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by Anonymous on July 29th, 2008
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You're reading Is the epicenter of an earthquake akin to the eye of a storm?
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Comments
Wrong analogy since an earthquake epicenter is usually miles beneath the earth. Not on the surface where a stone tossed would hit the water.
by -O-uknow on July 29th, 2008
The reason it is akin to the eye of a storm is the damage outward of its true center is worse since the waves travel outward.
by -O-uknow on July 29th, 2008
If the epicenter is miles beneath the surface where it often is then on the surface there should be much damage.
by -O-uknow on July 29th, 2008
That's the way I learned it. Storms don't have concentric waves the way an earthquake or water ripples do.
by Anonymous on July 29th, 2008
Aye.. agreed but I'm mostly referring to the eye being calmer than outlying areas like a storm.
by -O-uknow on July 29th, 2008
I'd have to disagree with that, too. An earthquake is the release of tension on a fault line. That, in itself, is a violent action. When the epicenter is at or near the surface, this can be seen in things like cracked/moved pavement. This argues for the "ripples in a pond" analogy, in that the source is a violent event.
by Anonymous on July 29th, 2008
We just had an earthquake today. First time I've been in my car when any earthquake happened.
by shammers still slogging along on July 29th, 2008
I've been through a couple of little ones here in the Midwest (I live on the "fold-over" fault that formed the Appalachians), but never anything as big as what folks out west get.
by Anonymous on July 29th, 2008
This was a 5.4 and was really nothing. We are so used to them happening occasionally that we just go on with our day as long as there 's no damage which there seldom is.
by shammers still slogging along on July 29th, 2008
Yup. Must've been a slow news day because the news channels were all over it.
by Anonymous on July 29th, 2008
@Admiral.. The source is violent but the damage need not be as much as the surrounding area. This argues in favor of the eye of the storm.
by -O-uknow on July 29th, 2008
I disagree. When the hypocenter is at or near the surface, the damage in the immediate area is consistent with that in the surrounding area.
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And we've been using the wrong terminology. "Epicenter" is the surface point directly above an earthquake event. The actual center of the event is the "hypocenter".
by Anonymous on July 30th, 2008
Remember, the seismic waves travel in all directions from the hypocenter. Therefore, there is action at the epicenter, unlike the eye of a hurricane, which is calm.
by Anonymous on July 30th, 2008