Earthquakes: Interesting?

TheOldHippie

http://www.thehorizonproject.com/earthquakes.cfm

I think the keywords in the title "deadly and destructive earthquakes" are most relevant ..Today I heard a seismologist on TV saying that quakes of magnitude 6 or so are happening all the time but mostly at sea or non populated areas. This morning the news covered a significant quake in Italy.

The number of quakes is about the same as ever , but when they hit populated areas, that is the problem - and population is expanding. The FAQ's on the same website gives a fuller explanation.

But I am sure the dubs will use it as evidence that we are in the last days.....It would take more than that to make me go back to the Hall in belief...

Kahlua

Seismologist Keiiti Aki responded to the WTBTS by letter dated 9/30/82 concerning earthquakes. This is a quotation from that letter,

"The apparent surge in intensity and frequency of major earthquakes during the last one hundred years is, in all probability, due to improved recording of earthquakes and the increased vulnerability of human society to earthquake damage."

The increase shown in the last decade in the graph could partially be due to an increase in monitoring sites and reporting. What is to say there have not been these spikes before seismic equipment was available earth wide to monitor & count all the earthquakes?

It is an interesting graph. I would like to see a breakdown comparing the number of 6.0 quakes to 7.0 & 8.0. Too bad we don't have accurate reporting in earlier years to get a true comparison.

marcopolo

earthquake in Italy Aquila

doofdaddy

re Earthquakes Really on the Increase?

We continue to be asked by many people throughout the world if earthquakes are on the increase. Although it may seem that we are having more earthquakes, earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater have remained fairly constant.

A partial explanation may lie in the fact that in the last twenty years, we have definitely had an increase in the number of earthquakes we have been able to locate each year. This is because of the tremendous increase in the number of seismograph stations in the world and the many improvements in global communications. In 1931, there were about 350 stations operating in the world; today, there are more than 8,000 stations and the data now comes in rapidly from these stations by electronic mail, internet and satellite. This increase in the number of stations and the more timely receipt of data has allowed us and other seismological centers to locate earthquakes more rapidly and to locate many small earthquakes which were undetected in earlier years. The NEIC now locates about 20,000 earthquakes each year or approximately 50 per day. Also, because of the improvements in communications and the increased interest in the environment and natural disasters, the public now learns about more earthquakes.

According to long-term records (since about 1900), we expect about 17 major earthquakes (7.0 - 7.9) and one great earthquake (8.0 or above) in any given year.

Black Sheep

How many earthquakes of 6.0 greater were there in 1996.

According to the graph, one.

Now go to http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqarchives/significant/sig_1996.php and verify if it was one.

viva

There is geologic evidence of severe earthquakes in areas that we now consider tectonically stable, there is geologic evidence of earthquakes worse than humans have seen, there is geologic evidence of super volcanoes that would by far surpass anything we have seen. And natural disasters are getting worse?

The more sensors we have, the more earthquakes we will know about. But there are no more earthquakes now than there have ever been.

Leolaia

Please see on the USGS page it gives as a source:

Selected earthquakes of general historic interest.

The list on the USGS site is not intended to be a complete catalog of earthquakes over a certain magnitude level; it simply is a selection that gives more space to recent earthquakes.

Seems that horizonproject.com is (well-funded) crank site; they say they are "breaking through the flawed explanations of fragmented modern theory that compound each year to further mask the truth. See the overwhelming scientific evidence previously lost and re-discover the shocking answers that have been under our noses all along," "Newly discovered scientific evidence shows that the world as we know it is about to come to an unexpected end".

The Horizon Project says that for those that study prophecy, this earthquake trend eerily echoes ancient religious records that state "Earthquakes will occur in diverse places" as mankind nears what some believe will be events resulting in massive loss of life.
http://www.huliq.com/1/75901/horizon-project-earthquake-data-shows-frightening-trend

From what I have read about those who purchased their DVD, it is more 2012 doomsday speculation. All of which will be old hat by 2013. Here is what a poster (KathyT from another site did when she looked up USGS data for herself:

I do not get the results the Horizon Project shows in their charts. The only source they refer to, is back to USGS. They say their chart represents Worldwide earthquake data of earthquakes between magnitudes 6 and 8. Their chart values on the left show quantities, by year, ranging up to 40. Even that number is inaccurate.

I have no idea where they got their numbers.

I have created my own chart. I show you exactly where the numbers are from the USGS web sites. I picked the last 18 years to match to the Horizon chart. I took the USGS numbers starting with 1990, and the 18 year period, if it were to match, should show the large climb Horizon shows. It does NOT.

You’ll see the numbers I loaded into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet below the chart. I took the direct USGS numbers and added totals for all earthquakes 6.0 and larger. You can see, the average numbers PER YEAR exceed 100… so where does Horizon get numbers below 40? Their numbers do NOT compute!

The data does not support a theory that earthquakes have been increasing significantly in recent years.

I welcome anyone to re-check these numbers and if more information comes to light, I’m interested in hearing about it.
Here’s what my analysis of the data from USGS shows:
http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/eqstats.html
http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/info_1990s.html
http://projectavalon.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8283

drwtsn32

Obviously GW Bush is to blame.