Saturday, April 21, 2012

EARTHQUAKE ANXIETY? Don’t link the water!

Avoiding earthquakes is simple: Don’t go near the water! The worst quakes occur near the coast or at rivers. Even inland, such places as New Madrid, IL (greatest magnitude quake to occur in the lower 48 states) had the most damaging shakes at junctions of two rivers- MISSISSIPPI AND OHIO. And such minor events as the Clintonville, WI “BANGS” happen at creek junctions (the larger the river and drainage area, the larger the magnitide quake).
THE VALLEY OF FIRE, NEAR OVERTON, NV, HAS A TRIPLE JUNCTION of the Muddy, VIRGIN, and OVERTON ARM of Lake Mead (junctioning). This fulcrum- on the water- is subject to CONSIDERABLE VULCANISM and SHAKING:
YOU MAY WANT TO VISIT THIS AREA- WHICH IS EASILY ACCESSIBLE FROM I-15 FREEWAY- DRIVE SOUTH THROUGH OVERTON, NV, AND LOOK FOR SIGNS TO THE ABANDONED TOWN OF ST. THOMAS (THERE is a TRAIL LEADING TO THE TOWN- NOW RISEN AGAIN- WHICH WAS INUNDATED BY LAKE MEAD, WHEN THERE WERE WET SEASONS):
In our area, avoid dwelling near confluences such as Kolob-Virgin, Muddy-Overton Arm, Sycamore Canyon-Verde, and Gila-Salt rivers. Why it this? Circular river paths represent shearing rotations of the EARTH’S CRUST. 2 river paths with different curvatures show where the stress intensifies, and a temperature rise there in a warm spring is a warning. Park at the I-15 bridge at Littlefield, AZ and walk to the edge of the Littlefield Creek, and you will experience wild grapes growing at the warm spring (with travertine deposits) just underneath the bridge. It must have been flowing for a considerable time- what with the thick deposits of limestone atop the Muddy sandstones. The obvious case in the Hurricane, UT area is that at the confluence of the Virgin and the Ash-Laverkin rivers, where quakes are regular- occurring near the Pah Tempe Hot Springs. An engineer named Milankovitch found that the shearing rotations occur with regularity: these are due the WOBBLE of the POLES, in 25,000 and 40,000 year cycles. This is caused by gravitational influences, creating shearing rotations of the EARTH’S CRUST in regular cycles (plus others in a harmonic pattern). The photo below shows how the sandstone is sheared in circular patterns due to these cyclical rotations: