The History of Unlikely Earthquakes in the U.S.

A recent earthquake near London, England really woke up a new generation of British citizens who've long lived with the myth that earthquakes are only centered within the Pacific Ring of Fire. It's obvious at the moment that most of the world's worst earthquakes seem to be centered on the west coast of the United States and in the islands of the Pacific (particularly around Japan and Indonesia). But now we're starting to hear about quakes in places built up as a myth to be safe. When you see the history of the world's natural disasters, though, these earthquakes are just re-awakened fault lines that had plenty of activity in prior centuries. It puts the reality of increasing earthquakes in the world into a different perspective. The worst part is that these places once thought to be safe are highly vulnerable no thanks to sociological and governmental complacency.

Whatever it is about January--the first month of the year seems to be the time when some of the worst earthquakes of the last ten years happened around the world. The interesting connection to that, though, is a bit of a wake-up call for New York City. A forgotten earthquake happened there on January 17, 2001--nine months before 9/11 and on the seventh anniversary to the day of the notorious Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles. It was only a 2.5 on the Richter scale, but it nonetheless was felt in the southern portions of Manhattan and surrounding areas. The media likely didn't even report it that much back then. It's too bad they only cover earthquakes that do potential damage rather than getting the word out to the naïve and complacent on the east coast that small earthquakes are a probable sign to get ready for bigger ones down the road.