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This year’s largest earthquake, a magnitude 8.6 temblor on April 11 centered in the East Indian Ocean off Sumatra, did little damage, but it triggered quakes around the world for at least a week, according to a new analysis by seismologists from the University of California, Berkeley, and the U.S. Geological Survey.
The April 11 quake was unusually large – the tenth largest in the last 100 years and, similar to a few other recent large quakes, triggered small quakes during the three hours it took for seismic waves to travel through Earth’s crust.
The new study shows, however, that some faults weren’t rattled enough by the seismic waves to fail immediately, but were primed to break up to six days later.
The findings are a warning to those living in seismically active regions worldwide that the risk from a large earthquake could persist – even on the opposite side of the globe – for more than a few hours, the experts said.
“Until now, we seismologists have always said, ‘Don’t worry about distant earthquakes triggering local quakes,’” said Roland Burgmann, professor of earth and planetary science at UC Berkeley and coauthor of the study. “This study now says that, while it is very rare – it may only happen every few decades – it is a real possibility if the right kind of earthquake happens.”
“We found a lot of big events around the world, including a 7.0 quake in Baja California and quakes in Indonesia and Japan, that created significant local shaking,” Burgmann added. “If those quakes had been in an urban area, it could potentially have been disastrous.”
Burgmann and Fred F. Pollitz, Ross S. Stein and Volkan Sevilgen of the USGS will report their results online on Sept. 26 in advance of publication in the journal Nature.
Burgmann, Pollitz, a research seismologist, and their colleagues also analyzed earthquake occurrences after five other recent temblors larger than 8.5 – including the deadly 9.2 Sumatra-Andaman quake in 2004 and the 9.0 Tohoku quake that killed thousands in Japan in 2011 – but saw only a very modest increase in global earthquake activity after these quakes.
They said this could be because the East Indian Ocean quake was a “strike-slip” quake that more effectively generates waves, called Love waves, that travel just under the surface and are energetic enough to affect distant fault zones.
Burgmann explained that most large quakes take place at subduction zones, where the ocean bottom sinks below another tectonic plate.
This was the origin of the Sumatra-Andaman quake, which produced a record tsunami that took more than 200,000 lives.
The 2012 East Indian Ocean quake involved lateral movement – referred to as strike-slip, the same type of movement that occurs along California’s San Andreas Fault – and was the largest strike-slip quake ever recorded.
“This was one of the weirdest earthquakes we have ever seen,” Burgmann said. “It was like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, a strike-slip event, but it was huge – 15 times more energetic. This earthquake and an 8.3 that followed were in a very diffuse zone in an oceanic plate close to the Sumatra subduction zone, but it wasn’t a single fault that produced the quake, it was a crisscrossing of three or four faults that all ruptured in sequence to make such a big earthquake, and they ruptured deep.”
The seismologists analysis found five times the expected number of quakes during the six days following the April 11 quake and aftershock.
An unusually low occurrence of quakes during the 6-12 days before that 8.6 quake may have accentuated the impact, possibly because there were many very-close-to-failure faults sensitive to a triggering shock wave, Pollitz said.
One possible mechanism for the delayed action, Burgmann said, is that the East Indian Ocean quake triggered a cascade of smaller, undetectable quakes on these faults that led to larger ruptures later on.
Alternatively, large quakes could trigger nearly undetectable tremors or microquakes that are a sign of slow slip underground.
“One possibility is that the earthquake immediately triggers slow slip in some places, maybe accompanied by detectable tremor, and then that runs away into a bigger earthquake,” Burgmann speculated. “Some slow slip events take days to a week or more to evolve.”
The work was supported by the USGS.
Robert Sanders works for the University of California, Berkeley News Center.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Friday St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake received some big news – the hospital was awarded a $497,076 grant for health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Lake County.
This grant is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS’s) Community Transformation Grants (CTG) to support public health efforts to reduce chronic diseases, promote healthier lifestyles, reduce health disparities and control health care spending in small communities.
“St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake will collaborate with our community leaders and members over the next two years to make a real difference from a population health perspective,” said David Santos, vice president of Operations at St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake.
By focusing on where people live, work, learn and play, the CTG program is expected to improve the health of more than four out of 10 U.S. citizens, or about 130 million Americans.
Overall, HHS awarded approximately $70 million in prevention grants to 40 awardees focused on improving the health of small communities across the nation.
Awardees will conduct activities in one or more areas that contribute to the overall goals of the CTG program and help achieve positive changes in one or more of the following outcome measures: weight, proper nutrition, physical activity, tobacco use, and social and emotional well-being.
St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake will tackle smoking cessation, obesity prevention, physical activity, nutrition and emotional health for Lake County residents.
“We’re looking forward to this opportunity to better the health and well-being of our community,” said Susan Jen, project director and executive director of the Health Leadership Network of Lake County. “This effort will engage our community organizations as well as our residents to improve our health status, building on our county’s positive attributes as we move forward – keeping our focus on wellness.”
Administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the CTG Program is a comprehensive prevention and wellness initiative launched in 2011 and funded through the Affordable Care Act’s Prevention and Public Health Fund.
These new funds will support areas with fewer than 500,000 people in neighborhoods, school districts, villages, towns, cities and counties. Awardees represent organizations committed to improving health from a multitude of sectors.
“Health care reform is saving money, saving lives and improving the health and wellbeing of our communities,” said Rep. Mike Thompson. “These funds will make Lake County healthier, and as we know, when folks are healthy, workforce productivity is up and costs are down. I am proud to have voted for the Affordable Care Act and will continue working to strengthen the great reforms we made.”
Support from the business community, school districts, community-based organizations, and other non-traditional partners is critical to reducing deaths and health costs due to heart attacks, strokes, cancer, diabetes and other serious health problems.
The Community Transformation Grants are one piece of a broader effort by the Obama Administration to address the health and well-being of U.S. communities through initiatives such as the President’s Childhood Obesity Task Force, the First Lady’s Let’s Move! campaign, the National Prevention Strategy, the National Quality Strategy, and HHS’ Million Hearts initiative.
The Prevention and Public Health Fund, as part of the Affordable Care Act, is supporting the CTG program and other initiatives designed to expand and sustain the necessary capacity to prevent chronic diseases, detect them early, manage conditions before they become severe, and provide states and communities the resources they need to promote healthy living.
COBB, Calif. – A Lower Lake woman injured in a single-vehicle crash on Thursday night later was arrested for driving under the influence.
The California Highway Patrol said Jennifer Dietrick, 27, was injured in the wreck, which occurred at approximately 8:07 p.m. Thursday.
Dietrick was driving her 1992 Honda Prelude eastbound on Highway 175 at an unknown speed when she lost control of her vehicle, which crossed the westbound lane, exited the roadway and struck a tree, the CHP said.
Dietrick was flown by REACH to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with possible fractured ankles and shoulder pain, according to the CHP.
The CHP report said Dietrick was arrested for driving under the influence.
CHP Officer Ryan Erickson is investigating the crash, the agency said.
View Crash at Highway 175 and Admiral Way in a larger map
COBB, Calif. – A single-vehicle crash on Thursday night resulted in a woman being flown out of the county to a trauma center.
The crash occurred shortly after 8 p.m. on Highway 175 at Admiral Way. It involved a white Honda Prelude with a female driver, according to initial reports by the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP said the vehicle hit a tree. Reports from firefighters at the scene said extrication was needed to remove the female driver from the wreck, and both lanes of the highway were partially blocked.
A REACH air ambulance responded to a landing zone set up at Kit’s Corner, at the intersection of Highway 29 and Highway 281.
The CHP said later Thursday night that the collision resulted in minor injuries.
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The service of two search warrants by the Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force on Wednesday resulted in two arrests, the seizure of marijuana and $1,900.
Sgt. Steve Brooks said William Jason Coleman, 53, and Robin Louise Johnson, 54, both of Upper Lake, were arrested for cultivation of marijuana and possession of marijuana for sale.
In August, the Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force received information that Coleman had been arrested by the Texas Department of Public Safety for trafficking marijuana, Brooks said.
He said narcotics detectives subsequently conducted an overflight of Coleman’s property and located marijuana growing on the property.
On Sept. 17 narcotics detectives secured a search warrant for Coleman’s person, home and vehicle, and on Wednesday at approximately 8 a.m. detectives served the warrant at Coleman’s home, which is located in the 13000 block of Elk Mountain Road, Brooks said. When detectives entered the property they detained Coleman and Johnson without incident.
Narcotics detectives located and seized 38 large marijuana plants and 1.5 pounds of processed marijuana. Brooks said they also located and seized two firearms and $1,900.
Coleman told detectives that he grew marijuana for five other “patients,” but Brooks said Coleman had a difficult time remembering the names of those patients or where they lived, other than they all lived out of county.
Brooks said Coleman claimed he did not receive money for the marijuana, that he just grew it and gave it away. Coleman also allegedly said that none of the “patients” had ever been to his house or assisted him with the marijuana, even though he claimed to be a caregiver.
Narcotics detectives interviewed Johnson, who claimed that even though she lives with Coleman, she has nothing to do with the marijuana plants at the house, Brooks said.
He said Johnson told detectives that she had her own marijuana grow located on property she owns. Johnson claimed that she was growing the marijuana for “patients” but, like Coleman, could not remember their names. She also said she gives the marijuana away and does not sell it.
As a result of her statement, narcotics detectives secured a search warrant for Johnson’s property, which is located in the 13000 block of White Rock Canyon Road, Brooks said.
On Wednesday at 2 p.m. detectives served the warrant on Johnson’s property. Brooks said they located and seized an additional 51 marijuana plants and a firearm. Detectives were unable to locate any medical recommendations for the marijuana.
Coleman and Johnson were both arrested and transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility and booked, Brooks said.
Bail was set at $15,000 for each of them. Jail records showed that they later posted the required percentage of bail and were released.
The Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force can be contacted through its anonymous tip line at 707-263-3663.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Firefighters quickly contained a small wildland fire on Thursday afternoon.
The fire, which occurred in the 8500 block of Harrington Flat Road, was dispatched at 1:20 p.m., according to South Lake County Fire Battalion Chief Mike Wink.
Wink, who was at the scene, said South Lake County Fire and Cal Fire quickly responded with five fire engines, one water tender, two hand crews, three airplanes and one helicopter.
He said the fire was contained within 30 minutes and burned a total of a quarter acre.
Wink said the fire, which was located near a driveway, was under investigation, as there was no obvious indicator of how it started.
“Units will check it throughout the weekend because it is going to be hot and dry,” Wink said.
With fuels still very dry, humidity low and no rain yet, “We still have the potential for significant wildland fires in the county,” Wink said, urging area residents to use caution as the dry weather continues.
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