Is there earthquake weather?
In the 4th Century B.C., Aristotle proposed that earthquakes were caused by winds trapped in subterranean caves. Small tremors were thought to have been caused by air pushing on the cavern roofs, and large ones by the air breaking the surface. This theory lead to a belief in earthquake weather, that because a large amount of air was trapped underground, the weather would be hot and calm before an earthquake. A later theory stated that earthquakes occurred in calm, cloudy conditions, and were usually preceded by strong winds, fireballs, and meteors.
There is no such thing as "earthquake weather." Statistically, there is approximately an equal distribution of earthquakes in cold weather, hot weather, rainy weather, etc. Very large low-pressure changes associated with major storm systems (typhoons, hurricanes, etc) are known to trigger episodes of fault slip (slow earthquakes) in the Earth’s crust and may also play a role in triggering some damaging earthquakes. However, the numbers are small and are not statistically significant.
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Will California eventually fall into the ocean? Will California eventually fall into the ocean?
No, California is not going to fall into the ocean. California is firmly planted on the top of the earth’s crust in a location where it spans two tectonic plates. The San Andreas Fault System, which crosses California from the Salton Sea in the south to Cape Mendocino in the north, is the boundary between the Pacific Plate (that includes the Pacific Ocean) and North American Plate (that includes...
Can large amounts of rain in California cause an increase in earthquakes? Can large amounts of rain in California cause an increase in earthquakes?
There is no pattern in California of large, damaging earthquakes occurring more frequently during periods of heavy precipitation or periods of drought. Therefore, it’s unlikely that seismic hazard is affected by precipitation. This makes sense as rainwater cannot easily percolate several kilometers below the earth's surface to the depths where most earthquakes occur. However, periods of heavy...
Related
Will California eventually fall into the ocean? Will California eventually fall into the ocean?
No, California is not going to fall into the ocean. California is firmly planted on the top of the earth’s crust in a location where it spans two tectonic plates. The San Andreas Fault System, which crosses California from the Salton Sea in the south to Cape Mendocino in the north, is the boundary between the Pacific Plate (that includes the Pacific Ocean) and North American Plate (that includes...
Can large amounts of rain in California cause an increase in earthquakes? Can large amounts of rain in California cause an increase in earthquakes?
There is no pattern in California of large, damaging earthquakes occurring more frequently during periods of heavy precipitation or periods of drought. Therefore, it’s unlikely that seismic hazard is affected by precipitation. This makes sense as rainwater cannot easily percolate several kilometers below the earth's surface to the depths where most earthquakes occur. However, periods of heavy...