EARTHQUAKE IN ITALY! WHY? READ THIS!
English: Quake epicenters. Română: Epicentre ale cutremurelor produse în intervalul de ani 1963–1998. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Today, May 29, 2012, an earthquake struck in Italy killing 12 people so far! People have asked me: “WHY?” It is very simple! Read this article…
The series of earthquakes is opened by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Pakistan on the 19th January 2011. Soon after, another 6.3 earthquake hit New Zealand on February 21st, 2011.
A 9.0 magnitude earthquake followed by an equally destructive tsunami hit Japan on the 11th of March 2011, at 2:46 PM local time. Thousands of human lives have been lost, whilst the quake damage is estimated at $300bn.
Today in Italy a small earthquake hit north of Bologna where I went
to medical school. It killed 12 so far.
This is part of a new pattern.
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?
Although most of the predictions of Global Warming concern rising sea levels and rising temperatures. However, another group of scientists have also predicted increased earthquakes. The two recent devastating earthquakes in Haiti and Chile have brought forth these predictors once again, declaring: “See, I told you so!”
HOW CAN GLOBAL WARMING CAUSE EARTHQUAKES?
As is well known, earthquakes are caused by shifts in the Tectonic Platesthat cover the Earth.
TECTONIC PLATES
As can be seen from this drawing, the Tectonic Plates cover the entire planet, and basically, outline the Continents. The Tectonic Plates float on the Magna, molten stone, beneath them. The Tectonic Plates are in constant motion and over millions of years have formed the mountains and valleys of the surface of the Earth. Since the Tectonic Plates are floating, any movement of the mass of land or ice above them will cause them to move also, as the gravitational force pulls the mass to the lowest point of the gravitational center.
GLACIERS
Planet Earth is a unique combination of the very hot and the very cold. Our Planet has desserts and jungles, and nearby, it also has frozen rivers, called glaciers.
GLACIERS DURING THE ICE AGE
As we can see from this map of the Earth During the last Ice Age, approximately 20,000 years ago, the North and South Poles were covered with glaciers, and the high mountains of the Himalayans, the Andes and the Rockies were also covered.
The force that keeps the ice on the mountains or on the Antarctic land mass and the Greenland mass is simply Friction. Friction is one of the primary forces of the Universe. Intuitively, humans understand from their personal experience what friction is. They know if they hold two boards together tightly they are extremely difficult to move. They know that if they oil the boards, they move easily. Friction is the result of the molecular attractions of the infinite number of molecules that make up mass. Our experience shows us that solids stay together. Our tables and our bodies do not go floating off into space. But, add heat and see what happens!
ALL MATTER EXISTS IN THREE PHASES: SOLID, LIQUID AND GAS
The difference between these three phases is the temperature of the molecules. The Temperature is simply the rate of movement of the molecules, the so called Kinetic Energy of the molecules. By adding Heat to a mass, we increase the Kinetic Energy and change the Phase from Solid to Liquid and finally to Gas. A Glacier is a Solid. Add heat and it is changed to a Liquid. Add more heat and the liquid will change to a Gas. If you cook, you know this well.
HEATING A GLACIER
Heat any piece of ice and it turns to water. No one will deny this. Water, being liquid, obeys gravity much more quickly than the solid ice of the Glacier. The water that accumulates from the melting Glacier flows to the bottom of the Glacier, pulled by gravity. Under the Glacier, this water reduces the friction, like oil between two boards. Now the Glacier begins to move! Gravity pulls the glacier down towards Sea Level.
This massive movement of mass changes the forces acting on the Tectonic Plates. Part of the Tectonic Plate falls to the center of the Earth, or it may simply rub against the Plate next to it. Whatever occurs, the net result is that devastating surface shaking called an Earthquake.
SUMMARY
The heating of the Earth, whether from Global Warming, or simply a natural Climatic change, will cause an increase in earthquakes. We are seeing an increase in the frequency of earthquakes worldwide. Here is a summary of all the earthquakes in the period 2000 to 2009. Note the total has risen from 22,000 to 30,000 from 2000 to 2008.
Note that this information is from the U.S. Government Geological Survey and not from Al Gore!
Recent Earthquakes Worldwide
The following table lists the number of earthquakes that occur worldwide each year, including the earthquake magnitude and numbers of deaths, as of June 16, 2009.
2000 – 2009
| Magnitude | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 20091 |
| 8.0 – 9.9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 7.0 – 7.9 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 6 |
| 6. – 6.9 | 158 | 126 | 130 | 140 | 141 | 140 | 142 | 172 | 166 | 47 |
| 5.0 – 5.9 | 1,345 | 1,243 | 1,218 | 1,203 | 1,515 | 1,693 | 1,712 | 1,885 | 1,537 | 689 |
| 4.0 – 4.9 | 8,045 | 8,084 | 8,584 | 8,462 | 10,888 | 13,917 | 12,838 | 12,275 | 11,943 | 2,993 |
| 3.0 – 3.9 | 4,784 | 6,151 | 7,005 | 7,624 | 7,932 | 9,191 | 9,990 | 9,876 | 11,138 | 1,172 |
| 2.0 – 2.9 | 3,758 | 4,162 | 6,419 | 7,727 | 6,316 | 4,636 | 4,027 | 3,593 | 3,542 | 1,088 |
| 1.0 – 1.9 | 1,026 | 944 | 1,137 | 2,506 | 1,344 | 26 | 18 | 43 | 16 | 11 |
| 0.1 – 0.9 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 134 | 103 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| No magnitude | No magnitude | 3,120 | 2,938 | 2,937 | 3,608 | 2,939 | 864 | 828 | 1,829 | 14 |
| Total | 22,256 | 23,534 | 27,454 | 31,419 | 31,194 | 30,478 | 29,568 | 29,671 | 30,183 | 6,021 |
| Estimated deaths | 231 | 21,357 | 1,685 | 33,819 | 284,010 | 82,364 | 6,605 | 712 | 88,011 | 368 |
Source: National Earthquake Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey. Web: neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/eqstats.html
The skeptical reader who does not believe in Global Warming will make up his own interpretation of these facts. But the number of deaths rose from 21 thousand to 88 thousand. As these numbers increase, minds will definitely change.
“Planet Earth is a unique combination of the very hot and the very cold. Our Planet has desserts…” and deserts as well!
I really identify with your website.
The movement of the tectonis plates has been on my mind for some time. Now with the recent major earthquakes in Chili, Mexico and Indonesia and the major earthquake in Japan and the Solomon Islands in recent years it your comments are really to the point.
I am a mining engineering graduate of UC Berkeley, 1959 and have taken many courses in geology but none in structural Geology.
For many years now I have considered a theory about the major San Francsico earthquake of 1906.
I learned in my geology courses that the San Andreas Fault crosses the Golden Gate just at the coastline at the juncture of the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. Sitting just west of the fault is a huge delta formed over the centuries by sediment and debris.
Starting in 1850 and ending around the turn of the century, gold miners used two methods of placer mining that produced tons of sediment that they just let wash down the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers through the golden gate depositing on this delta. They washed away entire valleys with hydraulic mining and used huge dredges to process thousands of acres of the Sierra foothills between the northern Sierras and the Southern Sierras. All they left was piles of rocks covering thousands of acres washing the sediment down through the Golden Gate.
My question is, could the immense weight of this sediment added to the delta have triggered the 1906 earthquake.
John,
Your theory is extremely logical and, to me, makes
a lot of sense.
People tend to ignore the force of thousands or millions
of humans working on the face of the planet, always using
extra energy and tools which multiply their energy.
Like ants, humans can easily make “ant hills” of great
weight. The tectonic plates, although huge, are equisitely
balanced over “trigger points” of engagement.
Either weight or expansion from heat can produce
enough movement so that one portion of the tectonic
plate moves enough to create a so called “Earth Quake.’
I support your thesis.
Dr. Pinna