Discovery News: Strike Slip

Earthquake in LA!

Well that didn't take long. A 5.8 5.4 magnitude earthquake struck just East of Los Angeles about thirty minutes ago, 11:42am, Pacific Time. This isn't all that big, but probably enough for folks living in nearby Pomona and Chino HIlls  to get a frightening shimmy.

CNN is reporting the shaking was strong enough to temporarily shut down rides at Disneyland for inspection, and for people in San Diego and Las Vegas to feel a shudder.

Aftershocks up to 3.8 are popping off right near the epicenter as I type, which is routine. Depth is reported to be about ten seven miles down and from the map it looks to be on either the Whittier or Chino faults.

If you felt it, you can report your experience to the US Geological Survey here.

One thing that will be interesting to see is if the new quake was enough to significantly alter the stress fields along other faults in the area. The LA area, like much of Cali is a jumble of faulted rock. Letting some stress go on one fault can build it up along another one, and lead or a major quake down the road.It's probably nothing to worry about, but stay tuned to for the USGS's new calculations.

Note: updates coming as USGS refines magnitude/depth estimates.

Update: The LA Times has a good article here which looks like it's being update regularly as more info becomes available. It's already got around 600 comments. (damage photo: LA Times)

UPdate #2: Early reports said that cell phone networks were overwhelmed following the quake. Now the LA Times is reporting that both wireless AND wired phone networks were overwhelmed. Many residents couldn't get dial tones on their landlines, and worse, some sheriff's offices didn't have service. Networks were so swamped that authorities even issued pleas to citizens to cease any non-emergency calling, lest 911 calls didn't make it through.

Wait a second -- even calls to 911 were in danger of not making it through? This was a moderate earthquake that caused only the lightest damage to physical structure. What happens when a truly destructive temblor hits southern California?

And is this shortcoming of emergency planning limited to the Los Angeles area, or are phone networks everywhere ill-equipped to handle disaster-type calling loads? 911 service appears to be vulnerable to blockage when people need it most. Could this be true across the country, too? Not a comforting thought.

Intro

Let's get started. For the uninitiated, here's a brief explanation of what the title of this blog, "Strike/Slip" means. Even briefer: it's a type of fault -- the type that makes up much of the fractured tectonic jigsaw puzzle we call California, including the famous San Andreas.

I'm pretty excited to start blogging about Earth's rumblings, from volcanoes and earthquakes to hurricanes, tornadoes, and just about every natural process on the planet you can reasonably attach the word "extreme" to.

Of course nothing says "blog post" like a sweet picture of dangerous proportions, so let's begin with a little shot of the highly active, humongous fault I call home:

Ain't she pretty?

(source: Waterencyclopedia.com)