Shaken but unaffected: Florida takes stock as rare earthquake shakes state | Earthquakes

There are still three months to go before the Atlantic hurricane season begins, and Floridians are not yet ready to contemplate the threat of the next natural disaster. But a rare late-night tremor and tremor that stunned thousands along the state's east coast just two weeks ago has raised the specter of a different, unexpected new danger: earthquakes.

The 4.0-magnitude earthquake, which struck an area 101 miles (163 kilometers) east of Cape Canaveral late on the evening of February 7, was the strongest to hit the United States in two years, and much stronger than those occurring normally. Almost daily in 2018. Western states most at risk are Nevada, New Mexico and California.

It was also very unusual. The last time Florida felt something similar was a 3.9-magnitude tremor in June 2021. And that wasn't an earthquake at all. Rather, the US Navy detonated 40,000 pounds of explosives to test the resilience of its newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford. .

Records from the US Geological Survey (USGS) show that the last “real” earthquake in or near Florida was a relatively minor 1.8 magnitude tremor in September 2020; The only other earthquakes of greater magnitude were magnitude 3.5 and 4.4 earthquakes in 1900 and 1879, respectively.

In fact, until now, the closest Floridians have been able to experience a real tremor was the now-defunct but very popular Earthquake Ride at the Universal Studios theme park in Orlando.

“Most earthquakes occur along or near tectonic plate boundaries, and Florida is located in the North American plate, fairly far from the boundary. They still happen here, though,” said Oliver Boyd, a research geophysicist at the USGS. “It's rare.”

“Most of the stresses, most of the fractures, are along plate boundaries, which is why most earthquakes happen there, but plates all over the planet are under some amount of stress. There are older fractures almost everywhere, and they are more healing and less dense.”

This means, Boyd says, that earthquakes of varying magnitude can and will occur anywhere, and not just in those areas considered more vulnerable because of their location along fault lines or plate boundaries, albeit less frequently.

Because the epicenter of the latest quake was so far offshore, six miles below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, impacts in Florida were limited to mild tremors in a number of coastal communities, no property damage and no reports of injuries.

However, approximately 250 people were concerned enough to call the USGS “I felt it!” reporting line, and several police departments received calls from concerned residents.

Residents of cities near Cape Canaveral are accustomed to feeling the ground shaking and hearing thunderous sounds from the increasing number of space launches from the Kennedy Space Center. But that night, there was nothing – adding to the initial confusion of those who were unaware of what they were witnessing.

Shimon Wodwinsky, a professor of geodesy in the Department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University, said the Florida earthquake was an example of intraplate earthquakes, a mysterious phenomenon in which major earthquakes sometimes occur deep within tectonic plates.

Nearly 250 people called the USGS “I felt it!” Reporting line after the February 7 earthquake. Photography: Gary Chapman/Getty Images

Among the most extreme examples are the earthquakes and aftershocks in New Madrid, Missouri, in 1811 and 1812, which caused widespread devastation and was felt from Canada to Mexico.

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“The North American plate is relatively stable [but] There are stresses within the interior of the plate, which are the result of forces at the plate boundaries.

“If you press on both sides, you generate tension — and it will be released in some areas of weakness. When there are fault lines like New Madrid or other places, there is a greater possibility of that happening, but it can be in other places where the frequency is very low.”

Activity in such areas may also be more widespread than recorded because smaller earthquakes, especially at sea, are unlikely to be detected by a global monitoring network of seismometers, Wodwinski said.

“Thanks to this network, we can detect a force of 3 or 4 degrees everywhere,” he said. “Here, there are fewer monitoring stations and it is difficult to detect low-magnitude earthquakes with lower energy.”

Events like the Florida earthquake can provide valuable educational opportunities, said Boyd, a geophysicist with the USGS.

“People forget to prepare,” he said. “Throughout the New Madrid earthquake zone, we haven't had these really devastating earthquakes since 1812, but we know they happen on average every 500 years. It's important for people to realize that this can happen, that there are building codes and that people build correctly.

Wodwinski echoed the message of preparedness, but said for Floridians, because earthquakes are rare, there are more pressing priorities.

“The probability is very low. We have to be more prepared for hurricanes,” he said.

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