Nevada Hazards
Wendy Gurganus
Coastal Carolina Community College One of the geologic hazards in Nevada is the Mountain ranges. The reason these are hazards is because most of the ranges in Nevada have a major fault line on either side of them. Some of these faults have been active within the last 1.6 million years, and have had large earthquakes. This causes the ranges to tilt and shift and raised the ranges to higher levels. As far as seismic activity goes, Nevada is the third most active state in the nation. There is an earthquake in Nevada of a 7 or greater approximately once every thirty years. There are strike slip faults in the northwest region of the state. The border of California had what is called Walker Lane. This area
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In recorded history, there have been 151 earthquakes in Nevada that were a magnitude of 3.5 or higher. As previously mentioned, the mountain ranges of Nevada are typically bound on one side or the other by a fault. There are quaternary faults that range in ages from less than 150 years to around 1.8 million years in existence. The property damage in Nevada from earthquakes was .2 million dollars between 1196 and 2014 based on information from department of energy for the state. As we studied in our textbook, earthquakes can by a number of things, such as shifting faults, or volcanic …show more content…
Especially in the area around the Great Basin, since that covers most of the state. This area is surrounded by the mountain ranges and gets all the run off . This water helps with the water shortage throughout the year but at the time it is too much for the area to handle as there is no drainage to the ocean from this area. Groundwater is used throughout the state. Sometimes, the water is pumped out faster than it can be replenished. When this happens, the land surface can be affected. There are many cracks in the ground near Las Vegas, and in some places the land has sunken in over six feet within the last sixty years. An increase in the population of the state is to blame for the increased demand on the groundwater and therefore, the increased damage being done to the landscape as a whole. More people, more water, more land being developed, means less of the natural preservers being available. Also, with these floods the state sees landslides. The rocks of the area show the different ways the terrain was built
Let me tell you about a marvelous state called Nevada. Nevada is located in the southwestern side of the United States. Nevada is known as the “Silver State,” which is the official nickname, even though it says “Battleborn” on their flag. Since most of the U.S gold came from Nevada, you’d think that it would be called the Golden State, but nope, that title goes to California, for reasons I do not know. Furthermore, Nevada has a tremendous amount of history, fascinating geographical features, glorious climate, indispensable agriculture as well as industry, and captivating natural resources. All of these features are what makes Nevada, Nevada! You will see that Nevada is a phenomenal state to learn about.
The San Andreas fault line has caused constant development nightmares for large urban areas such as San Francisco as well as the other cities built on top of it. Fault lines are one of the side effects of the earth’s tectonic plates shifting that can result in devastating earthquakes. Some of the most devastating earthquakes in our modern era have occurred along the San Andreas fault line due to a dense population. The most notable and destructive earthquake on the San Andreas fault line occurred in San Francisco in 1906. The reason this earthquake was so deadly was because of its magnitude and the city’s poor planning. This earthquake was a wakeup call for San Francisco and force the city to revolutionize its knowledge on earthquakes and how to protect their city. Today San Francisco is one of the most well prepared cities for an earthquake and has made great discoveries in earthquake safety measures. The 1906 earthquake in San Francisco has drastically changed how the city has developed its zoning and building code policies, and its earthquake research.
The west coast of North America has been tectonically and volcanically active for billions of years. The Sierra Nevada Mountains in eastern California were born of volcanoes, and magma has been erupting in the Long Valley to the east of the mountains for over three million years (Bailey, et. al., 1989). However, the climactic eruption of the region occurred relatively recently in the region's geologic history. About 760,000 years ago, a huge explosion of magma warped the Eastern Sierra into the landscape that exists today. The eruption depleted a massive magma chamber below the earth's surface so that the ceiling of the chamber imploded, forming what is now known as
According to the research report, it will cause thousands of people die, towns submerged, buildings and bridges damaged once a huge earthquake and tsunamis happened on the Pacific Northwest area near American coast. And losses will be estimated at over 5 billion dollar US dollars. This shocking article was composed by seismic safety advisory committee in Oregon. According to materials, a super-strong earthquake once happened in A.D. 1700 Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) on the Pacific Northwest coast. There are some experts forecast that another super-huge earthquake will occur in the future. The report has shown that once the earthquake occurs, the regions from North California to British Columbia Coastal region will suffer devastation, cause heavy casualties. Water and electricity shortage issues definitely follow this heavy disaster, meanwhile, communication and heating system and gas supply will definitely broken off in the light of this earthquake. The CSZ is a 1,000 km long dipping fault that stretches from Northern Vancouver Island to Cape Mendocino in northern California. It separates the Juan de Fuca (Juan
• This earthquake may not have released all of the strain stored in its rocks next to the fault this reveals a potential earthquake in the Santa Cruz Mountains in the near future. The occurrence of the earthquake showed that the Earth did not exhaust all its strain and hence other earthquakes could be expected. However, the dates could not be predicted. The extent of the damage could have been much more devastating for the region, but with the earthquake occurring near the coast this made half of the felt area westward in the Pacific Ocean. The occurrence of aftershocks ten days later reinforces the unpredictability nature and hence makes Geology to be a study that is always evolving. In conclusion, the Earth and the study of cannot be exhausted as every natural occurrence provides a new puzzle to be solved.
Over more than 50 decades there has been multiple earthquakes that have been caused by the activity that takes place beneath and above the surface of the earth. For every earthquake there are various effects and consequences, these are generally not preventable but teachable moments. As we study and explore landforms we learn and better understand how today 's structures came about, what took place decades ago and where do we go from here. Thanks to the technology and inquiring minds we are able to study past events like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1964 Alaska earthquake. In comparing these two events we can get an overview of what happened and better prepare ourselves for something like that in the future.
Little Cottonwood Canyon is a site bursting with geological history, rock formations earthquake potential on the fault, prehistoric glacial formations, landslides, and many hazards associated with it. The Wasatch fault is bound to have a enormous earthquake in the future and has left behind numerous scars. The mountains have been engraved by glacial formations dated back to the Ice Age (~14,000 years ago). Rock falls and landslides have left hefty boulders as indication of erosion and moisture in the rocks. The hazards on this mountain range are mass wasting, radon, earthquakes, and flooding of Little Cottonwood Creek.
As natural disasters continue to cause severe damage and as technology advances, new safety and building requirements are implemented in order to reduce the damage caused by natural disasters. Here in Salt Lake City, we constantly face the danger of having a major earthquake along the Wasatch Fault. Geologist predict that we are long past due
The Hayward Fault stretching beneath a few major cities in California has not shifted too far in the last 150 years, a shift that used to be evident on a street corner of Rose and Prospect Streets. A no longer aligned curb was a perfect reminder of the forces working beneath the citizens of Hayward (although the city decided to realign it once more), and the forces that could soon act again. This fault was found to produce a large earthquake roughly every 160 years, give or take 80 years. Any earthquake, especially of the magnitude predicted to occur (7.0), would be devastating as this fault runs through major urban areas. Unlike the last time it shifted, geologists predict that the next earthquake will stretch for 52 miles
Oklahoma has been on the spotlight for the last few years owing to the increase in earthquakes. Particularly, 2014 served a wake-up call for stakeholders such as government, researchers and oil and gas industry members as a result of a sharp rise in earthquakes reported in the area. The year saw Oklahoma receiving more earthquakes than compared to California, a region that is more culpable to the earthquakes scene. In adition, 2014 also marked the largest earthquake reported in the history of the region, reporting a massive 5.6 magnitude. With these developments, continous research has been conducted and the review of peer and academic journals written by past reseaerchers and academic institutions collected to add on the data required to unearth the cause of the frequency of registered earthquakes as well as the underlying factors that contribute to seismic activity.
Earthquake Hazards occur when there are adverse effects on human activities. This can include surface faulting, ground shaking and liquefaction. In this essay I will be discussing the factors that affect earthquakes, whether human such as population density, urbanisation and earthquake mitigation or physical such as liquefaction, magnitude, landslides and proximity to the focus.
Earthquakes are an example of seismic activity created by plate boundaries. They can be caused by the subduction of oceanic crust which is densest at 2.9 g/cm3 under continental crust which weighs 2.7g/m3 at destructive plate boundaries. Earthquakes can also occur along conservative plate boundaries such as that shared by the Pacific and North American plates which move at 5-9 cm/year and 2-3 cm/year respectively causing the 1994 Los Angeles earthquake along the San Andreas fault alongside which lies the San Gregorio and Hayward faults. Earthquakes have different impacts dependent on the location of their foci, the point at which they originate from underground, the presence of land in the surrounding areas, but also the human factors such
The San Andreas Fault is one of the most widely studied faults in the world. Scientists use an array of methods in collecting data and providing analysis of fault characteristics both past and present. Presently there are many differing hypothesis and models used to describe crustal movements and deformation within the Pacific and North American plate boundary. Historical earthquakes along this fault have proven to be rather large and devastating. This is important since the San Andreas Fault runs along many highly populated areas throughout Northern and Southern California. Through further research and analysis of this fault system scientists hope to solve
Most of the worst earthquakes are associated with changes in the shape of the Earth's outermost shell, particularly the crust. These so called tectonic earthquakes are generated by the rapid release of strain energy that is stored within the rocks of the crust, which on continents is about 22 miles thick. A small proportion of earthquakes are associated with human activity. Dynamite or atomic explosions, for example, can sometimes cause mild quakes. The injection of liquid wastes deep into the Earth and the pressures
Volcanoes and Earthquakes are two of the most intriguing natural disasters that can occur on earth. Unlike hurricanes and tornadoes, they can awaken at almost any point in time throughout the year. These two natural disasters are also different from others because they occur on the layers of the earth itself. Volcanoes, while large to us, are actually small, conical patches of earth that spurt and ooze hot molten lava from the core, and can destroy areas of land triple their size. Earthquakes, on the other hand, are severe jolts felt on land due to the movement of earths tectonic plates. Some may describe earthquakes as being similar to riding a bike down a flight of stairs. The impact of an earthquakes can take down even the largest buildings and strongest structures. All natural disasters can have damaging effects on land, some more than others, and all can be measured or predicted in different ways. Although earthquakes and volcanoes are similar to each other, the two are still very comparable. A few of these similarities and differences include the cause of their occurrence, and how their occurrence impacts the environment.