NZ earthquake 'a warning to North America'

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NZ earthquake 'a warning to North America'

By ANI | ANI – Wed, 23 Feb, 2011 2:44 AM EST

Washington, Feb 23 (ANI): The terribly destructive New Zealand earthquake that

killed dozens and caused heavy damage is a warning to cities up and down the

West Coast of North America, according to a researcher.

Even though Tuesday's 6.3-magnitude earthquake was weaker than last year's

event, it was much shallower, was situated directly under Christchurch, hit

during the lunch hour when more people were exposed to damage, and shook

sediments that were prone to 'liquefaction', which can magnify the damage done

by the ground shaking.

The 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck the nation last September near the same

area killed none.

Yeats, a professor of geology at Oregon State University and an

international earthquake expert, said that same description matches many major

cities and towns in Washington, Oregon, California and British Columbia.

" The latest New Zealand earthquake hit an area that wasn't even known to have a

fault prior to last September, it's one that had not moved in thousands of

years. But when you combine the shallow depth, proximity to a major city and

soil characteristics, it was capable of immense damage, " said Yeats.

" The same characteristics that caused such destruction and so many deaths in

Christchurch are similar to those facing Portland, Seattle, parts of the Bay

Area and many other West Coast cities and towns, " he said.

" And it's worth keeping in mind that New Zealand has some of the most

progressive building codes in the world. They are better prepared for an

earthquake like this than many U.S. cities would be, " he added.

According to Yeats, the risks from comparatively shallow 'crustal' faults are

often given less attention compared to the concerns about the major subduction

zone earthquake facing the Pacific Northwest in its future, or other major

quakes on famous plate boundaries such as the San s Fault.

Associated with that is the risk of liquefaction - the characteristic of some

soils, particularly sediments deposited over long periods of time, to become

saturated with water and quiver like a bowl of gelatin during an earthquake.

Such motions can significantly increase building damage and loss of life.

Like much of the West Coast, Yeats said, New Zealand sits near a major boundary

of the Earth's great plates - in this case, the junction of the Australia Plate

and the Pacific Plate.

Despite intensive seismic studies in that nation, no one had yet identified the

related fault that devastated Christchurch.

" We can learn about earthquakes and help people understand the seismic risks

they face But it's still an inexact science, the exact timing of an earthquake

cannot be predicted, and the best thing we can do is prepare for these events

before they happen, " said Yeats. (ANI)

[Guest guest]

The US isn't nearly prepared for another major quake. A few buildings and such in San Francisco are prepared but the vast majority aren't. Same with LA and other cities. The MidWest would suffer terribly is the New Madrid fault goes again. The ton, SC, area has a fault that can produce 7+ quakes and one has hit the city before. Even New York City could be hit by a 4+ quake.

In a message dated 2/23/2011 1:13:29 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, no_reply writes:

NZ earthquake 'a warning to North America'