Tremble Time

October 26, 2015

afghanistanAs a paranoid-resident of quake land, the 7.5 shaker in northeast Afghanistan is remarkable in its longevity.

Tremor time is most-best in brevity — in Kabul, five hours and 150 miles south of the epicenter, intense way-too long, as ‘…buildings trembled for up to 45 seconds…
Forever on a seismic clock.

(Illustration found here).

Deep shaking, too, 132 miles down, according to my USGS site, along with a pretty-detailed, scientific explanation of how the earthquake erupted, i.e., ‘Focal mechanisms indicate rupture occurred on either a near-vertical reverse fault or a shallowly dipping thrust fault.’
And the narrative goes south from there.

Off the science was madness (via CNN):

“It was really bad,” said Masoud Popalzai, CNN’s producer in Kabul.
“In 30 years of my life, it was the worst I experienced myself.”
Everyone ran out into the streets.
The walls of his compound shook so hard, they looked like they might fall over.
“In the bathroom everything swayed,” he said.
“Things fell to the ground in the office’s kitchen.”

And this bit of background (per DecodedScience):

The seismologists’ saying can never be repeated often enough: earthquakes don’t kill people — buildings do.
This is certainly largely true for this week’s earthquake, which took place in a area where: “Overall, the population … resides in structures that are highly vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though some resistant structures exist”.

Meanwhile, way-closer to home — the earthquake ‘swarm’ continues in San Ramon, down in the Bay Area, with a 2.6 this morning, which had followed a 2.9 last night. Since Oct. 15, more than 200 quakes have rattled the area.
Experts say no worry (SFGate): ‘Seismologists have said there isn’t anything to fear over the swarm. They say the Calaveras Fault is releasing tension, and the chances of a quake above magnitude 6.7 is only 7 percent within the next 30 years.’

Quaker time ain’t oatmeal…

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