Saturday, August 24, 2013

Super Earthquakes and Tsunamis


AFP/Getty Images
After the tsunami, Kesennuma City in Miyagi prefecture, northern Japan, March 11, 2011.
California's seismic temperament is no secret, but what about the rest of our country's? 39 of our 50 states are in "moderate to high seismic risk" according to this report released after the massive Haiti quake a couple years ago. Don't forget that earthquakes often beget other forms of natural destruction as well, such as tsunamis, like the ones in India and Japan, and can damage high-risk infrastructure like nuclear power plants, which pose their own list of threats.
This report states that Boston is at the highest current U.S. tsunami risk, with a series of twelve small quakes happening offshore in the past year alone. But much of our world's population and commerce is on our coasts, and any major city being hit would lead to not only a loss of life, but create a financial ripple effect felt globally.

Martin: Well, we're talking major, so above ten (on the Richter Scale). During our volcanic age we had earthquakes that were at 80 or 90. An epic style earthquake... We've had some extreme earthquakes, and the repetition of these earthquakes is increasing, whe

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