SpudFiles

Well it's more to do with the ground, location, buildings, previous earthquakes, type of earthquake, intensity etc etc.

For instance, the ChCh earthquake occurred at a plate boundary and you generally see larger energies released and more vertical than horizontal displacement and velocity in these scenarios compared to Virginia's intra-plate earthquake. The intensity measured for the ChCh quake peaked at X with an average of around IX and a preliminary estimate for Virginia's quake was VII.

Ground also plays a large role in destruction, ChCh is plagued with liquefaction because they have a very soft soil. While some waves don't move as fast through this type of soil, damage can be more severe. ChCh also had many of its buildings weakened by a 7.1 quake a few months earlier. The ChCh quake also occurred more or less directly under the city at a shallow depth (similar depth to the Virginia one though) and the Virginia one was 40 miles away or so from the nearest big city.

Christchurch also has a lot of brick buildings in the city centre that killed many people and the hills around it killed several others from falling boulders.

I'm sure there are even more factors that contribute to why some earthquakes are deadly and others not. Most people get tied up in the magnitude ratings (thanks to the media) when magnitude can be less significant than other factors.

Technician1002 wrote:If you are playing the God card.. more earthquakes is simply a sign of the end times. How long that will be, nobody knows.

I don't want to turn this into another futile religious debate, however I must make a point:

Matthew 24:7 wrote:"For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes."

That prediction is about as ambiguous as it gets - warfare, hunger and seismic activity have been constant throughout human history, I could literally pick any decade since civilisation has existed and point to specific wars, famines and earthquakes that occured.

In order to truly stand as a prediction, it must specify either a date, or the specific warring nations, hungry peoples and areas affected by the earthquake. Of course this is impossible, so the author constructed it in such a manner that it could apply to pretty much anything.

"For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes."

World War I, World War II? Unless they were both void of earthquakes

the author constructed it in such a manner that it could apply to pretty much anything

Like horoscopes

what country did this happen?

There are other prediction that have not come true yet. You can search for them. I'll leave it alone for now before this gets locked and sent to the sister site. Get worried when over 1/2 the world population dies.. That is about as specific as it gets.

DerpWithAGun wrote:what country did this happen?

I was in one earthquake I think it was a 3.5 or 4.5 lasted about 5-10 seconds. Nothing was damaged, gave me a bit of a fright thought, I was only 10 years old.

They are fun aren't they.
We have had 7000 here in Christchurch, New Zealand, since September.

I could package some up and send to you if you would like more

I hope you don't get any more they become a drag very quickly

Good to hear no one was hurt.

jrrdw wrote:What state are you in?

A little bit of a late reply, but I'm in Delaware. At first I was surprised by it, since they aren't exactly common in the area. Then the overreaction started. The media seemed to be hoping to find someone hurt or killed or some building damage so that this could be more of a story than, "The ground shook and everyone was scared for 30 seconds."

Well us east coast dwellers needed something new to talk about, we got it lol.

Wondering when the Locus will arrive.

Secret Squirrel wrote:The media seemed to be hoping to find someone hurt or killed or some building damage so that this could be more of a story than, "The ground shook and everyone was scared for 30 seconds."

Luckily for them,this happened in the US Honestly.

The problem with being fed apocalyptic visions is a perverse desire to will them into fruition.

jrrdw wrote:Wondering when the Locus will arrive

Don't worry, that's a fair way along the list

Water, which turned to blood and killed all fish and other aquatic life (Exodus 7:14–25)
Frogs (Exodus 8:1–8:15)
Lice (Exodus 8:16–19)
Flies or wild animals (Exodus 8:20–30)
Disease on livestock (Exodus 9:1–7)
Unhealable boils (Exodus 9:8–12)
Hail and thunder (Exodus 9:13–35)
Locusts (Exodus 10:1–20)
Darkness (Exodus 10:21–29

Technician1002 wrote:I'll leave it alone for now before this gets locked and sent to the sister site.

If you ever feel like discussing it further...

43 pages, 630 replies and 43,684 views. Helluva topic

jackssmirkingrevenge wrote:

Matthew 24:7 wrote:"For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes."

That prediction is about as ambiguous as it gets - warfare, hunger and seismic activity have been constant throughout human history, I could literally pick any decade since civilisation has existed and point to specific wars, famines and earthquakes that occured.

In order to truly stand as a prediction, it must specify either a date, or the specific warring nations, hungry peoples and areas affected by the earthquake. Of course this is impossible, so the author constructed it in such a manner that it could apply to pretty much anything.

Maybe it could be that the end has been near for thousands of years.

First off, I felt the earthquake in eastern PA. I didn't think it was an earthquake at first, but wasn't surprised by the aftershock at least. My girlfriend posted a status wondering "who we pissed off." I don't think she will be my girlfriend for too much longer .

A note on the water turning to blood; it is suspected that this is the result of seismic or volcanic activity stirring up river sediment rich in iron oxides or some such. The resulting suspension is highly toxic.

JSR... I re-read your post more clearly and facepalmed. You posted passage references from Exodus... not Revelation. For those who don't know, Exodus is a history, recounting what happened when the Israelites left Egypt. Revelation is predictions.

Moonbogg wrote: Well, if the end comes before I get this cannon built then i'm going to be pissed.

You took the words right out of my mouth.

Turns out there is a large asteroid headed into our solar system.... September 26th should be a day of nasty earthquakes for the entire earth.

(Facts based on a single video, and a few hours of research. I hope i'm wrong.)

The video i saw... ill try and find the link if anyone is interested, said its about 25% the size of the moon, and MIGHT pass close enough to be visible in broad daylight, looking about the size of a low flying airplane, from the ground.

saefroch wrote:My girlfriend posted a status wondering "who we pissed off." I don't think she will be my girlfriend for too much longer .

A note on the water turning to blood; it is suspected that this is the result of seismic or volcanic activity stirring up river sediment rich in iron oxides or some such. The resulting suspension is highly toxic.

That or some sort of apocalyptic global menstrual synchronisation, imagine that hehe.... wait no, do NOT imagine the event! It will cause distress!

JSR... I re-read your post more clearly and facepalmed. You posted passage references from Exodus... not Revelation. For those who don't know, Exodus is a history, recounting what happened when the Israelites left Egypt. Revelation is predictions.

I'm well aware of that, believe me I was an avid reader of the bible from a young age, particularly the old testament. I dug up Exodus as a previous example of God's "wrath sequence", more plausible than the Locusts with "crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; they had scales like iron breastplates, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. They have tails like scorpions, and stings, and their power of hurting men for five months lies in their tails" as mentioned in Revelations...