Why is our planet shaking so violently all of a sudden? There have literally been dozens of significant earthquakes right along the Ring of Fire within the past 30 days, and two giant ones made headlines all over the globe on Thursday. First, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck off the coast of Humboldt County, California, and that was followed later in the day by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in the Solomon Islands. But of course these latest earthquakes are just the latest examples of increased shaking along the outer perimeter of the Pacific Ocean. Experts are not quite sure what to make of all of this shaking, but they are warning that "the Big One" could strike the west coast at literally any time.
Let's start by discussing the historic earthquake that just hit the Solomon Islands. According to the Washington Post, it was originally determined to be a magnitude 8.0 earthquake before being downgraded to a 7.8...
A massive earthquake erupted along a fault line near the Solomon Islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean on Thursday. The quake was originally detected as a magnitude-8 by the U.S. Geological Service, but has since been reduced to a 7.8 on the Moment-Magnitude scale.
It was followed by a 5.5-magnitude quake, and aftershocks continue to roll through.
Comment: See also: Emergency tsunami warnings after 8.0 quake strikes off Solomon Islands' coast