why ppl say southasia quake was 7.6 although it made entire mountains fall and lasted for 15 minutes
199790
the richter scale is only as accurate as the agency that maintains it.  but for the most part they are very accurate.  the only reason i could think of as to the mountains is that the quake was close enough to a natural fault line deep in the mountain
365069
Really, the answer to your question is simply: Plate Tectonics. Read below for details.\n\nEarthquakes: \nIt all comes down to stress and strain from the interaction of different plates, chiefly at the boundaries. It is not 'the plates rubbing together' as many people say; or at least that's a very simplistic view.\n\nPlate tectonics causes stress on the continents and oceans, all over the surface of the earth. In some places, the stress is very small (usually within the plates). Elsewhere, the stress is high, usually where the plates meet each other. Since each plate moves, when two come in contact, the stress each other. They can push on each other and cause compressional stress, they can pull with extensional stress, and they can slide past or shear each other with tensional stress.\n\nFaulting, causing earthquakes, comes from the fact that this stress is building up all the time, but rocks and continents are strong materials. Just like hitting a rock with a small hammer, you do put stress on it, but a small amount. It would take a sledgehammer to put enough strain (effects and accumulation of stress) to build up and cause breakage. In the earth, the area around an active fault builds up strain from the stress of plate tectonics. Most faults become locked, because of this strength, and thus can not release their strain. Away from the fault, the stress produces very small and slow movement of the rock masses as a whole. Eventually, the strain is too much and the rest of the plate has moved too far and the fault releases the strain build-up all at once in a big stress release called an earthquake. This is called the elastic rebound theory, and it explains most (but not all) movements.\n\nThis is why an earthquake's size is relative to the fault size. The bigger the fault, the bigger the strain build up, and the bigger the release in an earthquake. Subduction zones and collision zones, where large portions of plates actually can rub together as a whole, have the really big earthquakes, like the 2004 Sumatra earthquake. In other plate boundaries, the entire plate boundary does not act together, so the faults become spread out and many faults take up the strain from the tectonic stress, like with the San Andreas Fault in California (it only takes up ~3/4 of the stress between the plates).\n\nEarthquakes are really tricky things; there is still so much we need to learn. As of now, there is no way to predict them, but we can say where the danger is highest and about how long between events.\n\nVolcanoes:\nThere are several processes in Plate Tectonics that cause volcanism, but they result in two main types of volcanism.\n\nVolcanism in subduction is caused by volitals, like H2O, CO2. These are carried down by the plate, mainly in the form of weak minerals. These minerals break down with pressure and temperature into stronger minerals that don't contain water and carbon dioxide. The leftover gases and liquids travel into the mantle (the mantle wedge) and hydrate the mantle, causing melting. The melt rises and then... volcano!\n\nThe other main cause is from rising mantle material, which forms decompression melting. Basically, hot mantle is kept from melting by the pressure of the earth at depth. When this material rises, the pressure drops much faster than the temperature, and thus it partially melts. This mainly occurs at divergent boundaries and hot spots, which are areas in plate tectonics that have rising materials or spreading.\n\nMountain Belts:\n\nNon-volcanic mountain belts are caused by compressive stress in plate tectonics. This can be 1. fold and thrust belts in highly compressive subduction zones (almost always from oceanic beneath continental subduction, e.g. east Andes, Rockies) or 2. continental-continental collisions (e.g. Himalaya, Appalachian).
8831
Almost 80,000 people lost their life in this worst ever earthquake in this area.\nIt happened on 8th of October 2005.\nIt was of 7.6 megnituide.\nThese days earthquake hit areas are under very very cold weather. Snow is falling their and they people dont have homes still living in camps n tants provided by Gov. and UNO. they dont have schools, hospitals, clean water.\nCauses told by some geologists were the movement of plates under that area.
585067
Japan experiences an average of 3000 tremors a year. That's 10% of all the earth's measurable quakes, making them the most earthquake prone.  The pacific rim experiences 80% of the world's major earthquakes.  That includes the western coast of South, Central and contental North Americas the southern part of Alaska, across to Japan, then down to the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.\n\nIn 2005 there were 8 earthquakes 7.0 to 7.9, and one 8.7.  See link for other years.\n\nGood question!
601310
Earthquakes happen every day around the world.  I'm sure there is a likely hood of an earthquake happening on June 20.  If someone is really into those predictions, they will re-interpretate the prediction after the fact to mean some other location or bla bla blah.
266676
Indonesia is huge compared to Singapore. Pick a Sinapore-sized part of Indonesia at random, and see if it had any earthquakes.
274847
Radhanath Sikdar, an Indian mathematician and surveyor from Bengal, was the first to identify Everest as the world's highest peak in 1852, using trigonometric calculations based on measurements made with theodolites from 240 km (150 miles) away in India. Before it was surveyed and named, it was known as Peak XV to the survey team.\n\nThe mountain is approximately 8,848 m (29,028 feet) high, although there is some variation in the measurements. The mountain K2 comes in second at 8,611 m (28,251 feet) high. On May 22, 2005, the People's Republic of China's Everest Expedition Team ascended to the top of the mountain. After several months' complicated measurement and calculation, on October 9, 2005, the PRC's State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping officially announced the height of Everest is 8,844.43 m ± 0.21 m (29,017.16 ± 0.69 ft). They claimed it was the most accurate measurement to date.[3]. But this new height is based on the actual highest point of rock and not on the snow and ice that sits on top of that rock on the summit, so, in keeping with the practice used on Mont Blanc and Khan Tangiri Shyngy, it is not shown here. The Chinese also measured a snow/ice depth of 3.5 m [4], which implies agreement with a net elevation of 8,848 m. But in reality the snow and ice thickness varies, making a definitive height of the snow cap, and hence the precise height attained by summiteers without sophisticated GPS, impossible to determine.\n\nThe first measurement was with theodolites in 1856. Due to lack of access to Nepal at the time, it was measured from a distance. It was found to be exactly 29,000 feet (8,839 m), but declared to be 29,002 feet (8,840 m) high. The arbitrary addition of 2 feet (0.6 m) was to avoid the impression that an exact height of 29,000 feet was nothing more than a rounded estimate.\n\nThe elevation of 8,848 m (29,028 ft) was first determined by an Indian survey in 1955, made closer to the mountain, also using theodolites. It was subsequently reaffirmed by a 1975 Chinese measurement [5]. In both cases the snow cap, not the rock head, was measured. In May 1999 an American Everest Expedition, directed by Bradford Washburn, anchored a GPS unit into the highest bedrock. A rock head elevation of 8,850 m (29,035 feet), and a snow/ice elevation 1 m (3 ft) higher, were obtained via this device [6]. Nepal, however, did not officially recognize this survey, and the discrepancy with the above mentioned 2005 Chinese survey is significantly greater than the surveys' claimed accuracy.\n\nIt is thought that the plate tectonics of the area are adding to the height and moving the summit north-eastwards. Two accounts, [7], [8] suggest the rates of change are 4 mm per year (upwards) 3-6 mm per year (northeastwards), but this account[9] mentions more lateral movement (27 mm), and even shrinkage has been mooted [10].\n\nEverest is the mountain whose summit attains the greatest distance above sea level. Two other mountains are sometimes claimed as alternative "highest mountains on Earth". Mauna Kea in Hawaii is highest when measured from its base; it rises over 9 km (5.6 mi) when measured from its base on the mid-ocean floor, but only attains 4,170 m (13,681 ft) above sea level. The summit of Chimborazo in Ecuador is 2,168 m (7,113 ft) farther from the Earth's centre (6,384.4 km or 3,967.1 mi) than that of Everest (6,382.3 km or 3,965.8 mi), because the Earth bulges at the Equator. However, Chimborazo attains a height of 6,267 m (20,561 ft) above sea level, and by this criterion it is not even the highest peak of the Andes.\n\nThe deepest spot in the ocean is deeper than Everest is high: the Challenger Deep, located in the Mariana Trench, is so deep that if Everest were to be placed into it there would be more than 2 km (1.25 mi) of water covering it.\n\nThe Mount Everest region, and the Himalayas in general, are thought to be suffering ice-melt due to global warming. The exceptionally heavy S
381123
Here are the statistics on magnitude of earthquakes, and the number of quakes at each magnitudes, annually.  These records are averages since the year 1900.\n\nGreat, 8 and higher: 1\nMajor,  7 - 7.9:  17\nStrong,  6 - 6.9:  134\nModerate,  5 - 5.9:  1319\nLight,  4 - 4.9:  13,000\nMinor,  3 - 3.9:  130,000\nVery Minor,  2 - 2.9:  1,300,000
327680
i suggest to introduce ur website on different forums,groups etc.\nit is a fine web.\ni experienced the great earthquake which hit northern pakistan on 8th oct.2005.i felt as though i am riding a wild horse.a residential complex fell down in my city and there were 50000 deaths in the area.\n\nhere are some useful links 4 u.\ncheers
619537
That has absolutely no sense at all...\n\nHow do you think the Rocky Mountains and the Andes were formed but by millions of years of earthquakes????\n\nWas it hot then?\n\nOf course not! Some of them occured during the glacial era. No SUVs then!\n\nStop listening to stupid people such as Greenpiss!!!
594577
Don't listen to that stuff you are hearing about a major quake.  If it happens it happens.  Here is what I know:  earthquakes cannot be predicted, you are just as likely to die tomorrow as you are a year or ten years from now (excluding a known terminal illness), and it seems senseless to waste energy worrying about this type of thing.  It is a complete unknown.
29126
When the "Big One" hits LA, it is very possible that small (less than 1 square mile) portions of the cliffs from Santa Monica to Malibu may fall in the ocean, but NO catastrophic (i.e. a city-wide or state-wide collapse) can possibly occur.  The primary reason is that all rocks have a finite strength and ability to accumulate stress.  Rocks along any fault will fail (causing an earthquake) before they can accumulate the amount of stress required to generate an earthquake capable of causing anything outside a mile or so of the coast to fall into the ocean.  That is the reason you don't see earthquakes greater in magnitude than 9-9.5....because rocks break and release their energy in the form of an earthquake before they can accumulate the stress required for a magnitude 10 or greater.
183639
the earth has been around for 4.5 billion years and humans have been around for just a few hundred thousand years and we have only been industrial for 200 years and in the time before that the earth has seen comets,tectonic plate movements, solar flares, a reoccurring ice age, the devastation of an entire dominate species, volcanoes, earth quakes, great floods, and sky blackening fires\n\nthe earth has been thru alot and we as humans are no difference. our planet has seen em come and seen em go and will more than likely out live us.\n\nso the tsunami is a natural part of mother nature and not due to us drilling for oil
433749
The most famous episode of a human-induced earthquakes began in 1961, when a 3600 meter (12,000 feet) deep disposal well was drilled in the United States Army's Rocky Mountain Arsenal northeast of Denver, Colorado. The well was used for disposing of toxic waste fluids from nerve gas production, and injection commenced in March 1962.\n\nShortly thereafter an unusual series of earthquakes erupted in the area, and by the end of December 1962 about 190 earthquakes had occurred. None caused damage until December, when several structures were damaged in Dupont and Irondale.\n\nOver 1,300 earthquakes were recorded between January 1963 and August 1967. In April 1967 the largest earthquake since the series began in 1962 occurred, and damage was recorded in the arsenal, Derby and Boulder. This tremor measured 5.0 on the Richter scale.\n\nEven after the Rocky Mountain Arsenal waste dumping practice stopped, earthquakes continued to be felt in the Denver area, so in 1968 the Army began removing fluid from the arsenal well very slowly in an effort to reduce the earthquake activity.
414747
It happens in the brittle part of the crust, which is not usually deeper than 20 km.\n\nHere's the jist:\n\nIt all comes down to stress and strain. It is not 'the plates rubbing together' as many people say; or at least that's a very simplistic view.\n\nPlate tectonics causes stress on the continents and oceans, all over the surface of the earth. In some places, the stress is very small (usually within the plates). Elsewhere, the stress is high, usually where the plates meet each other. Since each plate moves, when two come in contact, the stress each other. They can push on each other and cause compressional stress, they can pull with extensional stress, and they can slide past or shear each other with tensional stress.\n\nFaulting, causing earthquakes, comes from the fact that this stress is building up all the time, but rocks and continents are strong materials. Just like hitting a rock with a small hammer, you do put stress on it, but a small amount. It would take a sledgehammer to put enough strain (effects and accumulation of stress) to build up and cause breakage. In the earth, the area around an active fault builds up strain from the stress of plate tectonics. Most faults become locked, because of this strength, and thus can not release their strain. Away from the fault, the stress produces very small and slow movement of the rock masses as a whole. Eventually, the strain is too much and the rest of the plate has moved too far and the fault releases the strain build-up all at once in a big stress release called an earthquake. This is called the elastic rebound theory, and it explains most (but not all) movements.\n\nThis is why an earthquake's size is relative to the fault size. The bigger the fault, the bigger the strain build up, and the bigger the release in an earthquake. Subduction zones and collision zones, where large portions of plates actually can rub together as a whole, have the really big earthquakes, like the 2004 Sumatra earthquake. In other plate boundaries, the entire plate boundary does not act together, so the faults become spread out and many faults take up the strain from the tectonic stress, like with the San Andreas Fault in California (it only takes up ~3/4 of the stress between the plates).\n\nEarthquakes are really tricky things; there is still so much we need to learn. As of now, there is no way to predict them, but we can say where the danger is highest and about how long between events.
576703
You are still near seismically (sp) active areas.  Could easily be influenced by that.  Vegatative deacy?  Near Livermore????  Lots of nasty things dumped in the ground out that way.
234396
The Earth is not Hollow. Below the 60 Km crust is the semi-liquid Mantle. The core at the center is Solid.