D
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In recent days, the headlines have been full of the triple earthquake cluster in Turkiye and Syria. The media largely ignored another cluster around Indonesia in the last fortnight, the latest being this morning. There has been increased seismic and volcanic activity across many parts of Europe, South & North America in recent months too.
This planet that we are meer tenants of, is becoming more and more unstable and it has nothing to do with humans or the weather.
Tectonic plate movement has increased significantly in the last 2-3 decades, causing far stronger earthquakes, harsher volcanic eruptions and those have all become more frequent. The dangers of tsumani has also increased since the Boxing Day 2004 tragedy...including the Fukushima in 2011.
There was a fascinating documentary last night, shown purely co-incidently after the events of the last few days, regarding earthquake and volcanic events being on the increase and how certain cities around the world are well overdue for one or both.
Two cities in particular are "food for thought".
Naples and New York.
Naples has Versuvius on its doorstep, anyone doubting the ability to destroy places only need look at Pompeii to see exactly what Versuvius is capable of. The volcano is very much alive and seismic events have been increasing on a worrying level in recent years. Added to Versuvius being awake, you also have Etna and Stromboli that erupt daily and Gran Cratere della Fossa which releases poisonous gasses requiring the island of Vulcano to be evacuated. All four volcanoes are connected by the same faults and all four have increased magma pressures. Also under constant monitoring are the semi-extinct volcanoes underneath Naples... the 24 craters of Campi Flegrei, Marsili, Roccamonfina have all shown signs of waking up in the last decade or two. Should the expected chain reaction occur and Versuvius erupts severely and triggers earthquakes and further eruptions from the rest of the volcanoes in the region plus tsumami, the picture is a very very dark one indeed for the survival rate.
New York is overdue a large earthquake. The last "big one" was around 130 years ago, they tend to happen every 125 years or so. Manhattan has upwards of 5 to 7 fault lines, the other boroughs that make up the city also have scattered faults. Relatively small earthquakes hit the city once every two or three months, not many people living and working there notice them. Two most recent 5+ magnitude happened in 2001....roughly a month either side of the 9/11 tragedy. The latter caused great upset and panic as people did feel it, the epicenter was under Central Park and with nerves being frayed, it was felt and there was some collateral damage. It may, or may not, be a surprise to learn that a seismic building code was not in place until 1995. There is also an extreme level of liquefaction probability...especially around Battery Park, the UN building and, indeed, the new Trade Center. This is due to the lack of bedrock, the use of backfill & reclaiming of land when constructing buildings. The high water table added to the use of friction piling also adds significant risk of building collapse in the event of an earthquake over magnitude of 6.5. As with Naples, the survivability for those living and working in New York when the "big one" happens is very, very low. Should a large earthquake occur in New York, it would bring absolute chaos and devastation...and tsumami reaction from that is extremely high, so not only would the city and its boroughs be severaly affected by a large earthquake but the high chance of a tsunami following it would compound the damage and loss of life.
So as much as there are people screaming about the climate being out of kilter and potentially deadly in consequence........the earth beneath our feet has far more chance of causing trouble, especially in our big gleaming cities where complacency is rife (as New York proves when it decided not to have seismic building codes until 28 years ago despite experiencing ever strengthening earthquakes)
If you compare the toll from the Indonesia, Syria and Turkiye clusters to what will eventually happen in Naples and New York......the climate tends to drop down the list of priorities.
This planet that we are meer tenants of, is becoming more and more unstable and it has nothing to do with humans or the weather.
Tectonic plate movement has increased significantly in the last 2-3 decades, causing far stronger earthquakes, harsher volcanic eruptions and those have all become more frequent. The dangers of tsumani has also increased since the Boxing Day 2004 tragedy...including the Fukushima in 2011.
There was a fascinating documentary last night, shown purely co-incidently after the events of the last few days, regarding earthquake and volcanic events being on the increase and how certain cities around the world are well overdue for one or both.
Two cities in particular are "food for thought".
Naples and New York.
Naples has Versuvius on its doorstep, anyone doubting the ability to destroy places only need look at Pompeii to see exactly what Versuvius is capable of. The volcano is very much alive and seismic events have been increasing on a worrying level in recent years. Added to Versuvius being awake, you also have Etna and Stromboli that erupt daily and Gran Cratere della Fossa which releases poisonous gasses requiring the island of Vulcano to be evacuated. All four volcanoes are connected by the same faults and all four have increased magma pressures. Also under constant monitoring are the semi-extinct volcanoes underneath Naples... the 24 craters of Campi Flegrei, Marsili, Roccamonfina have all shown signs of waking up in the last decade or two. Should the expected chain reaction occur and Versuvius erupts severely and triggers earthquakes and further eruptions from the rest of the volcanoes in the region plus tsumami, the picture is a very very dark one indeed for the survival rate.
New York is overdue a large earthquake. The last "big one" was around 130 years ago, they tend to happen every 125 years or so. Manhattan has upwards of 5 to 7 fault lines, the other boroughs that make up the city also have scattered faults. Relatively small earthquakes hit the city once every two or three months, not many people living and working there notice them. Two most recent 5+ magnitude happened in 2001....roughly a month either side of the 9/11 tragedy. The latter caused great upset and panic as people did feel it, the epicenter was under Central Park and with nerves being frayed, it was felt and there was some collateral damage. It may, or may not, be a surprise to learn that a seismic building code was not in place until 1995. There is also an extreme level of liquefaction probability...especially around Battery Park, the UN building and, indeed, the new Trade Center. This is due to the lack of bedrock, the use of backfill & reclaiming of land when constructing buildings. The high water table added to the use of friction piling also adds significant risk of building collapse in the event of an earthquake over magnitude of 6.5. As with Naples, the survivability for those living and working in New York when the "big one" happens is very, very low. Should a large earthquake occur in New York, it would bring absolute chaos and devastation...and tsumami reaction from that is extremely high, so not only would the city and its boroughs be severaly affected by a large earthquake but the high chance of a tsunami following it would compound the damage and loss of life.
So as much as there are people screaming about the climate being out of kilter and potentially deadly in consequence........the earth beneath our feet has far more chance of causing trouble, especially in our big gleaming cities where complacency is rife (as New York proves when it decided not to have seismic building codes until 28 years ago despite experiencing ever strengthening earthquakes)
If you compare the toll from the Indonesia, Syria and Turkiye clusters to what will eventually happen in Naples and New York......the climate tends to drop down the list of priorities.
I'm not really sure how much there is to say about it, though. It just happens. If Yellowstone ever blows, I'll wave at the rest of you as I sail overhead.
