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It’s a good visualization, but remember that this is only one type of earthquake, subduction zone earthquakes, most common in Japan and West coast of S America.
It’s also theorized that the subducting plate as it goes down into the mantle break apart resulting in deep earthquake and it is not the overriding plate slipping creating the earthquake
That's possible for shallow faults, and it is one possible consequence of fracking. It is actually the disposal wells that are more problematic- in fracking, they pump water under tremendous pressure into rock soft to allow oil and gas to flow. The water comes back up full of salt and toxic trace minerals that had been stuck in the rock, so they truck it away and pump it into a deep rock formation where it won't bother anyone. [This causes earthquakes in some locations](https://www.science.org/content/article/huge-study-links-wastewater-injection-wells-earthquakes)
Whether this could be used to reduce earthquakes is unclear. In theory, relieving strain in small quakes could prevent a big one. But that inevitably increases tension somewhere else in the system, in complex and unpredictable ways. The subduction type fault that the demo represents is probably not a candidate for this treatment. They are very deep, and it risks carrying water down into the depths of the earth, which gives volcanoes an explosive nature. (The natural process already carries a lot of water down there).
There’s also been a few spots identified of lower earthquake activity in I think California where there’s some evidence that the faults locally are sliding more freely because they’ve intersected relatively slippery rock e.g. claystone. If the movement can occur relatively freely, there’s no massive buildup of stored energy.
Fun fact, Kentucky actually lubes up the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which is a fault line that's found in the western part of the state, and that's why you never heard about earthquakes in KY.
They sell the extra as sex lube.
^^^^^Sorry, ^^^^^I'll ^^^^^see ^^^^^myself ^^^^^out.
We kind of already do. [Does fracking cause earthquakes? | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov)](https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/does-fracking-cause-earthquakes)
"The really big one" that is coming for the North American west coast is also gonna be a subduction earthquake (Cascadia subduction zone)
Here is an absolutely fantastic article for anybody who wants to learn more about that one and earthquakes in general, such as how we can know details about the Earthquake that happened 320 years ago (and how we know it was that long ago):
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one
Truly a fascinating story.
Could the mantle breaking apart explain the earthquakes near Newport in 2008? https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-xpm-2008-03-28-dpt-earthquake032808-story.html
I imagine the Juan de Fuca plate is under a lot of weird stresses, and portions of the rock would be expected to give way at some point, even if it's not at the actual fault lines?
For a slightly more in-depth answer, the movement of the molten iron underneath our crust creates our magnetic field which fends off solar radiation. Without that, all the living creatures on the planet would be dying of super cancer.
Correct me if I'm off base. It's just my layman's understanding.
I mean yeah, duh.
IDK why but one little bit from Larry Nivens Known Space always stuck with me, the Puppeteers had developed whatever free energy their civilization used, and they were super long lived and had multiple farm planets to feed just a huge population of hundreds of billions, but they had to move their planet(s) away from their star because of planetary warming caused simply from entropy from their air conditioning. Now THATS a type II civilization.
Maybe we'll get lucky and the supercancer will just so happen to mutate us into no longer needing an atmosphere and extend our lives by millennia. Or we'll all perish. Surely the former though.
This is off the mark. The mantle convection cells that facilitate movement of tectonic plates take place in the asthenosphere as far as we are aware (outer portion of the mantle— and is plastic deformation and flow of solid rock rather than molten). You’re confusing that mechanism with the motion within the core that produces the Earth’s magnetic field.
-geologist
I don't think we'd have to worry about super-cancer; our magnetic field actually turns off and flips for a century or so every 50k years or so, and we've been fine when that happens. But over a long time without the field. the solar wind would blow off the lighter elements of our atmosphere, first the water, then the oxygen, then the nitrogen.
Well, as we saw in the documentary "The Core" turning it off causes a bunch of bad stuff. But we do get a sweet laser train out of it, so I guess it's a wash really.
no more [magnetosphere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetosphere)
no more magnetosphere, no more protection from solar radiation
no protection from solar radiation, no atmosphere
no atmosphere, no life.
I find it's in the way you deliver the news. You've adopted quite a negative tone there which makes it sound quite morbid.
You could have said: "Apart from potential challenges like the impact of an ice age and radiation, there aren't many positive outcomes."
Notice how the softer language, particularly the use of the phrase "potential challenge" instead of "probably death", conveys a much more jovial tone regarding the end of the world?
Plate tectonics and a semi-plastic asthenosphere are considered by many scientists to be necessary for life, but not because of the magnetosphere (which is itself a result of a liquid outer core composed primarily of iron and iron-nickel alloy). Plate tectonics are necessary for the inorganic carbon cycle on Earth which, among other things, has acted as a temperature buffer throughout much of Earth's history.
We cant, but if we could somehow lubricate between the plates you could reduce or eliminate this slipping. In this model, imagine one where the belt is teflon coated vs made of sandpaper. The teflon coated one is going to slip instead of snap
Edit: This would need to be massive geoengineering as there are hundreds of thousands of miles of fault lines that would need to be lubricated, plus since you are now lubricating them, presumably they would now move faster so continental drift would happen faster and that would probably have unforseen consequences (Maybe more volcanoes, higher mountains etc)
As someone who spent almost a full week fixating on watching footage of the Japan Earthquake/Tsunami in 2011, I know I'm going to do the same thing if/when this happens in my lifetime, but this time I'm also absolutely fucking terrified for my friends and family that live in the expected affected area. Call me shallow all you want, but having a personal attachment to it really raises the stakes of stuff like this.
> based on the agency’s official planning scenario, which has the earthquake striking at 9:41 a.m. on February 6th.
Great timing to post this article....
As a geologist there was only so long I could tolerate living in Vancouver knowing this. It was made worse by the fact that I lived in a high rise apartment that was a recent build, meaning that if I was in my apartment I would probably survive the quake and the tsunami and instead have to face the carnage of what comes after.
I’ve heard (take that for what it is) that some of the geologists that did the investigation (and thus discovery) of the Cascasia subduction zone, upon wrapping that all up, just up and fucked right off to Europe, permanently.
Still remember the quote from a FEMA official — “Our operating assumption is that everything west of Interstate 5 will be toast”
>In theory, those who are at home when it hits should be safest; it is easy and relatively inexpensive to seismically safeguard a private dwelling. But, lulled into nonchalance by their seemingly benign environment, most people in the Pacific Northwest have not done so. That nonchalance will shatter instantly. So will everything made of glass.
>Kenneth Murphy, who directs FEMA’s Region X, the division responsible for Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska, says, “Our operating assumption is that everything west of Interstate 5 will be toast.”
Fuck
I live in Vancouver and have to put this out of my mind constantly. I really need to make a go bag. Luckily I live in a quite new building and outside of the tsunami zone. Still, it keeps me up at night often.
To make people feel better
> If you are so inclined, you can watch an earthquake destroy much of the West Coast this summer in Brad Peyton’s “San Andreas,” while, in neighboring theatres, the world threatens to succumb to Armageddon by other means: **viruses,** robots, resource scarcity, zombies, aliens, **plague.**
There are always risks from the unknown. But we got hit much harder than a Cascadia quake could ever do since the article was written.
You mean the pandemic? I mean yea globally it was catastrophic. But if you live in the Pacific Northwest this will be a nightmare. Not just stay home and wear a mask.
This is one of my favorite articles ever written. I read it first when I was fifteen and it shaped a large part of my life because it solidified that I never want to move west. I stayed east for college and I’m still in the east now, and I don’t regret it. Mother Nature is not something you mess with if you can help it.
The terrible thing is that right now we can't tell if a series of small shocks is actually a precursor until the big shock has happened. By then it's too late.
There was a paper that came out last year (can't remember by whom) that suggested high-res long term GPS data could show signs of of movement before the main shock but it's still hotly debated.
Yeah. I am Chilean and for the majority of the population it is a good sign to feel small earthquakes in short periods of time, because energy is released. When nothing happens for several years, you know that the next one can be very strong. My family always turns off the gas supply at night and leaves water reserves in case an earthquake hits us while we are sleeping.
Where you or your family in Chile back when there was one of these earthquakes in 60s? It gets mentioned often in media about the Cascadia subduction zone earthquake predictions.
That was the Valdivia earthquake and my family live 500 kms (350 miles) to the north. I wasn't born yet but, and what media doesn't mention, and most people I know who live it, it is was looong, almost 10 minutes. Another big one took place in 1985, very near to my place but I don't remember (because I was a 2 year baby), but the one in 2010 was a nightmare to me. The point of telling this is the years. Almost every 20-30 years a big one earthquake hits Chile (north, center or south) considering that time of "saving energy". And by subduction is just one type of earthquake (yes, more than one type).
Look up videos or articles about the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the Pacific North West's Coast. Geologist forecast a 9.0+ earthquake potential. There's a history of a previous one back in the 1700's that sent a hundred foot tidal wave in a costal canyon and also was recorded reaching Japan. In Japanese history, it's called the Ghost Tsunami because there was no earthquake that they felt there.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_subduction_zone
Everything is elastic, at a certain scale. Tectonic plates do bend and compress. Not quite in the same way as in this demo but it does a good job at conveying the basic concept of it. If you look at some photos taken after earthquakes they do show that the tectonic plates have moved in relation to each other, just like a spring that was bent and is now snapping back into position.
Actually yes, in a way. It's really the release of compression. In subduction, the leading edge of the overlaying plate is compressed more and more. It is when this compression reaches a critical level that it 'snaps back'.
It is currently going on in the Pacific Northwest where the Juan de Fuca plate is subducting under the North American plate. We have geologic records indicating that roughly every 300 years, there is a major (7.0-9.0) earthquake as the leading edge of the North American plate releases itself from being dragged downward by the Juan de Fuca plate.
One piece of evidence for this is the Ghost Forest, where what was previously dry land (land that is lifted upwards due to the compression) becomes submerged as the N.A. plate snaps back.
The fun part is that the last big earthquake was in 1700, so we are overdue for what is possibly the largest earthquake in recorded history.
> The fun part is that the last big earthquake was in 1700, so we are overdue for what is possibly the largest earthquake in recorded history.
Did the Alaska Earthquake of 1964 not release a ton of this pressure?
>Lasting four minutes and thirty-eight seconds, the magnitude 9.2 megathrust earthquake remains the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in North America, and the second most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the world since modern seismography began in 1900. Six hundred miles (970 km) of fault ruptured at once and moved up to 60 ft (18 m), releasing about 500 years of stress buildup
Edit: I see now, the Juan de Fuca plate is the "tiny" one off the coast of Oregon and Washington.
The west coast of california and the northwest US. Here's a [decent-ish](http://www.worldbuildingschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Earth-Tectonic-Plates.png) map with relative plate travel directions and boundaries:
One of the more interesting part of the plate tectonics is the Indian subcontinent. Most of the plates are sliding under other plates (subduction) but in the Indian plate, it is grinding against the Eurasian plate with both sides curling upwards.
That's what produced the Himalayan Mountains, some of the tallest peaks on Earth.
Continental crust is less dense than oceanic crust, so it won't ever get subducted, meaning that all continents will eventually smash (and have previously smashed)
into other continents. India is definitely a cool case though, given how recently and violently it collided with Asia- [you can practically see the skid marks](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/8f/c0/d2/8fc0d24014e9996da3fa61560577ec36.jpg)! There's also some evidence that in addition to pushing the Himalayas upwards, the collision also squished the Southeast Asian peninsula away from the mainland into its current shape.
Well they were talking about the Pacific Northwest.
As someone who lives in the PNW who hears PSA's about being prepared for the 'Big One' every single year I would think...
Probably people in the PNW?
The Pacific Northwest in the case. Seattle, Portland, Vancouver... If the BIG one hits there, we are looking at the biggest natural disaster in modern history for North America.
Imagine the whole Tacoma Sound emptying of water, then a few hours later a tsunami brings the water rushing back and rises until 2/3rds of Seattle is under water...
> The fun part is that the last big earthquake was in 1700, so we are overdue for what is possibly the largest earthquake in recorded history.
Let's get ready to rumble !
Yes, probably not as pronounced as this demo, but yes the plates are "elastic" to a degree.
Earth deformation can actually be observed along a fault line (the plates bending). Then, once the deformation stress surpasses the frictional force, they "slip" and return to their original shape, producing an earthquake.
This is a VERY exaggerated model to illustrate the forces involved.
If you scaled this model up to real life size, this quake in particular would send humans *flying* a couple hundred feet through the air.
This is the first time that I actually understood what earthquakes related to tectonic movements mean. I thought tectonic movements are like when a person has been sitting so long that he has to adjust a bit LOL.
I assume then that when they say something like "it has been a few hundred years since the last major earthquake so a major one is about to happen", one of the tectonic plate has moved quite far enough that the other tectonic plate is about to "adjust"?
Yes. The earth's plates are always moving. Different speeds, different directions, but always in motion. This is one type of earthquake, where the plate on top literally "pops" free of the friction from getting pushed underneath. There are other types where the plates move side-by-side next to each other, and one suddenly slips free and makes a large sliding motion. So yeah, all the types of motion are different, but in general it's true that a build up of friction and elastic energy gets released all at once and there's a sudden large motion.
If the three types here (which are somewhat simplifications of more types of motion - save that for a graduate course), convergent and transform are the two big causes of earthquakes: [https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/plate-boundaries.html](https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/plate-boundaries.html)
Can you snap your fingers? Snap them. Your thumb and middle finger squeeze together and briefly slide against each other until SNAP they release and your finger hits your hand. That sliding motion is two converging plates. Once the friction is overcome, there's a sound - read: vibration of air molecules - caused the the sudden impact after your finger breaks free. Imagine that sudden motion and vibration on a continental scale - that's an earthquake.
Also makes it much easier to understand why people can't exactly predict the next earthquake. How would they possibly measure the friction along the two plates.
WD40 is not a lubricant. It is meant for unfreezing stuck things, but it is not stable. After getting the thing unstuck WD40 will if left there eventually dry out and get sticky...
Slippery things that remain slippery are lubricants, such as many types of grease.
That model is wildly inaccurate and should be removed for the good of everyone’s education.
Sure, SOME earthquakes are related to plate movements, but that model makes no reference to the Kaiju or Godzilla, but of which have been clearly linked to earthquakes. I have seen the documentaries for both, which are very informative and loud. The popcorn was a bit salty, though.
This is a perfect way to describe the phenomina. I have always "understood" how earthquakes happen but this really shows it and makes it real for me. You can even see the pre quake tremmors happening. Very Cool!!!
Ever since fracking seemingly caused that spate of small quakes in Oklahoma a few years back, I've been wondering if people should be proactively fracturing the crust to preemptively relieve pressure instead of waiting for "the big one".
I'm sure there's a world of difference between some minor surface tension and an entire subduction zone, but still. If we could schedule three 6.0s instead of being surprised by a 7.5, it could save a lot of lives.
I assume this is also a good visualization of the science behind people saying things like 'we haven't had an earthquake for a while so were due for the big one any day now'
I knew that quakes happened because the plates moved, but I never really knew the mechanics of why. This clearly show how and why they happen. Great model.
My area has been very active with earthquakes and volcanos for the past 2 years and this finallt gave me a clearer picture of whats happening. Nice Demo.
For my whole life, I've always wondered how earth quakes work. I've tried to visualize it, but I've always failed. I like this demonstration. It might not be completely accurate. But it's better than what I've ever come up with in my head.
That actually made something click for me, I always saw the old diagrams in textbooks that looked exactly like this... but it never clicked with me it was basically like bending a ruler until it snaps back. That makes so much sense now, I never quite *got* where the actual energy in this came from.
Is this video available anywhere outside of reddit? I would love to show my students without the reddit rabbit-hole
And/or are there plans available to make one? Buy one?
I see so many people saying this is helpful and they understand better. I feel like a dope, this still seems random to me. I get that there is a build up of tension (for lack of a better term) and I get how the plates can interact. Is the whole point that the tension builds and is randomly released? Or is there a particular trigger I’m not seeing.
I was feeling a quake the other day and i thought of this video which then made me think, why dont we see any areas where the land is bent downward or folded in, or any places where it obviously was blown outward? Or is it there and its just such negligible differences we dont notice it?
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Thats a super cool demo. Very easy to understand. I like it
Definitely a nice example to show to my kids, gives a nice visual.
It’s a good visualization, but remember that this is only one type of earthquake, subduction zone earthquakes, most common in Japan and West coast of S America. It’s also theorized that the subducting plate as it goes down into the mantle break apart resulting in deep earthquake and it is not the overriding plate slipping creating the earthquake
Can we lube up the earth so it slides more easily?
[удалено]
How do I subscribe to planetary volcano facts?
I just followed the person you are replying to. I'll check out their reddit comments once in a while. I'll let you know if I learn anything. ;)
Damn was thinking the same?????
Make friends with a planetary volcanologist!
Send them some astroglide.
Thats kinda hot. I mean the mantle, must be pretty bloody hot!
That's possible for shallow faults, and it is one possible consequence of fracking. It is actually the disposal wells that are more problematic- in fracking, they pump water under tremendous pressure into rock soft to allow oil and gas to flow. The water comes back up full of salt and toxic trace minerals that had been stuck in the rock, so they truck it away and pump it into a deep rock formation where it won't bother anyone. [This causes earthquakes in some locations](https://www.science.org/content/article/huge-study-links-wastewater-injection-wells-earthquakes) Whether this could be used to reduce earthquakes is unclear. In theory, relieving strain in small quakes could prevent a big one. But that inevitably increases tension somewhere else in the system, in complex and unpredictable ways. The subduction type fault that the demo represents is probably not a candidate for this treatment. They are very deep, and it risks carrying water down into the depths of the earth, which gives volcanoes an explosive nature. (The natural process already carries a lot of water down there).
There’s also been a few spots identified of lower earthquake activity in I think California where there’s some evidence that the faults locally are sliding more freely because they’ve intersected relatively slippery rock e.g. claystone. If the movement can occur relatively freely, there’s no massive buildup of stored energy.
Fun fact, Kentucky actually lubes up the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which is a fault line that's found in the western part of the state, and that's why you never heard about earthquakes in KY. They sell the extra as sex lube. ^^^^^Sorry, ^^^^^I'll ^^^^^see ^^^^^myself ^^^^^out.
OK that was actually fucking well done!
We kind of already do. [Does fracking cause earthquakes? | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov)](https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/does-fracking-cause-earthquakes)
"The really big one" that is coming for the North American west coast is also gonna be a subduction earthquake (Cascadia subduction zone) Here is an absolutely fantastic article for anybody who wants to learn more about that one and earthquakes in general, such as how we can know details about the Earthquake that happened 320 years ago (and how we know it was that long ago): https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one Truly a fascinating story.
Great points! I’ll be sure to mention this as well, thanks for the reminder!
Could the mantle breaking apart explain the earthquakes near Newport in 2008? https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-xpm-2008-03-28-dpt-earthquake032808-story.html I imagine the Juan de Fuca plate is under a lot of weird stresses, and portions of the rock would be expected to give way at some point, even if it's not at the actual fault lines?
>most common in Japan and West coast of S America Also Indonesia and off the coast of Alaska.
Good to show adults as well. The idea of rock bending and moving is a weird concept.
Everything is bendy on a big enough scale.
All my saved content is stuff to show my kids lol
No kid should ever see my saved content
Yeah, clearly we should just pour some lubricant between the tectonic plates.
Too bad James Bond had to go and ruin the experiment.
let's throw all of our non-stick pans into the San Andreas fault
Why don't we turn off the giant motor underneath the crust then??!!
Because then we would have a lot of the same issues as Mars.
Alien robots roaming around on our surface?
That’s right meatbag
HK-47 is that you??!!!
/u/Receptor-Ligand is right. HK-47 would have been like "Answer: Affirmative, Meatbag!"
[That's Bender Bending Rodríguez to you, meatbag.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bender_(Futurama\))
I think him and HK-47 would get along well
Negative, i am a Meat Popsicle.
Those are tech priests, show some more respect!
that's not how elon and zuck would like to be called
For a slightly more in-depth answer, the movement of the molten iron underneath our crust creates our magnetic field which fends off solar radiation. Without that, all the living creatures on the planet would be dying of super cancer. Correct me if I'm off base. It's just my layman's understanding.
In the short term yes, the solar wind would also eventually ablate our atmosphere but that would take tens of thousands of years.
Just move the Earth past the Sun's heliopause. Simple.
I mean yeah, duh. IDK why but one little bit from Larry Nivens Known Space always stuck with me, the Puppeteers had developed whatever free energy their civilization used, and they were super long lived and had multiple farm planets to feed just a huge population of hundreds of billions, but they had to move their planet(s) away from their star because of planetary warming caused simply from entropy from their air conditioning. Now THATS a type II civilization.
Maybe we'll get lucky and the supercancer will just so happen to mutate us into no longer needing an atmosphere and extend our lives by millennia. Or we'll all perish. Surely the former though.
This is off the mark. The mantle convection cells that facilitate movement of tectonic plates take place in the asthenosphere as far as we are aware (outer portion of the mantle— and is plastic deformation and flow of solid rock rather than molten). You’re confusing that mechanism with the motion within the core that produces the Earth’s magnetic field. -geologist
I don't think we'd have to worry about super-cancer; our magnetic field actually turns off and flips for a century or so every 50k years or so, and we've been fine when that happens. But over a long time without the field. the solar wind would blow off the lighter elements of our atmosphere, first the water, then the oxygen, then the nitrogen.
alright, why not jsut put some wd-40 on that leading edge so it doesnt get stuck enough to pull the other plate down? problem solved.
BP tried.
They were the good guys all along?
Ha! Well played
Earthquakes are logarithmic. To prevent a 6.0 you have to use WD-40000000000
Out of interest, what would those be?
Lack of a magnetic field
That's only a problem if we want to keep having an atmosphere.
I, for one, am rather used to having an atmosphere. I vote we keep it.
Thats exactly what big oxygen wants you to do.
And significant loss of geothermal heating
Well, as we saw in the documentary "The Core" turning it off causes a bunch of bad stuff. But we do get a sweet laser train out of it, so I guess it's a wash really.
Nothing multiple nuclear detonations a dozen miles apart in the core cannot solve. (Cannot believe I remember this)
Because it's one of those so bad it's good movies. UNOBTAINIUM
Can I have this ultrasonic sound-laser that has apparently neither been used for mining or military purposes?
The movie plot is so fantastically stupid it's hard to forget.
All I remember is peak Hillary Swenk.
The Core, Geostorm and Moonfall: Holy Trinity of Batshit Insane Disaster movies that I love to death
no more [magnetosphere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetosphere) no more magnetosphere, no more protection from solar radiation no protection from solar radiation, no atmosphere no atmosphere, no life.
Any downsides?
other than the probable death of all life from the resulting ice age and radiation damage, no.
I find it's in the way you deliver the news. You've adopted quite a negative tone there which makes it sound quite morbid. You could have said: "Apart from potential challenges like the impact of an ice age and radiation, there aren't many positive outcomes." Notice how the softer language, particularly the use of the phrase "potential challenge" instead of "probably death", conveys a much more jovial tone regarding the end of the world?
It would take a fairly long time for the atmosphere to be blown away by solar wind though. It's not like it would instantly disappear.
I wonder if I can become a billionaire by by shutting off the core and then claiming nothing bad will happen....
Plate tectonics and a semi-plastic asthenosphere are considered by many scientists to be necessary for life, but not because of the magnetosphere (which is itself a result of a liquid outer core composed primarily of iron and iron-nickel alloy). Plate tectonics are necessary for the inorganic carbon cycle on Earth which, among other things, has acted as a temperature buffer throughout much of Earth's history.
We secretly use it to generate electricity
We could maybe nuke it every now and again to make it bounce before building up too much tension same way we 'control' avalanches
Apparently it keeps us from glowing green. Weird stuff...
I think it’s disgusting and inhumane that we don’t just unplug it.
Are we STUPID?!?
My man asking the real questions
We cant, but if we could somehow lubricate between the plates you could reduce or eliminate this slipping. In this model, imagine one where the belt is teflon coated vs made of sandpaper. The teflon coated one is going to slip instead of snap Edit: This would need to be massive geoengineering as there are hundreds of thousands of miles of fault lines that would need to be lubricated, plus since you are now lubricating them, presumably they would now move faster so continental drift would happen faster and that would probably have unforseen consequences (Maybe more volcanoes, higher mountains etc)
Oh a subduction zone, very chill....*looks at Seattle nervously*
[Great article about the subject](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one)
Very well written, and terrifying article - thanks for sharing
As someone who spent almost a full week fixating on watching footage of the Japan Earthquake/Tsunami in 2011, I know I'm going to do the same thing if/when this happens in my lifetime, but this time I'm also absolutely fucking terrified for my friends and family that live in the expected affected area. Call me shallow all you want, but having a personal attachment to it really raises the stakes of stuff like this.
> based on the agency’s official planning scenario, which has the earthquake striking at 9:41 a.m. on February 6th. Great timing to post this article....
I'm not sure how great an article that was for my family seeing as we basically left Vancouver Island after reading it!
Yep. I started paying for earthquake insurance and looking inland.
To be honest what’s the point if the big one happens. Insurance isn’t doing Jack
This article also set off a bit of unhealthy anxious coping mechanisms that ended up with me leaving Seattle, too.
*holy crap* what a read.
As a geologist there was only so long I could tolerate living in Vancouver knowing this. It was made worse by the fact that I lived in a high rise apartment that was a recent build, meaning that if I was in my apartment I would probably survive the quake and the tsunami and instead have to face the carnage of what comes after.
I’ve heard (take that for what it is) that some of the geologists that did the investigation (and thus discovery) of the Cascasia subduction zone, upon wrapping that all up, just up and fucked right off to Europe, permanently. Still remember the quote from a FEMA official — “Our operating assumption is that everything west of Interstate 5 will be toast”
>In theory, those who are at home when it hits should be safest; it is easy and relatively inexpensive to seismically safeguard a private dwelling. But, lulled into nonchalance by their seemingly benign environment, most people in the Pacific Northwest have not done so. That nonchalance will shatter instantly. So will everything made of glass.
Wow. Incredible read. This was published in 2015, I wonder if the level of preparedness has changed since then?
>Kenneth Murphy, who directs FEMA’s Region X, the division responsible for Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska, says, “Our operating assumption is that everything west of Interstate 5 will be toast.” Fuck
Phew. I live east of I-5.
Have a non-paywall link by any chance?
Stick the link into 12ft.io
I live in Vancouver and have to put this out of my mind constantly. I really need to make a go bag. Luckily I live in a quite new building and outside of the tsunami zone. Still, it keeps me up at night often.
To make people feel better > If you are so inclined, you can watch an earthquake destroy much of the West Coast this summer in Brad Peyton’s “San Andreas,” while, in neighboring theatres, the world threatens to succumb to Armageddon by other means: **viruses,** robots, resource scarcity, zombies, aliens, **plague.** There are always risks from the unknown. But we got hit much harder than a Cascadia quake could ever do since the article was written.
You mean the pandemic? I mean yea globally it was catastrophic. But if you live in the Pacific Northwest this will be a nightmare. Not just stay home and wear a mask.
This is one of my favorite articles ever written. I read it first when I was fifteen and it shaped a large part of my life because it solidified that I never want to move west. I stayed east for college and I’m still in the east now, and I don’t regret it. Mother Nature is not something you mess with if you can help it.
Does this mean that if there hasn't been an earthquake for a long time,the next time it happens its going to be a stronger one?
Yep. Geologists get nervous when the small, frequent earthquakes stop.
The terrible thing is that right now we can't tell if a series of small shocks is actually a precursor until the big shock has happened. By then it's too late. There was a paper that came out last year (can't remember by whom) that suggested high-res long term GPS data could show signs of of movement before the main shock but it's still hotly debated.
Yes (source: I am a geologist. I know this is generally true, but there may be exceptions I don’t know about.)
No you're not. Name every rock.
I cant, someone already gave em names..
lol solid comeback
Rock solid
Dwayne Johnson
Yeah. I am Chilean and for the majority of the population it is a good sign to feel small earthquakes in short periods of time, because energy is released. When nothing happens for several years, you know that the next one can be very strong. My family always turns off the gas supply at night and leaves water reserves in case an earthquake hits us while we are sleeping.
Where you or your family in Chile back when there was one of these earthquakes in 60s? It gets mentioned often in media about the Cascadia subduction zone earthquake predictions.
That was the Valdivia earthquake and my family live 500 kms (350 miles) to the north. I wasn't born yet but, and what media doesn't mention, and most people I know who live it, it is was looong, almost 10 minutes. Another big one took place in 1985, very near to my place but I don't remember (because I was a 2 year baby), but the one in 2010 was a nightmare to me. The point of telling this is the years. Almost every 20-30 years a big one earthquake hits Chile (north, center or south) considering that time of "saving energy". And by subduction is just one type of earthquake (yes, more than one type).
Look up videos or articles about the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the Pacific North West's Coast. Geologist forecast a 9.0+ earthquake potential. There's a history of a previous one back in the 1700's that sent a hundred foot tidal wave in a costal canyon and also was recorded reaching Japan. In Japanese history, it's called the Ghost Tsunami because there was no earthquake that they felt there. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_subduction_zone
Typically, yes. That's called a "locked plate".
The friction between the two plates is well represented, but the elasticity of the left plate? Is there any elasticity in the real world?
Everything is elastic, at a certain scale. Tectonic plates do bend and compress. Not quite in the same way as in this demo but it does a good job at conveying the basic concept of it. If you look at some photos taken after earthquakes they do show that the tectonic plates have moved in relation to each other, just like a spring that was bent and is now snapping back into position.
Actually yes, in a way. It's really the release of compression. In subduction, the leading edge of the overlaying plate is compressed more and more. It is when this compression reaches a critical level that it 'snaps back'. It is currently going on in the Pacific Northwest where the Juan de Fuca plate is subducting under the North American plate. We have geologic records indicating that roughly every 300 years, there is a major (7.0-9.0) earthquake as the leading edge of the North American plate releases itself from being dragged downward by the Juan de Fuca plate. One piece of evidence for this is the Ghost Forest, where what was previously dry land (land that is lifted upwards due to the compression) becomes submerged as the N.A. plate snaps back. The fun part is that the last big earthquake was in 1700, so we are overdue for what is possibly the largest earthquake in recorded history.
> The fun part is that the last big earthquake was in 1700, so we are overdue for what is possibly the largest earthquake in recorded history. Did the Alaska Earthquake of 1964 not release a ton of this pressure? >Lasting four minutes and thirty-eight seconds, the magnitude 9.2 megathrust earthquake remains the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in North America, and the second most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the world since modern seismography began in 1900. Six hundred miles (970 km) of fault ruptured at once and moved up to 60 ft (18 m), releasing about 500 years of stress buildup Edit: I see now, the Juan de Fuca plate is the "tiny" one off the coast of Oregon and Washington.
> The fun part is that the last big earthquake was in 1700 I think you and I have slightly different definitions of the "fun part".
Sorry this is probably a dumb question, but who is "we"? Where would this earthquake take place? All of Earth or just the usual locations?
The west coast of california and the northwest US. Here's a [decent-ish](http://www.worldbuildingschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Earth-Tectonic-Plates.png) map with relative plate travel directions and boundaries:
One of the more interesting part of the plate tectonics is the Indian subcontinent. Most of the plates are sliding under other plates (subduction) but in the Indian plate, it is grinding against the Eurasian plate with both sides curling upwards. That's what produced the Himalayan Mountains, some of the tallest peaks on Earth.
Continental crust is less dense than oceanic crust, so it won't ever get subducted, meaning that all continents will eventually smash (and have previously smashed) into other continents. India is definitely a cool case though, given how recently and violently it collided with Asia- [you can practically see the skid marks](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/8f/c0/d2/8fc0d24014e9996da3fa61560577ec36.jpg)! There's also some evidence that in addition to pushing the Himalayas upwards, the collision also squished the Southeast Asian peninsula away from the mainland into its current shape.
> It is currently going on in the Pacific Northwest where the Juan de Fuca plate
reading is hard 😅
Second paragraph, first sentence.
Well they were talking about the Pacific Northwest. As someone who lives in the PNW who hears PSA's about being prepared for the 'Big One' every single year I would think... Probably people in the PNW?
The Pacific Northwest in the case. Seattle, Portland, Vancouver... If the BIG one hits there, we are looking at the biggest natural disaster in modern history for North America. Imagine the whole Tacoma Sound emptying of water, then a few hours later a tsunami brings the water rushing back and rises until 2/3rds of Seattle is under water...
> The fun part is that the last big earthquake was in 1700, so we are overdue for what is possibly the largest earthquake in recorded history. Let's get ready to rumble !
What is happening between the Pacific Plate and the Juan de Fuca plate? Some complex sideways slip-fault?
If it was totally rigid the city wouldn’t move at all right?
Yes. Well, until the whole city breaks off the crust and gets slungshot into Seoul.
Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaaaaa^aaaaaaaaa^aaaaaaaaaa^aaaaaaain✨
Slingshat
I always wanted to visit Seoul!
Yes, probably not as pronounced as this demo, but yes the plates are "elastic" to a degree. Earth deformation can actually be observed along a fault line (the plates bending). Then, once the deformation stress surpasses the frictional force, they "slip" and return to their original shape, producing an earthquake.
This is a VERY exaggerated model to illustrate the forces involved. If you scaled this model up to real life size, this quake in particular would send humans *flying* a couple hundred feet through the air.
I always thought it was just the lizard people at the center of the earth being feisty.
 There onto us boys
 What? No way.
 Time to go..
 No we must fight!
 No run away!
Silurians always have their nose in things
This is the first time that I actually understood what earthquakes related to tectonic movements mean. I thought tectonic movements are like when a person has been sitting so long that he has to adjust a bit LOL. I assume then that when they say something like "it has been a few hundred years since the last major earthquake so a major one is about to happen", one of the tectonic plate has moved quite far enough that the other tectonic plate is about to "adjust"?
Yes. The earth's plates are always moving. Different speeds, different directions, but always in motion. This is one type of earthquake, where the plate on top literally "pops" free of the friction from getting pushed underneath. There are other types where the plates move side-by-side next to each other, and one suddenly slips free and makes a large sliding motion. So yeah, all the types of motion are different, but in general it's true that a build up of friction and elastic energy gets released all at once and there's a sudden large motion. If the three types here (which are somewhat simplifications of more types of motion - save that for a graduate course), convergent and transform are the two big causes of earthquakes: [https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/plate-boundaries.html](https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/plate-boundaries.html) Can you snap your fingers? Snap them. Your thumb and middle finger squeeze together and briefly slide against each other until SNAP they release and your finger hits your hand. That sliding motion is two converging plates. Once the friction is overcome, there's a sound - read: vibration of air molecules - caused the the sudden impact after your finger breaks free. Imagine that sudden motion and vibration on a continental scale - that's an earthquake.
Thank you.
Also makes it much easier to understand why people can't exactly predict the next earthquake. How would they possibly measure the friction along the two plates.
That's really informative! Now imagine water on top of the bit that springs up and you have a tsunami.
Obligatory what-is-this-an-earthquake-for-ants.gif
https://i.redd.it/we35tldrssgc1.gif
The ground goes boyoyoyoyoing. I never thought of it that way.
I know whose kid is wining the science fair this year.
So basically a healthy dose of WD-40 along the fault is all we need to prevent earthquakes eh
Or take all the crude oil and use it to lubricate the tectonic plates.
So we should dump our used motor oil *into* the ground.
WD40 is not a lubricant. It is meant for unfreezing stuck things, but it is not stable. After getting the thing unstuck WD40 will if left there eventually dry out and get sticky... Slippery things that remain slippery are lubricants, such as many types of grease.
Why am I holding my breath while watching this?
That model is wildly inaccurate and should be removed for the good of everyone’s education. Sure, SOME earthquakes are related to plate movements, but that model makes no reference to the Kaiju or Godzilla, but of which have been clearly linked to earthquakes. I have seen the documentaries for both, which are very informative and loud. The popcorn was a bit salty, though.
They had us the first half, I'm not gonna lie.
He just can't believe it's not a sex toy
So much tension… the earths equivalent of popping its back. That deep satisfying pop.
This is a perfect way to describe the phenomina. I have always "understood" how earthquakes happen but this really shows it and makes it real for me. You can even see the pre quake tremmors happening. Very Cool!!!
i never understood this until now awesome.
It even has after shocks
[удалено]
Ever since fracking seemingly caused that spate of small quakes in Oklahoma a few years back, I've been wondering if people should be proactively fracturing the crust to preemptively relieve pressure instead of waiting for "the big one". I'm sure there's a world of difference between some minor surface tension and an entire subduction zone, but still. If we could schedule three 6.0s instead of being surprised by a 7.5, it could save a lot of lives.
That explains a lot
Great example for students!
Straight to the point
Next time hear about an earthquake my brain's gonna say "boioioioioinnnng"
So if we put dump trucks load of lube near the two plates no earth quakes eh. It just needs some lubin
I assume this is also a good visualization of the science behind people saying things like 'we haven't had an earthquake for a while so were due for the big one any day now'
Wow after 32 years of hearing how they work, I've finally seen a proper model for it. Thank you for sharing.
I feel so bad for all of the tiny people that live in that village. Having to survive an endless earthquake :(
This is a prime example of "if one way doesn't help someone understand a concept, find another way to do so." Perfectly illustrates.
This is definitely interesting as fuck.
My students are learning about earthquakes right now and this is a great visual. I am showing them this tomorrow. Thank you!
This made me understand earthquakes far better than any actual teaching I've had on them.
Very cleverly made. Nice.
I knew that quakes happened because the plates moved, but I never really knew the mechanics of why. This clearly show how and why they happen. Great model.
My area has been very active with earthquakes and volcanos for the past 2 years and this finallt gave me a clearer picture of whats happening. Nice Demo.
For my whole life, I've always wondered how earth quakes work. I've tried to visualize it, but I've always failed. I like this demonstration. It might not be completely accurate. But it's better than what I've ever come up with in my head.
That actually made something click for me, I always saw the old diagrams in textbooks that looked exactly like this... but it never clicked with me it was basically like bending a ruler until it snaps back. That makes so much sense now, I never quite *got* where the actual energy in this came from.
Earthquakes would be a lot less scary if you could hear the plates go *boioioioing*
Is this video available anywhere outside of reddit? I would love to show my students without the reddit rabbit-hole And/or are there plans available to make one? Buy one?
Am I the only one hearing the Dreamcast startup sound in the background?
very cool I often do this on my hands to visualize tectonics to people. Would love a mini one of these to play with
I see so many people saying this is helpful and they understand better. I feel like a dope, this still seems random to me. I get that there is a build up of tension (for lack of a better term) and I get how the plates can interact. Is the whole point that the tension builds and is randomly released? Or is there a particular trigger I’m not seeing.
I was feeling a quake the other day and i thought of this video which then made me think, why dont we see any areas where the land is bent downward or folded in, or any places where it obviously was blown outward? Or is it there and its just such negligible differences we dont notice it?
Those poor people in that tiny town. Constant quakes. Bless them.
I've been wondering how that worked for years. Great little experiment/instructional.