Earthquakes are as common to California as hurricanes are to Florida. Last year was a bad year for hurricanes. Will this year be a bad year for earthquakes?
We’ve had 15 earthquakes in the past week or so in California or offshore, from a 2.5 to a 4.0 to 5.8. The 5.8 was than 100 miles out in the ocean, so it wasn’t a big deal. And we have small to moderate quakes all the time, many of them we don’t even feel or if we do, it’s a small shake or jolt and it’s done with.
But can a series of quakes signal a bigger and more powerful quake?
Smaller quakes can precede bigger ones but geologists say it’s hard to know for sure whether quakes this week can mean bigger quakes next week or in the near future.
A lot of the recent quakes hit near or along the San Andreas Fault, which is nothing new. And scientists have said for years that the San Andreas could be the one that may someday bring the so called “big one”.
But some scientists have predicted that 2018 will be a big year for earthquakes around the world. We’ve already seen some near Alaska and Japan and elsewhere around the so-called “Ring of Fire”, which is the Pacific coastline of the U.S., Asia and the Pacific Islands an area prone to earthquakes.
In the end, earthquakes are not to be worried about, but living in California means always being prepared for one.
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