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the earthquake felt in New York was not abnormal

An earthquake of magnitude 5.8 surprised Americans on the east coast on Tuesday, August 23, 2011, not at all used to this kind of geological jolt, unlike their Californian compatriots. The theory of plate tectonics does not seem to make such an earthquake possible, but what is it really?

According to’USGS, It therefore corresponds to the point on the surface where the perceived intensity of an earthquake is the greatest (maximum magnitude). Indeed, since the epicenter is the point in … “data-image =” https://cdn.futura-sciences.com/buildsv6/images/midioriginal/f/3/e/f3e900a7f5_45441_def-hypocentre-lorangeo- wikimediacommons.jpg “data-url =” https://www.futura-sciences.com/planete/definitions/structure-terre-epicentre-3658/ “data-more =” Read more “>epicenter of earthquake which affected the cities of New York and Washington on Tuesday, August 23 at 13:51 (17:51 GMT was the time reference for the English navy. It is considered to be Universal Time since 1884 …. “data- url = “https://www.futura-sciences.com/sciences/definitions/univers-gmt-4048/” data-more = “Read more”>GMT) was located about sixty kilometers from Richmond (Virginia, east) and about 130 km southwest of Washington. With a magnitude of 5.8 Mw, it was not really dangerous and even if it caused the shutdown of the two reactors of a nuclear plant from Virginia, it does not appear that there were any injuries or serious damage.

Anyone who knows some basics of Drift theory … “data-image =” https://cdn.futura-sciences.com/buildsv6/images/midioriginal/9/f/c/9fcec5bdc0_45137_plaques-tectonique-wikimediacommons- dp.jpg “data-url =” https://www.futura-sciences.com/planete/definitions/geologie-tectonique-plaques-970/ “data-more =” Read more “>tectonic plates can only be extremely surprised by this phenomenon, thinking at first that his advertisement can only be an Examples of hoax
These can be emails, forum posts or … “data-image =” https://cdn.futura-sciences.com/buildsv6/images/midioriginal/0/b/5/0b5b7dc5a5_89279_def -hoax.jpg “data-url =” https://www.futura-sciences.com/tech/definitions/informatique-hoax-15672/ “data-more =” Read more “>hoax. Indeed, in this theory, earthquakes only occur at the boundaries of the plates, where they collide, as in Japan or California, or on the contrary, where they separate, as in the case of Afar dear to Haroun Tazzief, or during the Several categories of volcanic eruptions
There are three main categories of eruptions … “data-image =” https://cdn.futura-sciences.com/buildsv6/images/midioriginal/e/6/d/e6d4dc734e_124536_eruption-volcan-01.jpg “data -url = “https://www.futura-sciences.com/planete/definitions/structure-terre-eruption-volcanique-455/” data-more = “Read more”>volcanic eruptions tracked down by the ” Man vulcanicus » what were Katia and Maurice Krafft.

Well-known but poorly understood intraplate seismicity

But anyone who knows little more than the basics of plate tectonics theory knows that there is something called intraplate seismicity. One of the most recent examples is the Earth Structure tremor … “data-image =” https://cdn.futura-sciences.com/buildsv6/images/midioriginal/8/4/f/84ff7edce5_123534_terre -apollo8.jpg “data-url =” https://www.futura-sciences.com/planete/definitions/structure-terre-terre-4725/ “data-more =” Read more “>terre hitting Gujarat in 2001.

Above all, such intraplate continental earthquakes, even if they are rare, are justly known to occur in the United States, more generally not far from the Atlantic seaboard of North America. Thus there were earthquakes in Virginia in May 1897 and in the region of the St. Lawrence in Canada in February 1925. Better still, the United States is one of the places in the world where the most intraplate earthquakes occur. The most famous being undoubtedly that of New Madrid, in Missouri, in the middle of the United States, where between December 1811 and February 1812 occurred three earthquakes of magnitude probably greater than 8 and which were felt as far as New York.

In Canada, the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, this mixture induces a very significant gradient in the physico-chemical properties of water, variable in space and time. “Data-url =” https: //www.futura- sciences.com/planete/definitions/terre-estuaire-3828/ “data-more =” Read the definition “>estuary the St. Lawrence, the Ottawa Valley and the Niagara regions and Charlevoix, are also the sites of intraplate earthquakes.

The fact remains that continental intraplate earthquakes pose problems for geodynamicists and that they are not easy to explain. In general, very old flaws, dating from geological events that occurred tens or even hundreds of millions of years ago, which would suddenly start playing again in response to stresses long accumulated by the plates themselves. We also know that the continents themselves are mosaics of old pieces of continents, with therefore old and deep sutures.

An aborted continent separation?

However, in the case of the east coast of the United States, several hypotheses have been proposed. Thus, the Appalachians, the mountainous region that borders this coast, have a complex tectonic history. About 300 to 350 million years ago, the so-called Alleghanian Orogeny occurred, one of the phases of formation of the Appalachians in which the Gondwana, more precisely present-day North West Africa, struck Laurasia during the Pangea formation. Many flaws occurred on this occasion and it is perhaps one of them, precisely here what is called an inverse flaw, which moved on Tuesday.

Another theory involves an aborted rifting process, which tended to cut the United States in two by connecting the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, and which also formed many faults.

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