China Earthquake: Afraid yet?

If you said no, congratulations, you are acting logically.  Since the news channels are trying to get you to watch they will not tell you the fact that in a NORMAL year we have 20 earthquakes globally in the 7.0 to 7.9 range.

Worldwide Earthquake Rates

Magnitude	Description	Number in 1 Year	One Quake Every…
8+	Great	< 1	1–2 years
7.0-7.9	Major	20ish	2-3 weeks
6.0-6.9	Large	120	3 days
5.0-5.9	Strong	1,000	9 hours
4.0-4.9	Moderate	6,000	90 minutes
3.0-3.9	Mild	49,000	11 minutes
2.0-2.9	Small	300,000	2 minutes
below 2	Teeny Tiny	600,000+	52 seconds

The Chile earthquake was a major event.  This 8.8 magnitude quake is a once in a year (or two) event.  The 7.0 magnitude quake in Haiti was a major event because of the housing construction, not because of the magnitude.  The latest China quake, measured at 6.9, is also a human crisis because of poor home / building construction.  If you take a look at the Mexicali Mexico earthquake this year (7.2 magnitude) you can see the difference that quality construction can make.  The rebar in the Mexican construction, although considered poor by American standards, provided much more protection for the residents of Mexicali than the residents of  (no rebar or reinforced construction ) China or Haiti.

That having been said, there is an interesting pattern occurring around the popularized “ring of fire”.  I have heard from at least a half dozen friends telling me to be careful in California.  They keep prophesying that the “big one” will happen in California this year.  Yes, I see the obvious pattern on the ring of fire shown by the five latest earthquakes that have hit the news channels this year.

To my superstitious friends it seems like obvious evidence of a unique event.  To them it’s either part of the 2012 prophecy or the biblical “end times” prophecy.  Not until we see another dozen or so 7.0 magnitude or greater earthquakes along this region, THIS YEAR, should we begin to believe that there is a unique seismic event going on in the ring of fire.  Until then, just relax, this is not abnormal.

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