earthquake •

Devastating Tsunami to Hit Hawaii

May 16, 2016 By Deborah Cobing Leave a Comment

"devastating tsunami hits Hawaii in 50 years"

A devastating tsunami might hit this beach in Hawaii 50 years from now

STATES CHRONICLE – There is a 9% chance for a devastating tsunami to hit Hawaii and wipe half of it off the face of the Earth. Its likelihood to happen is somewhere around fifty years from now.

The tsunami would be caused by a magnitude of 9+ earthquake in the Aleutian Islands.

Scientists at the University of Hawaii at Manoa with the help of a new computer model have predicted the occurrence of a mega-earthquake, estimating damages of approximately $40 billion that will affect almost half a million of people.

These findings were published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth.

The earthquake would happen because of a dramatic slip in the subduction zone where the Aleutian Islands sit. This phenomenon would be so powerful that it would create a devastating tsunami heading towards the Hawaii Island.

The Earth has a crust composed of numerous rocky plates that can slip. When these slips occur, the place where they “fall” is called a subduction zone. One of these “available spots” happens to be in the Aleutian Islands.

Lead author geophysicist Rhett Butler and co-authors Neil Frazer at the UHM School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, along with William Templeton, Portland State University have created a numerical computer model based on tectonics and Bayesian techniques to determine the 9% rate of the devastating tsunami in Hawaii.

The researchers have also used recorded seismic/tsunami evidence from Hawaii’s five biggest earthquakes since the year 1900 to validate the new model. Buttler says these earthquakes represent “half of the seismic energy that has been released globally since 1900.”

They also took in consideration past tsunamis to further refine the model’s estimates.

Almost to their surprise, the model fits very well “the paleotsunami data” and they were able to even annualize the risk of occurrence.

Thus, an earthquake of a magnitude of 9 has a 9 ± 3 percent probability to hit the Aleutian Islands in the next 50 years and cause a $40 billion loss in damages.

The team wants to extend their analysis and use this model to smaller earthquakes in the Pacific. They’re interested in 7-8 magnitude earthquakes.

A few weeks ago at the National Earthquake Conference, director of Southern California Earthquake Data Center, Thomas Jordan announced that the San Andreas plate in Southern California is “locked, loaded and ready to go.”

The threat of a devastating tsunami might come from lots of different places around the globe, much sooner than the 50 years predicted for Hawaii.

Image source: Pixabay

Is Climate Change a Climate Change Hustle?

May 5, 2016 By Georgia Dawson 1 Comment

"climate change or climate change hustle?"

“Are we rushing ourselves into the grave and dragging the planet with us?”

STATES CHRONICLE – Is the climate change around the world actually a climate change hustle? Is it something the media or some political candidates have invented to attract more audiences and partisans? Or is it a real issue skeptics are making worse? Climate Hustle, a documentary about – as the title points out, climate change, is showing people of the mixed science plus entertainment era, the opinions of both camps around this now delicate subject.

I personally do not believe the climate changes unfolding savagely throughout the world to be climate change hustle or bogus. But what am I basing my opinions on?

Mario Vargas Llosa has called this era, the era of entertainment. And they say that this 30 something year old generation is the generation of documentaries. The generation that makes “informed” decisions based on the facts presented under the form of documentaries. No wonder the term mockumentary has also been thrown around lately. Misleading information often feeds the short span attention minds of the generation that has traded values for speed.

So enter Climate Hustle.

On one side we have Sarah Palin a firm disbeliever of the environmental changes and a political media bate and on the other side, there’s Bill Nye, the Science Guy, and ex Boieng mechanical engineer defending the climate change movement.

It´s fair to say the climate is constantly changing whether we want it or not or whether we´re influencing it. Change is at the base of our very own human nature. However, being the generation of speed, we might also rush the planet into destruction. Because what about the rapid ice cap meltdown, the active rising sea levels, the floods, the tsunamis, the more frequent and stronger earthquakes crashing entire cities all over the world?

Are 97% of the scientists out there adding to the negative perception of mainstream science by really just repeating what they’ve heard? It’s a claim made in the presentation of the Climate Hustle climate change documentary that we recommend seeing for the purpose of inspiration. Inspiration to go do your own research, find out on your own if the international committees set up to address these climate changes have underlying reasons or the issue desperately and truly requires immediate action.

What do you think? Are we rushing ourselves into the grave and dragging the planet with us or is climate change actually a climate change hustle?

Image source: Youtube

Soon, smartphones to turn as earthquake detectors

September 30, 2013 By Janet Vasquez Leave a Comment

With the earthquakes taking the toll high these days, your smartphones promise to detect its arrival.

A study conducted in this regard says, small sensors installed in most smartphones and laptops are sensitive enough to detect moderate and large earthquakes – greater than magnitude 5.

The researchers working on the study says, tiny chips used in smartphones to adjust the orientation of the screen could serve to create a real-time urban seismic network, easily increasing the amount of strong motion data collected during a large earthquake.

What is MEMS?

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems, or MEMS, is a technology that in its most general form can be defined as miniaturized mechanical and electro-mechanical elements (i.e., devices and structures) that are made using the techniques of microfabrication. The critical physical dimensions of MEMS devices can vary from well below one micron on the lower end of the dimensional spectrum, all the way to several millimeters.

Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) accelerometers measure the rate of acceleration of ground motion and vibration of cars, buildings and installations. In the 1990s MEMS accelerometers revolutionized the automotive airbag industry and are found in many devices used daily, including smartphones, video games and laptops.

Antonino D’Alessandro and Giuseppe D’Anna, seismologists at Istituto Nazionale di Geosifica e Vulcanologia in Italy, carried a test on MEMS accelerometers to discover whether they can reliably and accurately detect ground motion caused by earthquakes. They tested the LIS331DLH MEMS accelerometer installed in a smartphone, comparing it to the earthquake sensor EpiSensor ES-T force balance accelerometer. They found that the MEMS accelerometers can detect moderate to strong earthquakes – greater than magnitude 5 – when located near the epicentre.

The device produces sufficient noise to prevent it from accurately detecting lesser quakes – a limitation to its use in monitoring strong motion.

The study is published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (BSSA).

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