Major Earthquake in Texas!

[Jim]

I don't know how this has not been discussed before now. From the Houston Chronicle:

A minor earthquake occurred about 95 miles south-southwest of Austin early this morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center.

The quake was detected at 4:51 a.m. and registered 3.7 on the 10-point Richter Scale, used to measure the energy of earthquakes.

Obviously the "minor" is a mistake on the newspaper's part. Why, comments on their own website show how big this is. One fellow reported that his lawn chairs fell over. Another says it's probably just the Tar Heels' fans banging their heads on the floor.

But, the one possibility that makes this a major event, is that the insurance companies may see this as justification to raise our homeowner's rates... again. As if Katrina and Rita weren't enough.

Oh,
The epicenter of the quake was pegged at 10 miles south of Poth in Wilson County, and 12 miles west-northwest of Kenedy in Karnes County...

Which is almost exactly midway between nowhere and can't-find-it-on-a-map.

[farmerjumperdon]

I don't know how this has not been discussed before now. From the Houston Chronicle:

A minor earthquake occurred about 95 miles south-southwest of Austin early this morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center.

The quake was detected at 4:51 a.m. and registered 3.7 on the 10-point Richter Scale, used to measure the energy of earthquakes.

Obviously the "minor" is a mistake on the newspaper's part. Why, comments on their own website show how big this is. One fellow reported that his lawn chairs fell over. Another says it's probably just the Tar Heels' fans banging their heads on the floor.

But, the one possibility that makes this a major event, is that the insurance companies may see this as justification to raise our homeowner's rates... again. As if Katrina and Rita weren't enough.

Oh,
The epicenter of the quake was pegged at 10 miles south of Poth in Wilson County, and 12 miles west-northwest of Kenedy in Karnes County...

Which is almost exactly midway between nowhere and can't-find-it-on-a-map.

I always understood that to be minor - - the 3.7 part. It's a logarithmic scale right?

[Jim]

I always took it as a distance scale. That is, the farther it is from me, the more minor it is.

By that reasoning, 3.7 in Alaska is insignificant; 3.7 near Austin is A Serious Event.

[Swift]

Talk about the waving wheat and deep in the heart of Texas.

But, the one possibility that makes this a major event, is that the insurance companies may see this as justification to raise our homeowner's rates... again. As if Katrina and Rita weren't enough.

I wouldn't kid. My part of Ohio has about one of these a year. My insurance company, Allstate, will no longer cover earthquake damage, even if I wanted to pay more for the coverage.

[Moose]

It's logarithmic, Jim. 3.7 at the epicenter isn't especially newsworthy outside of the local market.

[ABR.]

I always took it as a distance scale. That is, the farther it is from me, the more minor it is.

By that reasoning, 3.7 in Alaska is insignificant; 3.7 near Austin is A Serious Event.

Now, Jim, this was the perfect setup for you to use the "Everything's Bigger in Texas" line in regards to earthquakes and the Richter Scale. Something like...a 10.5 quake would be apocalyptic anywhere else but here in Texas, why it would just register as a dinky little 3.7 on the Tex Richter Scale!

[Jim]

I was really thinking of going the other way.

A 3.7 is much more serious in Texas than, say, California because it affects so much more land.

(Yes, folks, I am aware that the Richter Scale - in Texas, that's the Ritter Scale - is logarithmic and that a 3.7 is minor - "felt up to 60 miles away"... shoot, that's less distance than Galveston to Conroe.)

[BigDon]

Wow, one guys lawn chairs fell over. Do you know if there is ariel shots of this from Chopper 4?

So is FEMA moving in on you guys yet?

I know something like this can be emotionally paralysing. Though I would be disappointed if Texans proved to be no more resourceful than a pack of New Oleaners. Hey, didn't Hiroshima recover faster than New Orleans? Of course it wasn't built on a lake bottom. With plans to rebuild it on a lake bottom.

Swift, how come *I* can still buy earthquake insurance?

When Loma Prietta earthquake went down I recall having to catch my one of 55 gal aquariums, do a deep squat with it, then put it back on its stand to prevent it from squishing my oldest daughter who was about nine months old then. You engineer types can calculate the wieght of that water at eight pounds per gallon. Less the displacement of the 120 pounds of gravel and 80 pounds of rock work. (African cichlid tank, needs lots of rock work)

[Swift]

Swift, how come *I* can still buy earthquake insurance?

You'd have to ask Allstate. My guess is that they are hoping that no one in Ohio will notice or care, and if there actually is a bigger quake, enough to cause property damage, they've just saved themselves some money. In California, people would notice if they suddenly changed their earthquake coverage.

I believe other companies still cover earthquake damage and I'm considering changing, or buying a supplemental policy - I'm a paranoid type fellow, and a damaging quake is possible around here, even if unlikely.

When Loma Prietta earthquake went down I recall having to catch my one of 55 gal aquariums, do a deep squat with it, then put it back on its stand to prevent it from squishing my oldest daughter who was about nine months old then. You engineer types can calculate the wieght of that water at eight pounds per gallon. Less the displacement of the 120 pounds of gravel and 80 pounds of rock work. (African cichlid tank, needs lots of rock work)

I think that may explain your back problems.

[Maksutov]

You'd have to ask Allstate...

I asked Allstate to no longer be my insurance company. Some time ago. No accidents or tickets or claims, but the rates kept going up. Meanwhile they're advertising "accident forgiveness" all over the airwaves.

I get the feeling a huge chunk of their premium take goes to their monster commercial budget rather than paying claims by their customers.

I wonder if the New Madrid fault will get you guys in Ohio when it finally does its thing again?

[Tinaa]

On February 15, 1974, an earthquake in the Texas Panhandle caused plaster cracks (V) at Booker, Darrovzett, and Perryton. Similar effects were noted at Liberal, Kansas, and Texhoma and Woodward, Oklahoma. The magnitude 4.5 shock was felt over an area of about 37,000 square kilometers.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/...as/history.php

I remember this earthquake. Shook part of a jigsaw puzzle off of a table. Freaked this 5th grader out!

[mike alexander]

'Richter' has always had a good sound to me. Tough, Germanic, no nonsense. Imagine if he had been named 'Napolitano' or 'Greenberg'.

Actually, there is a Greenburg scale, where '10 Greenburg = 1 Richter' (Things are always worse for Jews)

Reminds me of Calvin Trillin's suggestion for a New York headline:

Cold Snap Hits New York: Jews, Blacks Suffer Most

[Maksutov]

There's the Greenback Scale. I'll describe it to you, but it'll cost ya.

And the Mike Brown/FEMA earthquake scale. An earthquake is considered to be minor when its effect is the same as 150,000 to 250,000 Arabian horses stampeding.

[mike alexander]

I thought the FEMA scale was: What earthquake?

[mike alexander]

Then there's the FEMA/Formaldehyde scale, where the severity of the disaster is calclulated two years later by the number of people found embalmed in trailers...

[Swift]

'Richter' has always had a good sound to me. Tough, Germanic, no nonsense. Imagine if he had been named 'Napolitano' or 'Greenberg'.

Actually, there is a Greenburg scale, where '10 Greenburg = 1 Richter' (Things are always worse for Jews)

Reminds me of Calvin Trillin's suggestion for a New York headline:

Cold Snap Hits New York: Jews, Blacks Suffer Most

Oy vey.

If my Aunt Rose had been in charge of the Greenburg scale, it would have gone "Don't you kids worry about the earthquake, I'll clean up, it's just part of the burden that God has given me on Earth. Don't you worry for one moment".

[BigDon]

I think that may explain your back problems.

Actually Swift, I have to say I have an excellent back. I've hurt it a time or two, but it's always come back. One time in the mid '80's I wrenched my back so hard that when I lifted my hands higher than my elbows I blacked out. And I came back from THAT. A lot of natural selection went into making the human spinal column what it is today, and it's not lame.

[JustAFriend]

20-some years ago I lived in Ohio and there was a 3.something quake radiating up the Missisippi River Valley throughout the midwest.

I felt the house wobble and yelled down at my wife who was in the basement doing laundry; I thought she had a out-of-balance load throwing the washer around....

[Jim]

So is FEMA moving in on you guys yet?

The Texas National Guard has been mobilized... to man border checkpoints and with orders to shoot first and question later any truck with the word FEMA on it.

[NEOWatcher]

...I wonder if the New Madrid fault will get you guys in Ohio when it finally does its thing again?

Not here in NE Ohio... At least not according to the USGS

The hazard map shows only a slight bump here, Western Ohio is more likely.
Compared to Western Kentucky who is right in the heart of the New Madrid...we appear very safe.

So far; we get ones that are big enough for conversation, but not for damage.

[Larry Jacks]

...I wonder if the New Madrid fault will get you guys in Ohio when it finally does its thing again?

Not here in NE Ohio... At least not according to the USGS

The hazard map shows only a slight bump here, Western Ohio is more likely.
Compared to Western Kentucky who is right in the heart of the New Madrid...we appear very safe.

So far; we get ones that are big enough for conversation, but not for damage.

Still, I suspect the insurance companies are trying to reduce their exposure to earthquake claims by denying coverage where there's even a slight risk of damage. If the New Madrid faults let go, the damage could be almost unimaginable. When they triggered earthquakes in 1812, they were 8.0 on the Richter scale. There were very few people in the area at the time. Not so today.

There are estimates that the earthquakes were felt strongly over 50,000 square miles (130,000 kmē), and moderately across nearly one million square miles. The historic San Francisco earthquake of 1906, by comparison, was felt moderately over 6,000 square miles (16,000 kmē).

Effects
Based on the effects of these earthquakes, it can be estimated that they had a magnitude of 8.0 on the Richter scale. As a result of the quakes, large areas sank into the earth, new lakes were formed (notably Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee), and the Mississippi River changed its course, creating numerous geographic exclaves, including Kentucky Bend, along the state boundaries defined by the river.

Some sections of the Mississippi River appeared to run backwards for a short time. Sandblows were common throughout the area, and their effects can still be seen from the air in cultivated fields. Church bells were reported to ring in Boston, Massachusetts and sidewalks were reported to have been cracked and broken in Washington, D.C..

[jt-3d]

A minor earthquake occurred about 95 miles south-southwest of Austin early this morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center.

The quake was detected at 4:51 a.m. and registered 3.7 on the 10-point Richter Scale, used to measure the energy of earthquakes.

That puts it around 40 miles from me. This is the closest I've ever been to such a major quake. I'm a little disappointed that I missed it.

I also missed this thread until now. This disaster almost passed me right by.

[NEOWatcher]

... If the New Madrid faults let go, the damage could be almost unimaginable. When they triggered earthquakes in 1812, they were 8.0 on the Richter scale. There were very few people in the area at the time. Not so today.

There are estimates that the earthquakes were felt strongly over 50,000 square miles (130,000 kmē), and moderately across nearly one million square miles...

That puts Ohio safely outside the "strong" distance, and fairly centered in the "moderate" distance, and our location is on the other side of the state. So, I'm not too concerned.

[danscope]

"Well heck, you might call it only a 3.7, but things were a shakin' better'n my
mother-in-law's tripple chin in a good West Texas wind storm!"
Slim Pickens

[Doodler]

The only fault lines in maryland radiate out from DC and tend to go active whenever a major scandal hits. Not much shaking, but the cost of cleaning up wrecked careers is horrifying.

[NEOWatcher]

The only fault lines in maryland radiate out from DC and tend to go active whenever a major scandal hits. Not much shaking, but the cost of cleaning up wrecked careers is horrifying.

Oh yeah, that's where the wave of compression of the issue to a single fit all solution hits first, then the shear wave of stupidity follows.

[korjik]

It was horrible! I have never been so nearly almost scared in at least the last few hours! I may be scarred for life!

So, where's my FEMA check?

[Gillianren]

Still, I suspect the insurance companies are trying to reduce their exposure to earthquake claims by denying coverage where there's even a slight risk of damage.

There's a slight risk of damage in a lot of places, but there's a pretty severe risk of damage all up and down the West Coast, here, and we can still get earthquake insurance. Our last newsmaking earthquake was much bigger than your puny Texan one, too.

[suntrack2]

I had one experience, when I went to one city nearby my city, there was a coal mine, and when there were some blastings, all the pots which were arranged in my brother's house falling due to its jerk, when we enquired that how the reading may appear in such case if we count it on the richter scale, the person said that below 4 on the richter scale is not that massive and devastative.

Today we are looking in the major cities of the world there are lot of big constructions multi story buildings and so on, and that is the real examination and quality of any sort of constructions which are made of steel and cement. we know how the spring behave in the jerk, that can be stable only when the intensity goes downward, but there is a consistency that spring will move continue, so the buildings should not be like a "spring". so that they will remain.

I heard that snake, rabbit, rat, dog and hen who are having the ability to act with a sense, just like "natural early warning system", in tsunami and earthquakes, these spacies are the very first spacies on the earth who can judge rapidly that there is something adverse with them, hence they first move from their places and starts acting irrelevantly.

[jt-3d]

I heard that snake, rabbit, rat, dog and hen who are having the ability to act with a sense, just like "natural early warning system", in tsunami and earthquakes, these spacies are the very first spacies on the earth who can judge rapidly that there is something adverse with them, hence they first move from their places and starts acting irrelevantly.

Possibly, but really, are we supposed to just take off running whenever we see a dog running down the street?