A 6.0 earthquake around 3:30 a.m. rocked Northern California on Sunday morning leaving residents rushing into the streets and some older buildings no longer stable enough to live in.
The quake centered about 6 miles southwest of Napa. State Geologist John Parrish told residents the aftershocks would decrease in magnitude but that buildings that were damaged in the main quake are now susceptible to collapse from the aftershocks.
Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa reported 172 patients arrived at a triage tent set up after the quake and that 13 of the patients required immediate admittance to the hospital. Hospital spokesman Walt Mickens said that one patient is in critical condition while a 13-year-old boy was airlifted to another hospital in critical condition after his home’s fireplace fell on him.
Pacific Gas & Electric said that 2,200 customers were without power on Sunday evening. A total of 70,000 lost power at some point in the aftermath of the quake.
The quake is also a potential financial disaster for the region as many of the iconic wineries in the region were struck. One vineyard reported that their entire 2011 and 2012 vintages were destroyed in the collapse of a building.
Some analysts say the quake could foretell a more serious earthquake. There are concerns that the energy released by the Napa quake could increase pressure on other fault lines throughout the region.
Hawaii, preparing for the landfall of Hurricane Iselle, was struck with a 4.5 magnitude earthquake Thursday morning.
The quake struck just off the northwest tip of the big island at a depth of 7.9 miles. Hawaiian officials said there were no immediate reports of damage but that surveys were not a priority due to the pending arrival of Hurricane Iselle.
The hurricane is the first of two that could strike the islands before the end of the week. Hurricane Iselle will make landfall on the big island tonight around 8pm local time and Hurricane Julio could hit the islands two days later.
Forecasters say it’s possible that Julio will turn north and only the outer bands of the storm will strike the islands.
Hawaii has not been hit head-on by a hurricane in 22 years. Residents have been stocking up on supplies and boarding up homes. Water is reportedly being sold at multiple times regular price because of shortages throughout the islands.
A new map released by the federal government is showing that over half the U.S. is at greater risk for experiencing earthquakes.
The U.S. Geological Survey has updated the national seismic hazard maps for the first time since 2008. The new maps use research from the massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami off the Japanese coast along with the 2011 earthquake that shook Virginia and caused significant damage to national monuments in Washington, D.C.
Parts of Washington, Oregon, Utah, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming and Tennessee have moved into the top two hazard zones in the new map according to project chief Mark Petersen.
Sixteen states have all or part of their territory in the highest risk category: Alaska, Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois, Kentucky and South Carolina.
Most of the major regions are in the western part of the country, however, there is a major hazard area comprising of southeast Missouri, western Kentucky & Tennessee and eastern Arkansas.
While the islands of Japan are still dealing with a weakening Typhoon Neoguri, which continues to dump heavy rain across the country, they are now dealing with the fallout of a 6.8 magnitude earthquake.
A tsunami advisory was issued for the area with waves increasing up to a meter in height. Local officials say the currents in rivers and oceans have reached dangerous levels and are telling residents to stay out of the water.
The quake was centered about five miles deep and off the shore of Fukushima, the site of the catastrophic nuclear meltdown in 2011. No damage has been reported at the plant and no release of additional radiation beyond that which has been leaking for the last three years.
Most of Japan has been dealing with massive flooding from Typhoon Neoguri, which struck the island days ago with wind gusts over 155 miles per hour. Three people have been confirmed dead from the storm with hundreds injured. One of the dead was confirmed to be a 12 year boy who died when his home was buried in a mudslide.
A major earthquake woke up Mexico and Guatemala Monday morning, leaving at least four people dead.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck around 6:23 a.m. local time on the Pacific Coast about a mile from Puerto Madero on the Guatemalan border. The quake was initially measured at 7.1 but reduced to 6.9.
Two people died in the Guatemalan town of Pati when their home collapsed on them. A third was confirmed dead from a heart attack brought on by the stress of the quake. A wall in Huixtla crushed a man when a building collapsed.
Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina said on the radio that a newborn was killed when hit by a collapsing wall but emergency personnel did not confirm it.
Massive power outages have left most of Guatemala without electricity. Early reports had hundreds of homes with significant damage and utility poles down for hundreds of miles.
Morningside was shaken by 2.7 magnitude earthquake Wednesday night.
The quake, which struck around 10:15 p.m., was centered near Yellville, Arkansas, about 30 miles from Morningside. Friends and partners of the show who were on social media reported feeling their homes shake for a brief moment but there were no reports of damage.
Several witnesses said they could hear the rumbling outside of their homes similar to a truck on the highway or passing train.
The quake was the second to strike Arkansas in the last month. A magnitude 3.8 quake struck near Fairfield Bay, Arkansas on June 4th causing minor damage. The epicenter of that quake was about 50 miles from the Yellville quake.
A scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey said there is a possibility that a massive earthquake off the Alaskan coast Monday could be connected to an earthquake that struck hours earlier in New Zealand.
A 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck shortly after noon pacific time near the largely uninhabited Kermadex Islands, northeast of the country’s North Island. The quake was followed by an aftershock of 6.3 minutes later. The Alaskan quake of magnitude 7.9 struck off the Aleutian Islands shortly before 2 p.m. pacific time.
“The timing of it is such that we call the surface waves, the waves that travel around the circumference of the earth, arrived about the time the earthquake occurred,” Oppenheimer said.
However, Oppenheimer said the strength of the Alaskan quake indicates that it would have likely happened within a short time if it was not triggered by the New Zealand quake.
“There is just so much stress relieved within an earthquake of magnitude 7.9,” he said.
The Alaskan quake triggered a small tsunami with waves about half a foot high. Seismologists attribute the low height to the 63 mile depth of the quake.
New Zealand was hit with a trio of strong quakes Tuesday morning. Two quakes, magnitude 6.9 and 6.3, struck within minutes of each other. The third, a 6.2 magnitude quake, struck about 45 minutes later.
An earthquake rattled Virginia’s capital on Wednesday night, felt as far north was Washington D.C.
The quake, which measured 3.2 on the Richter Scale, was significantly smaller than the quake in the same region 2 ½ years ago that caused the Washington Monument to be closed until last week.
Virginia officials say over 1,300 people in the region reported feeling the impact of the quake. Quake reports came in from as far away as Maryland and the District of Columbia. No major damage was reported and no one was injured.
Residents told the Washington Post the quake reminded them of a big truck driving past their home or a very powerful thunderstorm.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered only 7/10th of a mile underground about 30 miles west of Richmond.
History has been made by the U.S. Geological Survey in issuing the first earthquake warning for an area east of the Rocky Mountains.
The USGS issued a joint statement with the Oklahoma Geological Survey saying that the risk of an earthquake greater than 5.0 on the Richter scale has significantly increased after a rash of smaller quakes.
“We haven’t seen this before in Oklahoma, so we had some concerns about putting a specific number on the chances of it,” Robert Williams of the USGS said. “But we know from other cases around the world that if you have an increasing number of small earthquakes, the chances of a larger one will go up.”
The number of earthquakes per mile in Oklahoma this year is the same as California.
Most of the buildings in Oklahoma are built to withstand a light earthquake but officials say a medium size quake could cause mass devastation. The last major quake was November 2011, when a 5.6 magnitude quake destroyed 14 homes.
Vancouver was shaken up Wednesday night as a major 6.6 earthquake struck off the coast of Vancouver Island.
The quake measured magnitude 6.6 and struck just after 8:10 p.m.
The USGS said that three strong aftershocks followed the main quake over the next two hours measuring magnitudes 5.0, 4.2 and 4.2.
Emergency Management B.C. reported that the quake, located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, did not cause a tsunami for the region.
“We can confirm at this time that there is no reporting of any injuries or any significant damage, so all folks are safe,” said Pat Quealey, assistant deputy minister for Emergency Management BC.
Witnesses say while the quake was very strong, it only occurred for a short time and most people didn’t have time to react before the quake ended.