earthquakes
Hey, LA: What’s With All The Earthquakes?
It’s been an active year for seismicity in Southern California. Starting with a M4.1 on New Year’s Day, 2024 is the shakiest year in the region’s history. Sunday night’s tremor near Ontario marks the fourteenth quake over magnitude 4.0, breaking the previous annual record of thirteen. There are twelve weeks
How Will the Cascadia Quake Affect the Bay Area?
Everybody knows the Big One is coming. Depending on where it strikes, it’ll be felt from Oregon to Baja California as well as Nevada and Arizona. Thousands may die. Millions will lose homes. The Big One is a California problem, but it won’t send a tsunami crashing around the Pacific
The KQED & Noise Pop Festival Looks Awesome
When two wonderful SF institutions get together to throw a block party it’s a great reason to get excited. KQED has teamed up with Noise Pop and is blocking off the streets in front of its storied SF headquarters and opening up its doors for an all-day, live music-infused, street
Why Aren’t Earthquakes More Common?
June was off to a bumpy start in the Bay Area. Three separate tremors happened in the early morning hours of Sunday, June 3rd. The first at 1:40 AM rattled the leeward side of the Berkeley Hills two miles north of Orinda. It was a M2.2, barely perceptible but to
Could a Turkey Style Earthquake Happen in California?
Turkey’s tectonic predicament, responsible for the massive quake that struck Kahramanmaras at 4:17 Monday morning, looks awfully familiar. The tectonic situation in Turkey nearly mirrors California’s. Similar mechanics are at work here. Our dominant faults shove landmasses past one another in opposing directions, much like theirs. The major difference is,
Clear Lake Volcano More Active Than Previously Thought
In June I wrote about the threat to San Francisco posed by Mount Konocti, specifically the Clear Lake Volcanic Field. People seem to have forgotten the volcano, I lamented. Our earthquakes, landslides, and wildfires tend to overshadow California’s windows to the furnace churning beneath our feet. Scientists previously estimated the
Why Did(n’t) MyShake Warn Me?
The noise woke my partner first. I heard it distantly, still ascending from the depths of a REM cycle. Its robotic voice, preceded by a red-alert siren, warned of impending shaking. Knowing that it’s safest to stay in bed if an earthquake strikes at night, we looked at each other
Mauna Loa Ends Thirty-Eight-Year Silence
After months of seismic unrest, Hawai’i’s largest volcano Mauna Loa began erupting. At 11:30 PM Sunday evening, the floor of Moku‘āweoweo, Mauna Loa’s enormous caldera, split open. Lava soon flooded the crater and spilled out on the mountain’s broad, rocky slopes. Scientists familiar with the truly massive volcano (33,500+ feet
Earthquake Rattles Half Moon Bay
A M2.9 earthquake struck just south of Half Moon Bay shortly before 9:30 last night. Residents of San Mateo and Redwood City also reported feeling the jolt. It happened at a depth of 10.4 kilometers, or 6.4 miles, beneath the rugged coastline within the San Gregorio Fault Zone. The San