occurs?
In most earthquakes,
the epicenter
is the point where the greatest damage takes place, but the length of the subsurface fault rupture may indeed be a long one, and damage can be spread on the surface across the entire rupture zone.
What is the largest earthquake ever recorded?
| Mag Alternative Name | 1. 9.5 Valdivia Earthquake | 2. 9.2 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake, Prince William Sound Earthquake, Good Friday Earthquake | 3. 9.1 Sumatra-Andaman Islands Earthquake, 2004 Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami, Indian Ocean Earthquake | 4. 9.1 Tohoku Earthquake |
|---|
How many seconds did the Northridge earthquake last?
The earthquake occurred just after 4:30 am local time along a previously undiscovered blind thrust fault in the San Fernando Valley. Its epicentre was in Northridge, a suburb located about 20 miles (32 km) west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The major shock lasted
10–20 seconds
and registered a magnitude of 6.7.
How strong is a 7.0 magnitude earthquake?
| Magnitude Earthquake Effects | 5.5 to 6.0 Slight damage to buildings and other structures. | 6.1 to 6.9 May cause a lot of damage in very populated areas. | 7.0 to 7.9 Major earthquake. Serious damage. | 8.0 or greater Great earthquake. Can totally destroy communities near the epicenter. |
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Is a deep earthquake worse?
Most quakes occur at shallow depths, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Shallow quakes generally tend to be more damaging than deeper quakes
. Seismic waves from deep quakes have to travel farther to the surface, losing energy along the way.
Is 4.6 A big earthquake?
Events with magnitudes greater
than 4.5
are strong enough to be recorded by a seismograph anywhere in the world, so long as its sensors are not located in the earthquake’s shadow. The following describes the typical effects of earthquakes of various magnitudes near the epicenter.
Are there warning signs before an earthquake?
Although several natural ‘warning signs’ have been proposed (ranging from frog behaviours to cloud patterns),
there remains no known way to robustly determine when or where an earthquake might occur prior to its rupture
.
Is a 10.0 earthquake possible?
No, earthquakes of magnitude 10 or larger cannot happen
. The magnitude of an earthquake is related to the length of the fault on which it occurs. … The largest earthquake ever recorded was a magnitude 9.5 on May 22, 1960 in Chile on a fault that is almost 1,000 miles long…a “megaquake” in its own right.
What is the biggest tsunami ever?
Lituya Bay, Alaska, July 9, 1958
Its over 1,700-foot wave was the largest ever recorded for a tsunami. It inundated five square miles of land and cleared hundreds of thousands of trees. Remarkably, only two fatalities occurred.
What is considered a bad earthquake?
Getty/AFP A strong earthquake is one that registers
between 6 and 6.0 on
the Richter scale. There are about 100 of these around the world every year and they usually cause some damage. In populated areas, the damage may be severe.
Is a 3.5 earthquake bad?
Earthquakes that fall between 3.0 to 3.9 on the scale are
considered minor
. We can feel the earthquake, and objects inside are going to shake around, but there very rarely is damage.
Is a magnitude 7 earthquake bad?
Intensity 7:
Very strong
— Damage negligible in buildings of good design and construction; slight to moderate in well-built ordinary structures; considerable damage in poorly built or badly designed structures; some chimneys broken.
