Rockin' & Rollin'

Hey, Notok, I was in Portland for the 1st time about 2 years ago. Was that Mt St Helens that I saw way off to the north? Were you in Portland for the big blast in May, '80? Also reminds me of visiting Mt Hood. What a beautiful place!

 

Don't give up hope just yet.

"Mount St. Helens quiets after spewing ash, but pressure building again..."

 

If I could stick around a few million more years, I'd probably see some pretty dramatic changes around here. Read on....
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Faults literally moving mountains

Expert says rumblings signal larger forces at work in active southern Sierra

By MATT WEISER, Californian staff writer
e-mail: mweiser@bakersfield.com

Posted: Friday October 1st, 2004, 11:20 PM
Last Updated: Friday October 1st, 2004, 11:43 PM


The 5.0-magnitude earthquake that rocked Kern County on Wednesday is one bruise in a slugfest taking place in the southern Sierra Nevada, a battle between converging faults that is slowly tearing apart the mountain range.
Seismic experts say the quake, centered about 11 miles north of Keene, could mean more earthquake activity in the Bakersfield area, but not necessarily in a time frame that matters to any of us.

"This is, by far, one of the most complex seismic zones in the southern Sierra," said Gerald Bawden, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey. "We're seeing something new happening here that has not happened before."

Several years ago, Bawden's research revealed a newborn fault in the area of Wednesday's quake. But the latest temblor was not part of that new fault, he said, which makes it all the more puzzling.

It hit in a seismically rich triangle roughly bounded by Bakersfield, Isabella Lake and Tehachapi. Most quakes in the area move up and down. This one moved sideways, and it moved in a north-south direction, also unusual for the area.

It also did not occur on any known fault, though it may signal that yet another unknown fault is waking up after a long slumber. This happened ominously in 1994 when the Northridge quake struck on a hidden fault, causing 57 deaths and $40 billion in damage. (Note: the Northridge quake was of the "thrust" type, coming virtually straight up from deep in the earth....as opposed to the "strike-slip" type caused by plates scraping horizontally. SSgtMax)

Wednesday's quake was centered in remote cattle-grazing country along Placeritas Creek, almost midway between Breckenridge Mountain and Oiler Peak.

It probably was not strong enough to alter the ground surface, unlike the larger 1946 and 1952 quakes in the same area. Those severely damaged Tehachapi and Bakersfield, shifted railroad tracks, crumpled waterworks along the Kern River, and opened huge cracks in the ground.

Longtime Walker Basin cattleman Bill Rankin owns the land where the quake was centered. He noticed that the quake's sliding motion felt different.

"It was just kind of sharp jerks, and there was kind of a cracking noise. That was about it," he said. "The Northridge quake, you felt it a lot more than you did this one. This one just had a little more noise with it, that's all."

Actually, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, there have been more than 90 aftershocks associated with Wednesday's quake, considered normal. Only a few were big enough to be felt. The largest measured 3.0 at 6:12 p.m. Thursday.

Bawden and other experts say Wednesday's temblor hints at a process that is slowly breaking apart the Sierra Nevada as two massive hunks of the Earth's crust slowly slide past each other on the San Andreas fault.

"This is going to take millions of years, and we're seeing this in its infancy," said Bawden. "Basically, Mother Nature is in the process of taking some scissors and ripping some holes."

The infant fault Bawden documented appears to be an eastward expansion of the White Wolf fault. It may be growing to deal with the stress caused by the forces that are crushing the Sierra Nevada.

In the process, it is also conflicting with the nearby Breckenridge and Kern Canyon faults. Bawden said this could signal the start of a "battle among faults," much as the San Andreas and Hayward faults trade punches in the Bay Area.

"It seems this block of Earth that's kind of around Caliente is trapped between (the faults), and it's slowly reacting to the different pressures," said Nathan Niemi, a geologist and researcher at California Institute of Technology who has studied the area.

Niemi said the alternating basin-and-range geography that defines Nevada is slowly creeping westward as part of the process of plate collisions. Reno and Salt Lake City were once much closer together, he said, but have been slowly pulled apart.

The appearance of a new fault, like the one identified by Bawden, could signal the basin-and-range pattern is trying to expand by taking a slice out of the Sierra, like removing a piece of bread from a loaf.

"If a new fault was to form in the center of the Sierra Nevada ... it would mean more seismic activity in Bakersfield," he said. "But this is something that would be thousands of years in the making."

Bawden said Wednesday's quake may be a sign that the Breckenridge fault, which spans the gap between the White Wolf and Kern Canyon faults, is becoming "a player" in an already seismically active area. Or it could simply represent a release of tension between faults already grappling with each other.

Either way, he said, these forces need more study.

"From my point of view, I'll say these are exciting times," said Bawden. "I have no idea if this is just a random earthquake or the start of something new. Time will tell."

 

Yup, the one to the north with no point. I know they're talking about more, but I doubt we're going to have a repeat of the 1980 event, at least for a while (I was here, but really too young to remember.)

Portland's great for that, no matter which direction you go, there's somewhere great to visit only an hour or two away. Now if only we could keep you damn Californians from ruining it! (kidding)

I just think it's funny that we have our little natural disaster here and everyone is disappointed, as though we're not satisfied unless someone dies. Then there's the Californians: "did you hear about our EARTHQUAKE?! WOOOO!!"

 

No offense taken! I understand the sentiments. I was such a newbie to Oregon in 2002 that I got yelled at for trying to pump my own gasoline when we stopped to fill up in Ashland. They really enforce the "ATTENDANT ONLY" law. Also came to LUV not having to pay sales tax. If an item said $8.99 on the price tag, that's exactly what it cost @ the check-out counter. KOOL!

BTW, I also had tix for a performance of Macbeth @ the Shakespeare Festival on the return trip thru Ashland. Really enjoyed that. The worst thing about the trip were the fires raging in the southern part of the state. Lotsa smoke everywhere. We canceled a planned visit to Crater Lake because other travelers said it was too smokey to appreciate the usual beauty of the place.

Last add: there was a pretty good rainstorm that blew thru Ashland on our last night there. I had to retrieve a flashlight from our car in the motel parking lot @ about 3:00 AM. The power was out throuhout the city. As I looked up @ the sky, I was stunned to see the beauty of the Milky Way & so many stars that I'd not seen in years. Here in the Southern San Joaquin Valley we're deprived of such panoramic views because of very poor air quality much of the time.

 

Hopefully we can keep it that way :/

Next time you're around that area you'll have to stop through bend and see the giant hole in the ground and the skeleton caves (pretty much the same location from what I remember.) I still really want to make it to the Oregon Vortex, in Gold Hill by the CA border, one of these days, too:
http://www.oregonvortex.com/

For the stars, no location on earth beats Hug Point 5 mins south of Cannon Beach on the coast! Just don't trip over all the kids on psychedelics completely floored by the view, waiting to be washed away by the ocean (We never get that kinda view here in Portland either.)

 

From CNN:

Mount St. Helens eruption warning

Scientists warn Saturday that Mount St. Helens could erupt within 24 hours, and with more force than previously expected. "There is a 50 percent chance or greater that there is going to be an eruption and a good chance that it will involve magma," said the U.S. Geological Survey's Tom Pierson. "We're watching very closely." On Friday the volcano spewed a harmless plume of steam and ash into the air but it was still the biggest eruption by the volcano in 18 years.

 

What's shakin' ?

 

view 6 some minutes ago

 

Gotta link for that?