.png)
Southern California was rattled by a 5.1-magnitude earthquake on Monday, but there have been no reports of any damage or injuries. It was later changed to magnitude-4.7, reports The Epoch Times.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake’s epicenter was located near Anza, in the desert, located around 100 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Smaller seismic events were reported around the area.
You can view a real time map of earthquakes happening around the world here.
Here are common questions, with explained answers about earthquakes:
1. Can you predict earthquakes?
The USGS, the federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment, has never predicted an earthquake. Their answer is that you cannot predict an earthquake.
But based on scientific data probabilities can be calculated for potential future earthquakes.
2. What is the chance that an earthquake is leading up to a larger earthquake?
Worldwide the probability that an earthquake will be followed within 3 days by a large earthquake nearby is somewhere just over 6 percent. In California, that probability is about 6 percent, according to the USGS.
3. Where can I go if I want to move to a place with no earthquakes?
Antarctica, reports the USGS. Antarctica has the fewest earthquakes of any continent in the world. But small earthquakes can occur anywhere on Earth.
4. Can animals predict earthquakes?
In 373 B.C., historians recorded that animals, including rats, snakes and weasels, deserted the Greek city of Helice in droves just days before a quake devastated the place, reports National Geographic.
One theory is that animals feel the Earth vibrate before humans. Others suggest that animals detect electrical changes in the air or gas released from the Earth, according to National Geographic.
5. Will California fall into the ocean?
No, reports the USGS. But they do state that Los Angeles and San Francisco will one day be adjacent to one another.
The San Andreas Fault System crosses California from the Salton Sea in the south to Cape Mendocino in the north, and it is the boundary between the Pacific Plate and North American Plate.
The Pacific Plate is moving northwest with respect to the North American Plate at approximately 46 millimeters per year, which, according to the USGS, is the rate your fingernails grow.
The earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault are a result of this plate motion. The plates are moving horizontally past one another, so California is not going to fall into the ocean, according to the USGS.
The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 21 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.
