Laurie Dingler | Earthquakes can happen anywhere; Most likely when you least expect it – Times-Standard

ShakeOut is less than three weeks away. Getting people to participate has been a struggle. “I don’t think an earthquake will happen soon” is a common reaction. Someone even hung up on me and said that earthquakes are unlikely to happen if we don’t talk about them.

Ignoring it or wishing it away won’t stop the next earthquake. There is no place in the country where there is no earthquake risk. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is responsible for assessing the earthquake risk in the country and updating the seismic risk regularly. There are many different versions of maps – some for engineers and people with terrestrial motion backgrounds and others for a more general audience (https://www.usgs.gov/natural-hazards/earthquake-hazards/hazards).

It’s easy to get lost in the details of possibilities and just focus on the hot spots. Not surprisingly, Alaska and California are the places where you are most likely to experience strong shaking. But some high-risk areas may surprise you, including South Carolina and Oklahoma, and no places are without risk.

Have you ever bought a lottery ticket? The stated odds of winning the California lottery are one in 42 million. If you buy one lottery ticket every day for the next thirty years, you stand a chance of winning about two hundred percent. In the same 30 years, your odds of experiencing a strong earthquake in Humboldt County are approximately 40%.

Not surprisingly, California has a high probability of an earthquake. But even in the quieter parts of the country, you are more likely to experience an earthquake than winning the lottery. Even in the less seismically active parts of the country like Florida and Minnesota, you can likely feel an earthquake thousands of times more than a win.

Earthquake hazard maps are based on historical earthquakes, prehistoric earthquake studies, and the underlying tectonic framework for the region. Maps are useful to planners and builders and are the basis of building requirements in national building codes. But I find that they can give the wrong impression to the average viewer who might immediately think that bright colors are the only places people need to worry about. The best message is that earthquakes can happen anywhere and no matter where you live or visit, be prepared. Here are some examples.

9/31/1886 Charleston, South Carolina ~M7. The epicenter was nine miles north of downtown Charleston. This was before the age of seismographs and the size estimate depends on the area of ​​the felt – from New Orleans to Boston and Chicago and as far away as Cuba and Bermuda. Sixty deaths reported and at least 2,000 buildings damaged – $5-6 million in $1,886 would exceed $160 million today. There were no earthquakes and no buildup in earthquake activity prior to the rupture. Structures on the filled ground were particularly vulnerable to liquefaction damage. Aftershocks have persisted in the Charleston area for more than thirty years, some large enough to cause additional damage.

10/18/1935 Helena, Montana M6.2. The epicenter was within the city limits of Helena. Two people died due to the collapse of brick structures. The earthquake caused at least 20 injuries and several others in car accidents as many people fled the city. The earthquake was felt in much of the western part of the state. Unreinforced brick structures, including schools and the hospital, were particularly at risk. The earthquake was the largest in a sequence that included an M5.9 and M6 tremor and 5.5 aftershocks. The aftershocks caused additional damage to structures weakened in previous earthquakes with total losses estimated at $5 million in 1935 dollars.

8/23/2011 Lincoln County, Virginia M5.8. The earthquake occurred in central Virginia, 37 miles northwest of Richmond and 84 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., and was felt along the entire Atlantic coast and within as far as Chicago and Minneapolis. It caused landslides 150 miles from the epicenter. This was perhaps the most widespread earthquake of the last century, affecting nearly a third of the US population, causing blackouts, disrupting highway travel, and delaying flights across the Northeast. Cell phone coverage was disrupted due to excessive use for an hour. Two buildings in Virginia collapsed and a number of the buildings were deemed unusable. The quake damaged the spiers of Washington National Cathedral and the Washington National Monument was closed for nearly three years for repairs.

9/3/2016 Pawnee, Oklahoma M5.8. The earthquake occurred in northern Oklahoma and was felt from San Antonio, Texas to Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the largest earthquake ever recorded in the state, narrowly exceeding the 2011 M5.7 sixty miles to the south. A number of buildings were damaged in the northern part of the state and some damage was noted in Kansas City more than 300 miles away. Unlike other examples, this earthquake is believed to have a human cause – associated with the injection of drilling tailing fluids into deep wells. The 2011 and 2016 earthquakes prompted the country to regulate injection rates and amounts.

All of these examples occurred in areas where large earthquakes were not uncommon. The old brick buildings and buildings built on clogged land were particularly at risk. None of these earthquakes would qualify as a “major earthquake” by our standards, but they did cause damage, injury and economic disruption over a large area. And lest you think our infrastructure is more resilient today than it was a century ago, the collapse of electronic communications in recent events is a sobering reminder that after the next earthquake, you likely won’t have information at your fingertips.

Do a favor for yourself and your community. Take part in the October 21 ShakeOut Drop, Cover and Hold On exercise (https://www.shakeout.org). Register with your school, workplace, church group, or other organization and talk to each other about how to reduce risk.

Note: Read the USGS publication on the 1886 Charleston Earthquake for a historical, social, and seismic perspective on the earthquake at https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1986/0985/report.pdf

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos