Skywatch Media News for October the 24th 2019 back in early July of this
year a series of major earthquakes hit near the California desert town of
Ridgecrest as a result of these back-to-back earthquakes multiple cracks
and fissures developed in the Mojave Desert which were very large and
impressive these deep fissures show the power of nature and for those living in
or near the epicenter of the seismic movement it is very terrifying
it's a worrisome sign that demonstrates the power of these July quakes having
been felt all the way from LA to Las Vegas
if this wasn't troubling enough there are new worries on the minds of
California geologists a major California fault line has begun shifting for the
first time in its recorded history triggered by the series of July
earthquakes and aftershocks in the short time frame between the Ridgecrest
earthquakes and now the Garlock fault line which had previously been dormant
has slipped more than an inch at its surface as a result of thousands of
smaller tremors and quakes the fault is suddenly changing its behavior and
this could ultimately trigger another powerful earthquake the most disturbing
aspect of what's happening in California's Mojave Desert is the notion
that scientists have no idea what all of this distressing news means in terms of
the region's earthquake preparations
seismologists who piece together a before-and-after portrait of the
Ridgecrest seismic event by means of satellite radar images discovered that
these quakes were far more complex than the models of previous large seismic
events it appears that the Domino like sequence of fissures surrounding the
events has placed a considerable strain on the Garlock fault the Ridgecrest
quakes had accomplished something that all other earthquake models deemed to be
unlikely these events were able to break faults at right angles to one another
permanently jolting a huge block of earth to shift Northwest while the other
side of the fault shifted to the southeast the animated slides presented
by the California Geological Survey are very unsettling and they paint a clear
picture of the power represented by the Ridgecrest earthquakes it shows long
scars 30 miles in Length on the surface of the Mojave Desert that
moved within just moments of the July 5th
earthquake the images show the scale and the permanency of the movement that was
many feet in some places most startling are the images that show how the ground
on one side of the fault moved between 3 and 13 feet from the other end of the
fault without a doubt these portrayals of power show the severity of the desert
floor shattering during the summer of 2019
so why are the recent seismic events so troubling for scientists and so
worrisome for residents of Southern California and the Mojave Desert the 160
mile long Garlock fault which lies on the northern edge of the desert has never
been known to produce a major earthquake let alone a shift or a move in any
manner this according to modern historical records but now the fault
which is capable of producing a magnitude 8 or higher
earthquake is on the move and it is creating a bulge that is viewable from
space the creeping of the fault as a result of the Ridgecrest earthquakes
which are the strongest events to hit Southern California in more than two
decades has now destabilized the Mojave Desert region between
California's greatest mountain range the Sierra Nevadas and its lowest point
which is Death Valley this is significant because it puts to rest the
one obvious earthquake myth that some people persistently use that quakes
similar to the Ridgecrest tremors are actually good because they make major
quakes in the future less likely in reality the exact opposite is true the
numbers of tremors of different magnitudes almost always follow a simple
progression in mathematical terms it will take a series of smaller magnitude
quakes to produce a single major quake therefore if there is a significant
strain in the energy to be released it will happen with the larger quakes this
was the case with the 7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake that took place on July the
5th not only is the Garlock fault moving in one section since July but earthquake
swarms are taking place in another section of the fault with additional
clusters elsewhere near Owens Lake and west
of Death Valley if the destabilization of this region should result in a major
earthquake at some future date it would affect a broad and significant region of
California including the San Fernando Valley and Bakersfield where some of our
nation's most productive agricultural and oil regions are located this would
include important military installations such as Edwards Air Force Base and Fort
Irwin National Training Center the Garlock fault is also crossed by two of
Southern California's most important suppliers of water the California and
the LA aqueducts a major quake on the Garlock fault could eventually destabilize
the San Andreas which could lead to the worst shaking that Southern
California has felt since the year 1857 sending destructive tremors throughout
LA and well beyond aerial high-resolution imagery has shown that
the portion of the Garlock fault that has begun to shift is about 20 miles long
the northern end of the fault is moving west-northwest whereas the other end is
moving east southeast
in addition to the Garlock fault there are risks with other faults along
the eastern California shear zone which is one of the state's most significant
seismic zones which is associated with Pacific and North American tectonic
plate movement earthquakes usually occur at a depth of between one and ten miles
below the earth's surface but calculations indicate that the Garlock
fault shift may have occurred only hundreds of feet below the surface which
then begs the question as to whether the seismic energy involved in a creeping
fault near the Earth's surface will advance or slow down any subsequent
earthquakes in this vulnerable region of California for those of you who may live
in the Pacific Northwest or have friends and family residing in this part of the
country here is something that you should be aware of it seems as though
seismologists are becoming increasingly concern about the lack of earthquake
tracking technology offshore now for all of the talk in recent years of the
potential for a destructive earthquake hitting western Washington State and
Oregon at virtually any time it seems that officials are not as fully prepared
as they would want you to believe this is why scientists are submitting a
proposal to add new hazard monitoring sensors below the ocean floor a
catastrophic earthquake of magnitude 8 or 9 is bound to happen so it's
imperative that sensors are placed in strategic fault locations so that
signals can be registered in advance of a major earthquake the giant fault line
located offshore is under monitored and therefore scientists would like to
acquire at least several new monitors off the coast of Oregon each of these
would be drilled 1,000 feet below the seafloor the proposal is going to take a
lot of money and several years to complete so whether
it is actually too late in the making is completely uncertain irrespective of the
timing having an early warning system in place when the big Cascadia event begins
will hopefully provide the early warning that will be required in the event of a
potential tsunami along the Pacific coast we live in a world of fear and
anxiety it keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future by
acknowledging our fears we can relieve our anxiety our eyes can still see the
beautiful sky and our ears can still hear the voices of those we love and
care about live each day as it was meant to be thanks for watching