Sure, I couldn't have felt the earthquake which hit Nepal on April 25, 2015, but I woke up very early, sensing that something was needing my attention. I logged on to my Amazon Kindle and learned that a few minutes previously, Nepal had just experienced a terrible natural disaster - a 7.8 earthquake. At that few minute mark it was known that the loss of human life was in the hundreds.
Today, April 30, 2015, we are aware of thousands of deaths, injuries and an untold total in property damage.
We know the domino effect, and this earthquake spawned an avalanche in the Himalaya's that took the lives of at least eight (8) persons, with many more stranded presently. With all of the mayhem and lack of resources for the mountain rescue, the world looks on helplessly only hoping that they will be rescued before it is too late.
Shake maps are helpful in finding the depth, and type of earthquake experienced. Below is a different type of map, this is land displacement. The European Space Agency (ESA) has shared this image of the mapped Nepal Earthquake 2015 April, land displacement:
DLR/EOC - April 30, 2015,
In Geology we learn that we live on a planet that basically recycles itself by "uplift and erosion." That will always be on the test, so remember, uplift and erosion. On this map you may notice all of the little black dots...they are points. This means these are places that could be used to show where there has been a change. Blue is where when the plates interacted there was an "Uplift" of the land, the Yellow areas show a "subduction zone," where the plate sliding beneath another plate caused a lowering of land - or valleys.
Here is the shakemap of the first earthquake that hit Lamjung, Nepal at 6:11 am UTC. The magnitude was 7.8 This is courtesy of the United States Geological Survey:
The shake map key box has a lot of information. How deep the earthquake, the type of waves, peak velocity and so on. The second quake hit at 6:45 and registered 6.6 and 14.6 km of depth. The third earthquake hit Kodari, Nepal at 7:09 am, and was a 6.7 on the Richter Scale, and was deeper than the previous two. This is not counting after shocks, these three were earthquakes. It is said to be the most powerful earthquake to hit Earth that we know of in modern time.
The last few years has given our dear and beloved planet a beating. The Fukushima Earthquake of April 11, 2011 was one of the most powerful known to modern man at 6.6 magnitude, but it was an intraplate earthquake that triggered landslides, and awakened the Idosawa fault that had been dormant. 18.6 miles (30 km) deep.
The reason I mention the Fukushima Earthquake in comparison is because that quake was said to have knocked the Earth off of her Axis.
The information on the Fukushima Earthquake is being removed from the USGS soon, the following is a USGS news release:
"The USGS has updated the magnitude of the March 11, 2011, Tohoku earthquake in northern Honshu, Japan, to 9.0 from the previous estimate of 8.9. Independently, Japanese seismologists have also updated their estimate of the earthquake’s magnitude to 9.0. This magnitude places the earthquake as the fourth (4th) largest in the world since 1900 and the largest in Japan since modern instrumental recordings began 130 years ago.
The USGS often updates an earthquake’s magnitude following the event. Updates occur as more data become available and more time-intensive analysis is performed. There are many methods of calculating the energy release and magnitude of an earthquake. Some methods give approximate values within minutes of the earthquake, and others require more complete data sets and extensive analysis. Due to inherent uncertainties in the modeling of energy and magnitude, the results from different agencies often vary slightly. These magnitude discrepancies arise from the use of different data and techniques. For more information on why magnitudes change..."see the Earthquake Hazards Program FAQ website.
It is hard to associate Earthquakes as a natural disaster having anything to do with the activity of man, but I do think that when this civilization [sic] is pulled from under a thousand years of lateral disposition (dirt, sand and debris moving into layers across the landscape), that evidence will suggest that our activity of pulling fossil fuels from beneath our feet, homes and habitat were what spurred the advent of plate tectonics, and eventually causing our own distinction.
Yeah, it is possible that if we were all just loving our earth, living as naturally as possible, dying from being worn out, instead of infected, that the Tectonic Plates may have done the hokey pokey, but it is my opinion that our planet is a living, breathing entity and she is in the throes of death, due to our maltreatment of her.
I am almost certain we will be extinct before my natural occurring death. Peace.
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