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The US Shakemap of the event, showing how the tremor intensity is attenuated further from the epicenter USGS
It was widely reported that, An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 hit deep enough under Anchorage on Friday morning at 8:29 am local time. videos of buildings violently shaken ricochet through social media.Scientists are currently trying to accurately explain the origin of the earthquake, while also keeping an eye on the dissemination of false information on the Web site
This article attempts to summarize everything that we know of the event up to now, based solely on seismological evidence from experts and all that the USGS (United States Geological Survey) This will also explain what p could happen next, why, while refuting the rumors that could emerge from the dark Internet over the hours.
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According to the USGS, this powerful earthquake – from a magnitude of 6.6 initially, but quickly rose to 7.0 – struck at 13 kilometers north of Anchorage at a depth of 40.9 kilometers (approximately 25 miles).
A tsunami warning for Cook Inlet and the southern Kenai Peninsula was issued, and local authorities reportedly advised people to prepare for higher ground. However, the warning was quickly canceled after it became apparent that no tsunami threat existed. One of them had been issued as a precaution and because the probability of creating a tsunami could not be excluded at 100%.
Preliminary analyzes suggest that the most intense shocks occurred north of Anchorage, recording level VIII (on X) on the modified Mercalli scale, which describes the agitation of the surface. An index VIII means that the perceived shaking can be described as "severe" and that the potential damage varies from moderate to important. Anchorage itself has a mixture of intensities, but the highest reaches a VII, which delineates "very strong" tremors and moderate potential damage.
This is another visualization of ground motion showing the ground motion recorded by USArray during the Anchorage Earthquake (https://t.co/RIcNz4bgWq). #AnchorageEarthquake # earthquake pic.twitter.com/5ZbzvXOj5l
– IRIS Sci Earthquake (@IRIS_EPO) December 1, 2018
What's the problem? ] Judging by images and testimonies being shared on social networks damage to infrastructure is widespread. It is unclear how much the damage is and will be persistent, but the fragmentation of roads and school buildings suggests that the city was hit quite violently by the tectonic rumbling below. The governor of Alaska, Bill Walker, has issued a declaration of disaster
The USGS suspects that, according to seismic data received, there is a 64% chance that Economic losses range from $ 10 million to $ 1 billion. Remember, however, that these are estimates, so we will have to wait to find out what the final total is, which we will not know for some time.
In contrast, the USGS currently estimates that there is a 69 percent chance that a death will occur. This is good news: in other words, according to the agency, "there is little risk of suffering losses". At present, no deaths have been reported.
This highlights the fact that magnitude, although important, is not the only thing that counts for the potential for destruction of an earthquake. I've already written here a detailed article on why this is the case, but let me summarize here so that everything is clear.
In gross terms, the magnitude simply indicates the amount of energy released by the earthquake, and that is all. Many other factors come into play: the geographical location of the earthquake, the intensity of the event, the depth of the earthquake, the architectural design of the buildings affected, the education and awareness of the local population with seismological hazards, the sedimentary layers of the region. , the availability of resources for recovery and rescue efforts, and the earthquake's ability to trigger secondary geological hazards – such as landslides or tsunamis – all matter.
In this case, the earthquake was quite deep, which somewhat reduced its capacity. shake the buildings violently. This depth may also explain why jolts were widespread throughout the region, although this is little more than an enlightened guess for the moment. Anchorage is also no stranger to earthquakes (more on this in a moment) and, as indicated by National Geographic, the buildings are usually designed to withstand fairly intense shocks. That's why the damage, although serious, is not as catastrophic as you thought it was for a magnitude 7.0 earthquake.
It seems at the same time that at least some people acted appropriately during the quake, based on some of the images bouncing around Twitter. Again, I wrote a detailed article on what you should do in the event of an earthquake here, but the key is to fall right on the floor, cover yourself under a desk or a solid table and to wait for a minimum. a minute after the quake ceased, and that seems to be what many in Anchorage did.
The shake map of the event, with more orange-red colors indicating a more intense surface tremor. USGS
There is no way. Indicate how many people adopted this course of action at the time of the earthquake, but it is rather comforting to see official recommendations being at least partially respected on social media channels. Remember, for the most part, that it is the flying debris that kills people during earthquakes, not for the collapse of buildings, although this ratio varies somewhat by location Where are you.
Earthquake?
As I said earlier, Anchorage is no stranger to earthquakes. The excellent summary of the USGS on tectonics in the region is well worth your time, but let me explain a further context.
This earthquake occurred at a time when the Pacific plate is moving down and down (subduction). ) under the North American plate of the Alaska-Aleutian Trench, a good distance south of the epicenter of this particular event. Grinding these plates means that seismic events are commonplace throughout the region; During the last century, fourteen earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater have occurred, with at least two earthquakes of a similar depth to the Anchorage event of November 30 .
This is a colossal and complex tectonic setting, where several types of earthquakes can occur. Summing up a bit, one could say that there are two types of faults that can cause earthquakes here: the normal push and the normal flaws.
Thrust faults tend to occur at shallower depths, where the Pacific plate starts early in its adventures. by diving into the mantle, the plate is generally in compression. This type of fault, where one block of rock moves over another, certainly causes jolts, the most powerful of which in US history: the magnitude 9.2 event of March 1964, whose rumblings in the Prince William Sound area generated a considerable tsunami. 19659003] In this case, however, it is not the antagonist. The detected motion of this earthquake, along with its depth and location, gave geoscientists, including Stephen Hicks, a seismologist at the University of Southampton, the suspicion that the fault was normal . This tends to occur further along the plate, but still at relatively shallow depths, where the plate bends.
Think of it as an eraser: when you fold one, the upper half stretches and extends. On the youngest and shallower part of a descending tectonic slab, this creates normal defects. It is a piece of rock that follows gravitation and falls in relation to another.
This is what happened under Anchorage. USGS data indicate that this normal fault has occurred far from the boundary between the Pacific and North American plates. Instead, the flaw has slipped somewhere in the Pacific plate further down the line, making this earthquake inside of a slab or a "slab". intraslab ".
It is interesting to note that earthquakes in the inaslab occur constantly at low or modest magnitudes, but they often involve a surge. fault at shallow depth. This one was a normal (potentially) more rare earthquake, which tends to be extremely energetic. Several places in the world, from Iran to Mexico, are suspected of being so powerful that the earthquake actually split their respective tectonic plates in two. As I explain here, these events were deeply curious for several reasons, but it's a different story for another time.
What will happen next?
In some ways, it is difficult to say. The topography, sedimentology, and geography here are complicated, but the current USGS analyzes suggest several things, so let's examine them individually.
The first is that any landslide caused by this earthquake "should be limited in number and / or In addition, few people live in areas likely to be affected by landslides, although damage and death in these areas "remain possible".
On the other hand, liquefaction – unconsolidated soils, helped by water, move like a fluid in case of earthquake – is considered to have a "significant gravity and / or spatial extent". Fortunately, the number of people living in areas at risk of liquefaction.
Again, there are estimates. Ground authorities are watching the situation closely.
Satellite View of a Scarce and Uncommon Day in Alaska Jeff Schmaltz / NASA GSFC
At the time of writing, aftershocks occur to varying degrees. There have been 67 of magnitude 3.0 or higher so far, and others are expected. Let's quickly review some definitions before explaining why.
The magnitude 7.0 event was probably the main shock, the most powerful quake in the sequence. Seismic replicas are defined as smaller earthquakes occurring after the main shock. USGS models estimate that there is a 3% chance that one or more aftershocks will be larger than the magnitude 7.0 major shock during the coming week, which means that it is extremely likely that the event 7.0 will remain the main shock.
The aftershocks should not be underestimated however: they can take people by surprise and continue to cause damage to the infrastructure.
It is in this spirit that the USGS estimates that in the coming week there will be between 84 and 610 aftershocks from at least 3.0, which are strong enough to make themselves felt if near the epicenter. There is also a 88% probability that an earthquake of magnitude 5.0 or higher will occur during the same time period. This is quite expected: the main shock has certainly resulted in the biggest breakup, but the normal fault, and perhaps others nearby, will continue to slide and loosen the accumulated stress over time.
The USGS stresses with care that "no one can predict the exact time or place of any earthquake, including aftershocks. In saying this, their models are rather effective in giving correct replica forecasts. Anchorage will undoubtedly continue to shake for a period of time, until the fault stops flowing at an indeterminate time in the future.
What does this earthquake do not mean?
As always after a major earthquake strikes near a populated area, some bullshit will spread on the web about what it means and what the future holds for us . So let's prevent some of these rumors and eliminate them in the bud.
No, this is not a sign of the Big One, neither in the Pacific Northwest nor in the California San Andreas Fault. Yes, on a very small scale – geologically speaking – earthquakes on a fault can cause other nearby faults to slide and produce more earthquakes. Lucy Jones, extraordinary seismologist at Caltech, just said it on Twitter but here's the important point she's quick to add: this only applies to the faults located at a distance of approximately 3 to 4 times that of the main fault
In this case, the earthquake could trigger other smaller earthquakes in faults within a radius of 160 kilometers (100 miles) . That's all. You will not initiate disasters on these more famous faults or on these tectonic plate boundaries.
Yes, this earthquake also occurred on the so-called Ring of Fire, but the Anchorage earthquake is not an omen of some kind of massive "disaster" or apocalyptic, disaster at the scale of the Pacific Ocean.
The Ring of Fire refers to the horseshoe-shaped network of the main tectonic boundaries around the Pacific Ocean. It is a vast and complex network, and as all the tectonic plates involved are continually changing and causing problems, earthquakes and volcanism will continually occur along it. In fact, the Ring of Fire accounts for 75% of the world's volcanoes and 90% of earthquakes. This event of 7.0 in Alaska is therefore appropriate.
(Speaking of volcanoes, Alaska is home to many active and inflamed mountains, but this earthquake was purely tectonic in nature It was not at all volcanic processes, unlike the seismic wave of Bonkers that emanated from the waters near Madagascar earlier this month.)
At the same time, the distances involved with the Ring of Fire are enormous and the limits of the plates are not some sort of fragile house of cards. A major earthquake in Alaska will have no effect on an ocean fault or even elsewhere on the same continent. If another major earthquake occurs on the Ring of Fire in the next few days, some tabloid newspapers will attempt to make you understand that there is indeed a link.
Do you know what he's really called? A coincidence.
I have not yet spotted this misinformation frequently heated, but I would not be surprised if they come back. Unfortunately, another villain has managed to make an unfortunate appearance: some social network accounts predict that a larger earthquake is imminent in the region.
I previously mentioned that the USGS estimated that there was a chance of about 3%. magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurring in the region over the next seven days. It is a possibility, but very low and certainly not the same as those who make confident predictions about an earthquake of such magnitude.
You do not have to take my word for it. Mike West, the seismologist of the state of Alaska, said a few hours ago to insist that rumors about a larger earthquake, with a specific schedule and absolute certainty, are "absolutely unfounded".
Noting that aftershocks will continue for some time, Mr. West added that "whenever an earthquake of this size occurs, there is a low probability, but not zero, that another earthquake of similar or larger size occurs. It's true this time too. However, detailed rumors about a given earthquake are simply not true. "
The project of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks to study the ionosphere of the Earth, the scientific effort of high frequency Active Auroral Research (or HAARP), often attracts the attention of conspiracy theorists. According to Earther's Maddie Stone it appears that they also acted preemptively to eliminate such nonsense in this situation. HAARP's Twitter account stated that not only did they not work at the time of the earthquake, but that HAARP "certainly did not cause the earthquake".
If you do not agree with this, you can simply enter the bloody sea.
What can I do to help you?
If you are a citizen of the Web, the answer is permanent. When it comes to earthquakes, eruptions, etc., be sure to only broadcast accurate information. Check your sources: ignore tabloids, avoid clickbait and see what reliable scientists and journalists say. If you see someone spreading an unfounded rumor, destroy it and instead provide facts, preferably with links to scientifically valid sources.
Disinformation is not just misleading: it can endanger the lives of people affected by the disaster online. try to decide what will be their next action. Be part of the solution: trust the scientists, share wisely and keep the mind smart.
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The USGS Shakemap of the event shows how the intensity of the jolt has moved away from the epicenter. USGS
As this has A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck deep within Anchorage on Friday morning at 8:29 am local time, with images of corrupt roadways and videos of violently shaken buildings shook social media. Explain precisely the cause of the earthquake, while keeping an eye on the dissemination of erroneous information on the web.
This article attempts to summarize everything that we know about the earthquake. event to date, based solely on seismological evidence from experts, as well as what the United States Geological Survey (USGS) says at the time of writing, as well as what might happen next, why, while refuting the rumes It may arise from the Inter The black became saturated over the hours.
What's going on?
According to the USGS, this powerful earthquake – which had originally reached magnitude 6.6 but quickly rose to 7.0 – was hit 13 kilometers north of Anchorage, at a depth of 40.9 km.
A tsunami warning for Cook Inlet and the Kenai Peninsula in the south of the country was issued early. Local authorities reportedly advised people to prepare for higher ground. However, the warning was quickly canceled after it became apparent that no tsunami threat existed. One of them had been issued as a precaution and because the probability of creating a tsunami could not be excluded at 100%.
Preliminary analyzes suggest that the most intense shocks occurred north of Anchorage, recording level VIII (on X) on the modified Mercalli scale, which describes the agitation of the surface. An index VIII means that the perceived shaking can be described as "severe" and that the potential damage varies from moderate to important. Anchorage itself has a mixture of intensities, but the highest reaches a VII, which delineates "very strong" tremors and moderate potential damage.
This is another visualization of ground motion showing the ground motion recorded by USArray during the Anchorage Earthquake (https://t.co/RIcNz4bgWq). #AnchorageEarthquake # earthquake pic.twitter.com/5ZbzvXOj5l
– IRIS Sci Earthquake (@IRIS_EPO) December 1, 2018
What's the problem? ] Judging by images and testimonies being shared on social networks damage to infrastructure is widespread. It is unclear how much the damage is and will be persistent, but the fragmentation of roads and school buildings suggests that the city was hit quite violently by the tectonic rumbling below. The governor of Alaska, Bill Walker, has issued a declaration of disaster
The USGS suspects that, according to seismic data received, there is a 64% chance that Economic losses range from $ 10 million to $ 1 billion. Remember, however, that these are estimates, so we will have to wait to find out what the final total is, which we will not know for some time.
In contrast, the USGS currently estimates that there is a 69 percent chance that a death will occur. This is good news: in other words, according to the agency, "there is little risk of suffering losses". At present, no deaths have been reported.
This highlights the fact that magnitude, although important, is not the only thing that counts for the potential for destruction of an earthquake. I've already written here a detailed article on why this is the case, but let me summarize here so that everything is clear.
In gross terms, the magnitude simply indicates the amount of energy released by the earthquake, and that is all. Many other factors come into play: the geographical location of the earthquake, the intensity of the event, the depth of the earthquake, the architectural design of the buildings affected, the education and awareness of the local population with seismological hazards, the sedimentary layers of the region. , the availability of resources for recovery and rescue efforts, and the earthquake's ability to trigger secondary geological hazards – such as landslides or tsunamis – all matter.
In this case, the earthquake was quite deep, which somewhat reduced its capacity. shake the buildings violently. This depth may also explain why jolts were widespread throughout the region, although this is little more than an enlightened guess for the moment. Anchorage is also no stranger to earthquakes (more on this in a moment) and, as indicated by National Geographic, the buildings are usually designed to withstand fairly intense shocks. That's why the damage, although serious, is not as catastrophic as you thought it was for a magnitude 7.0 earthquake.
It seems at the same time that at least some people acted appropriately during the quake, based on some of the images bouncing around Twitter. Again, I wrote a detailed article on what you should do in the event of an earthquake here, but the key is to fall right on the floor, cover yourself under a desk or a solid table and to wait for a minimum. a minute after the quake ceased, and that seems to be what several people did in Anchorage.
The shake map of the event, with more orange-red colors indicating a more intense surface tremor. USGS
There is no way. Indicate how many people adopted this course of action at the time of the earthquake, but it is rather comforting to see official recommendations being at least partially respected on social media channels. Remember, for the most part, that it is the flying debris that kills people during earthquakes, not for the collapse of buildings, although this ratio varies somewhat by location Where are you.
Earthquake?
As I said earlier, Anchorage is no stranger to earthquakes. The excellent summary of the USGS on tectonics in the region is well worth your time, but let me explain a further context.
This earthquake occurred at a time when the Pacific plate is moving down and down (subduction). ) under the North American plate of the Alaska-Aleutian Trench, a good distance south of the epicenter of this particular event. Grinding these plates means that seismic events are commonplace throughout the region; During the last century, fourteen earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater have occurred, with at least two earthquakes of a similar depth to the Anchorage event of November 30 .
This is a colossal and complex tectonic setting, where several types of earthquakes can occur. Summing up a bit, one could say that there are two types of faults that can cause earthquakes here: the normal push and the normal flaws.
Thrust faults tend to occur at shallower depths, where the Pacific plate starts early in its adventures. by diving into the mantle, the plate is generally in compression. This type of fault, where one block of rock moves over another, certainly causes jolts, the most powerful of which in US history: the magnitude 9.2 event of March 1964, whose rumblings in the Prince William Sound area generated a considerable tsunami. 19659003] In this case, however, it is not the antagonist. The detected motion of this earthquake, along with its depth and location, gave geoscientists, including Stephen Hicks, a seismologist at the University of Southampton, the suspicion that the fault was normal . This tends to occur further along the plate, but still at relatively shallow depths, where the plate bends.
Think of it as an eraser: when you fold one, the upper half stretches and extends. On the youngest and shallower part of a descending tectonic slab, this creates normal defects. It is a piece of rock that follows gravitation and falls in relation to another.
This is what happened under Anchorage. USGS data indicate that this normal fault has occurred far from the boundary between the Pacific and North American plates. Instead, the flaw has slipped somewhere in the Pacific plate further down the line, making this earthquake inside of a slab or a "slab". intraslab ".
It is interesting to note that earthquakes in the inaslab occur constantly at low or modest magnitudes, but they often involve a surge. fault at shallow depth. This one was a normal (potentially) more rare earthquake, which tends to be extremely energetic. Several places in the world, from Iran to Mexico, are suspected of being so powerful that the earthquake actually split their respective tectonic plates in two. Comme je l'explique ici, ces événements étaient profondément curieux pour plusieurs raisons, mais c'est une histoire différente pour une autre fois.
Que se passera-t-il ensuite?
À certains égards, il est difficile de le dire. La topographie, la sédimentologie et la géographie ici sont compliquées, mais les analyses actuelles de l'USGS suggèrent plusieurs choses, examinons-les donc individuellement.
La première est que tout glissement de terrain provoqué par ce séisme «devrait être limité en nombre et / ou En outre, peu de personnes vivent dans des zones susceptibles d'être touchées par des glissements de terrain, bien que des dommages et des morts dans ces zones "restent possibles".
D'autre part, la liquéfaction – les sols non consolidés, aidés par l'eau, bougent comme un fluide en cas de tremblement de terre – est considéré comme ayant une «gravité et / ou une étendue spatiale significative». Heureusement, le nombre de personnes vivant dans les zones à risque de liquéfaction.
Encore une fois, il s'agit d'estimations. Les autorités au sol observent attentivement l'évolution de la situation.
Vue satellite d'une journée rare et dégagée en Alaska Jeff Schmaltz / NASA GSFC
À l'époque d’écriture, des répliques se produisent à des degrés divers. Il y en a eu 67 de magnitude 3,0 ou plus jusqu'à présent, et d'autres sont attendus. Passons rapidement en revue quelques définitions avant d’expliquer pourquoi.
L’événement de magnitude 7,0 était probablement le choc principal, le séisme le plus puissant de la séquence. Les répliques sismiques sont définies comme des tremblements de terre plus petits se produisant après le choc principal. Les modèles de l'USGS estiment qu'il existe 3% de chances qu'une ou plusieurs répliques soient plus importantes que le choc principal de magnitude 7,0 au cours de la semaine à venir, ce qui signifie qu'il est extrêmement probable que l'événement 7,0 restera le choc principal.
Les répliques ne devraient pas soyez sous-estimé cependant: ils peuvent prendre les gens par surprise et continuer à causer des dommages à l’infrastructure.
C’est dans cet esprit que l’USGS estime qu’au cours de la semaine à venir, il y aura entre 84 et 610 répliques venant d’au moins 3,0, qui sont assez forts pour se faire sentir si près de l'épicentre. Il y a aussi une probabilité de 88% qu'un séisme d'une magnitude de 5,0 ou plus se produise au cours de la même période. Ceci est tout à fait attendu: le choc principal a certainement entraîné la plus grande rupture, mais la faille normale, et peut-être d'autres à proximité, continuera de glisser et de relâcher le stress accumulé au fil du temps.
L'USGS souligne avec soin que «personne ne peut prédire la L'heure ou le lieu exact de tout séisme, y compris les répliques. »En disant cela, leurs modèles sont plutôt efficaces pour donner des prévisions correctes de répliques. Anchorage continuera sans aucun doute à trembler pendant un certain temps, jusqu'à ce que la faille cesse de couler à un moment indéterminé de l'avenir.
Qu'est-ce que ce tremblement de terre ne signifie pas?
Comme toujours après un tremblement de terre majeur frappe près d'une zone peuplée, certaines conneries vont se répandre sur le Web à propos de ce que cela signifie et de ce que l'avenir nous réserve. Alors prévenons quelques-unes de ces rumeurs et éliminez-les dans l'œuf.
Non, ce n'est pas un signe du Big One, ni dans le nord-ouest du Pacifique, ni dans la faille de San Andreas en Californie. Oui, à très petite échelle – géologiquement parlant – les tremblements de terre sur une faille peuvent faire en sorte que d'autres failles à proximité glissent et produisent plus de séismes. Lucy Jones, extraordinaire sismologue à Caltech, vient de le dire sur Twitter mais voici le point important qu'elle se hâte d'ajouter: cela ne s'applique qu'aux défauts situés à une distance d'environ 3 à 4 fois celle de la faille principale
Dans ce cas, le séisme pourrait déclencher d’autres séismes plus petits dans des failles situées dans un rayon de 160 kilomètres (100 milles). That's all. Vous n'allez pas initier de catastrophes sur ces failles plus célèbres ou sur ces frontières de plaques tectoniques.
Oui, ce tremblement de terre a également eu lieu sur le prétendu Ring of Fire, mais le tremblement de terre d'Anchorage n'est pas un présage d'une sorte de «catastrophe» massive ou apocalyptique, catastrophe à l'échelle de l'océan Pacifique.
Le Cercle de feu fait référence au réseau en forme de fer à cheval des principales frontières tectoniques autour de l'océan Pacifique. This is a vast and complex network, and as all the tectonic plates involved are continuously shifting around and causing each other trouble, earthquakes and volcanism will continuously take place along it. In fact, the Ring of Fire features 75 percent of the world’s volcanoes, and 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes. This 7.0 event in Alaska, then, is par for the course.
(Speaking of volcanoes, Alaska is home to plenty of active, fuming fiery mountains, sure – but this quake was purely tectonic in nature. It didn’t involve volcanic processes at all, unlike that bonkers seismic wave that emanated from the waters near Madagascar earlier on this month.)
At the same time, the distances involved with the Ring of Fire are huge, and the plate boundaries aren’t some sort of fragile house of cards. One major quake in Alaska will have zero effect on a fault across the ocean or even one elsewhere on the same continent. If another major quake occurs on the Ring of Fire in the next few days, some tabloids newspapers will attempt to sell you that there is, in fact, a connection.
You know what it’s really called? A coincidence.
I haven’t spotted these frequently reheated pieces of misinformation doing the rounds yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they cropped up. Sadly, another common villain has managed to make an unwelcome appearance already: some nefarious social media accounts are predicting that a larger quake in the region is imminent.
Earlier on, I mentioned that the USGS estimated that there’s a roughly 3 percent chance of an earthquake of a magnitude 7.0 taking place in the area within the next seven days. That is a possibility, but a very low one, and certainly isn't the same as anyone making confident predictions about such a major quake.
You don’t have to take my word for it. Mike West, Alaska’s state seismologist, took to Twitter a few hours ago to stress that the rumours about a larger quake, featuring a precise timeframe and an absolutely certainty of occurrence, are “entirely unfounded.”
Noting that aftershocks will continue for some time, West added that “anytime an earthquake of this size occurs, there is a low but non-zero chance that another earthquake of similar or larger size could occur. This is true this time as well. However, detailed rumours about any particular earthquake are simply not true.”
The University of Alaska in Fairbanks project to study Earth's ionosphere, the High-frequency Active Auroral Research (or HAARP) scientific endeavour, often draws the attention of conspiracy theorists. As spotted by Earther’s Maddie Stoneit seems that they’ve also acted pre-emptively to quash such nonsense in this situation. HAARP’s Twitter account declared that not only were they not operating at the time of the quake, but HAARP certainly “did not cause the earthquake.”
If you disagree with this in any way, you can just get into the bloody sea.
What Can I Do To Help?
If you’re a citizen of the Web, the answer is evergreen. When it comes to earthquakes, eruptions and so forth, make sure you are only disseminating accurate information. Check your sources: ignore the tabloids, avoid clickbait, and see what scientists and reliable journalists are saying. If you see someone spreading an unfounded rumour, shoot it down and supply the facts instead, preferably with links to scientifically valid source material.
Misinformation isn’t just misleading – it can endanger lives as people affected by the disaster look online to try and decide what their next course of action will be. Be part of the solution: trust in scientist, share wisely, and keep your wits about you.
