Frank Condon of
GeoSeismicLabs says that
the July 4th weekend or shortly thereafter could see a
strong earthquake in Southern California, but the USGS
Real-Time Forecast of Earthquake Hazards in the area does
not foresee any significant quakes in the next 24 hours. (As
of 2 July, 2005, 11:00 AM PDT).
Mr. Condon of GeoSeismicLabs has appeared on Dreamland (11
March, 2005) discussing the changing seismic situation
around the world, with emphasis on California and the US
western states. (To listen to this and other archived
Dreamland programs,
subscribe to
Unknowncountry.com.)
Now Mr. Condon suggests that a strong earthquake could
affect the Southern California area because of the fact that
a recent Nicaragua quake has affected crustal stress levels
in the area. Mr. Condon is not predicting a quake, but
saying that the possibility of one is higher because of the
effects of the Nicaragua quake.
He writes on his website message board, "It appears that
triggering from the Nicaragua earthquake is greatly
affecting the crustal stress level in Southern California.
The way it looks right now, it may be coming to a point."
He continues, "Everyone from Central California to Baja,
Mexico needs to be aware of what´s currently being detected.
We now have some anomalously high levels of deep crustal
stress surfacing along the Pacific & North American Plate
Boundary in Southern California. The Inland Empire should be
at the Warning level in Wrightwood, Lytle Creek, Cucamonga,
Fontana, Rialto, Devore, San Bernardino, Redlands, Yucaipa,
Banning, Loma Linda, Colton, Riverside, Hemet, Idyllwild,
Beaumont, Anza, Borrego Springs, Ocotillo Wells, Desert Hot
Springs, Yucca Valley, Indio/Palm Springs to the Salton Sea
and anywhere else which is in within 15 miles of any major
faults located in Southern California."
To read Mr. Condon's posted message,
click
here.
The USGS Earthquake Hazards Program utilizes a system of 24
hour earthquake prediction in Southern California based on
analysis of foreshocks. At present, this program predicts
only a slight chance of an earthquake east of San Diego. To
reference the USGS SoCal Earthquake Hazard Map,
click here.
Another West Coast disaster may be on the way. According to
the US Geological Survey (USGS), a large part of the lava
dome on Mount St. Helens in Washington State has been
knocked off by a rockfall, sending out a cloud of ashes.
Before this, the dome had been growing steadily. The Mt. St.
Helens volcano last erupted in 1980.
The USGS has been monitoring the volcano since it started
becoming active again about a year ago. In September, 2004,
there was seismic activity, and lava reached the surface in
October, which was when the dome began rebuilding. USGS
Geologists now say a new eruption could happen at any time.
