Scientists have been baffled by a series of 250 earthquakes that have hit Yellowstone park over the past three days. The tremors aren’t anything big enough to swallow a building or destroy the Golden Gate Bridge, but they’re still worrisome.
California stretches for 800 miles over the San Andreas Fault. Scientists have deduced with regularity, that a fault region is prone to a major earthquake every 150 years. Northern California was hit in 1906. Southern California has been luckier – we’ve had only minor tremors since 1690.
San Diego State University seismologist Kim Bak Olsen and his colleagues are disturbed by such a long string of good fortune. (http://advancement.sdsu.edu/marcomm/features/2007/earthquake.html) According to their studies, all fault lines “snap” at one time or another; that the San Andreas Fault has accumulated so much tension is not a good thing at all. Kim Bak Olsen isn’t the only one who’s concerned. The U.S. Geological Survey, Earthquake Hazards Program agrees and has a series of probability statistics featured on their website. The conflicting information seems less about whether or not the Big One will happen (it will) and more about what to do when it happens.
Some of the information I’ve read sticks with the basic rules we’ve had: cover your head, get under a table, have your earthquake kit handy. New information however, suggests getting beside objects that will not crush easily, therefore still leaving you with a pocket of air. It’s called the Triangle of Life and it’s very controversial. (http://www.amerrescue.org/triangleoflife.htm) It seems like a no-brainer to me that the Triangle theory is our best bet for survival, but I also believe in fairies and werewolves so you might not want to take my word for it. If you do though, my imaginary friend, Gus says it’s saved his life on several occasions and that newspapers and books are the his favorite things to lie next to.
