© USGS
Earthquakes
© Evrim Aydin / Anadolu Agency / Reuters
Rescue workers search for survivors at a collapsed building in Van, eastern Turkey, on Wednesday.
Rescue workers search for survivors at a collapsed building in Van, eastern Turkey, on Wednesday.
The 5.7-magnitude quake Wednesday toppled 25 buildings in the city of Van, Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said. The death toll could have been even worse: Only three of the buildings were occupied because the others were evacuated after the Oct. 23 quake that killed more than 600 people and destroyed at least 2,000 buildings.
Rescue workers sped up their search for survivors by daylight on Thursday, pulling a man in his 60s out of the wreckage of a pancaked hotel, live NTV television broadcast showed. Soon after, rescuers dug a young man from the rubble of an apartment building, the state-run Anatolia news agency said. The young man became the 25th people to be survived alive so far.
The workers used the glare of high-powered lights to work throughout the night despite several aftershocks. Atalay said rescue work was concentrating at the site of two collapsed hotels and one apartment building.
© USGS
USGS date here.
For many in Young County, the house was a rockin' Saturday night.
Oklahoma's biggest earthquake in history, a 5.6 magnitude quake occurred late Saturday and originated near Sparks, Okla. east of Oklahoma City, more than 200 miles from Graham.
"The important thing to understand is that if you take the same magnitude earthquake and you put one here and one in California, it will be felt over a much larger area than the same magnitude in California," said Gary Patterson, geologist and director of education and outreach for the U.S. Center for Earthquake Research and Information.
He said because the geology of the central United States is different - the Earth's crust is harder, colder and denser than in California, the energy travels efficiently, like running a jack hammer on a concrete slab. "If you had a continuous slab, you'd feel it in your feet a greater distance away," Patterson said. He said 95 to 98 percent of the earthquakes in the world happen in places like California.
Oklahoma's biggest earthquake in history, a 5.6 magnitude quake occurred late Saturday and originated near Sparks, Okla. east of Oklahoma City, more than 200 miles from Graham.
"The important thing to understand is that if you take the same magnitude earthquake and you put one here and one in California, it will be felt over a much larger area than the same magnitude in California," said Gary Patterson, geologist and director of education and outreach for the U.S. Center for Earthquake Research and Information.
He said because the geology of the central United States is different - the Earth's crust is harder, colder and denser than in California, the energy travels efficiently, like running a jack hammer on a concrete slab. "If you had a continuous slab, you'd feel it in your feet a greater distance away," Patterson said. He said 95 to 98 percent of the earthquakes in the world happen in places like California.
A shallow, magnitude 4.0 earthquake was reported Tuesday night east of Reno, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 10:40 p.m. at a depth of 0 miles.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the Nevada quake's epicenter was 216 miles north of Las Vegas. It also was about 19 miles from Eureka, 25 miles from Duckwater, 32 miles from Willow Grove and 47 miles from Ely.
An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale hit eastern Turkey early Wednesday at about 00: 05 local time (2205 GMT Tuesday), said Turkey's Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute on its website.
Turkey's institute said that the quake hit the Kaustuk village of Adilcevaz town of Bitlis province, but so far there was no reports on casualties.
The epicenter, with a depth of 9.40 km, was initially determined to be at 38.7143 degrees north latitude and 43.1330 degrees east longitude, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Turkey's institute said that the quake hit the Kaustuk village of Adilcevaz town of Bitlis province, but so far there was no reports on casualties.
The epicenter, with a depth of 9.40 km, was initially determined to be at 38.7143 degrees north latitude and 43.1330 degrees east longitude, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
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A roar that sounded like a jumbo jet filled the air, and Reneau's red-brick chimney collapsed and fell into the roof above the living room. By the time the shaking stopped, a pantry worth of food had been strewn across the kitchen and shards of glass and pottery covered the floor.
"It was like WHAM!" said Reneau, 75, gesturing with swipes of his arms. "I thought in my mind the house would stand, but then again, maybe not."
The magnitude 5.6 earthquake and its aftershocks still had residents rattled Sunday. No injuries were reported, and aside from a buckled highway and the collapse of a tower on the St. Gregory's University administration building, neither was any major damage. But the weekend earthquakes were among the strongest yet in a state that has seen a dramatic, unexplained increase in seismic activity.
Oklahoma typically had about 50 earthquakes a year until 2009. Then the number spiked, and 1,047 quakes shook the state last year, prompting researchers to install seismographs in the area. Still, most of the earthquakes have been small.
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The magnitude 5.6 earthquake in Oklahoma on Saturday night felt was as far as Wisconsin, U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Jill McCarthy said.
"We have had eight recorded earthquakes (in Oklahoma) in the past 24 hours or so," she said.
McCarthy is the team chief scientist with the National Earthquake Information Center in Denver, Colo.
A 4.7 magnitude temblor was reported early Saturday, followed by the 5.6 magnitude earthquake just before 11 p.m., which was the strongest in state history.
A series of smaller earthquakes was reported between the largest quakes, sometimes referred to as aftershocks.
