Multiple earthquakes rattle California and Hawaii on Friday
Several quakes hit the western half of the United States on Friday, with widespread shaking felt across Hawaii and southern California
Folks across the western United States saw a shaky end to the week on Friday as multiple earthquakes hit southern California and Hawaii’s Big Island.
None of Friday afternoon’s earthquakes resulted in major damage per local news reports, and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) said in statements that no tsunamis were expected as a result of any of the shaking.
DON’T MISS: How Metro Vancouver is earthquake-proofing its reservoirs for the 'Big One'
Hawaii earthquake rattles the Big Island
The day’s first and strongest earthquake struck the southern tip of Hawaii’s Big Island late Friday morning local time. Centred around 70 km southwest of Hilo, the quake registered as a 5.7M according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Shaking was felt as far away as Honolulu, which is on the island of Oahu a few hundred kilometres northwest of the epicentre.
Friday’s earthquake was the largest of a series of nearly 20 quakes measuring a magnitude 2.5 or stronger recorded over the past seven days. The 5.7M quake was likely caused by “lithospheric flexure,” according to the USGS, which means that this was likely the result of the weight of the young Hawaiian Islands causing oceanic crust to bend and crack.
No major damage was reported across Hawaii as a result of the tremors on Friday. The USGS predicts that there’s a 98 percent chance of an aftershock of 3.0M or greater in the next week.
Several small quakes hit California a few hours later
A few thousand kilometres east, folks across southern California rounded out the workday with several small tremors of their own. A series of earthquakes hit about 10 km west of Malibu, Cali., just before 3:00 p.m. local time on Friday.
MUST SEE: New early quake warnings could save lives, infrastructure in B.C., experts say
The largest of the bunch registered as a magnitude 4.7, with several smaller shakes following in rapid succession. Data collected by the USGS shows more than 30 small earthquakes have occurred west of Malibu in the past day, with 17 of those measuring 2.0M or stronger.
While the 4.7M quake was large enough for people and pets alike to feel the shaking, it wasn’t large enough to cause any significant damage across the region.
Friday’s earthquakes occurred in two of the most geologically active regions on the planet.
California rests right along the edge of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates. These two plates slide past one another—Pacific to the northwest, North American to the southeast—in a process that triggers frequent and sometimes intense earthquakes across the Golden State.
Hawaii is a volcanic island chain that resides almost smack dab in the middle of the Pacific tectonic plate. The Big Island is subject to frequent earthquakes as magma travels beneath Earth’s crust and sometimes breaks through to the surface, especially in and around the highly active Kilauea volcano.
