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In the year 2020, it seems anything can happen, and the latest anomaly is a rare 3.8 magnitude earthquake which struck the Florida Panhandle on Thursday; plus, some important earthquake facts you need to know.
A magnitude 3.8 earthquake struck on the border of Florida, at the Panhandle at 11:07 AM on Thursday, north of Pensacola just over the border from Alabama.
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Mobile, Alabama tweeted: “The USGS now reports that a 4.0 earthquake did occur along the FL/AL line just to the NW of Mount Carmel Florida at 1007 AM.”
Such seismic activity is uncommon in the area, but geologists say that the plate interiors are stressed and haven’t released such tectonic movement and 100 years, WJXT News4Jax reported.
There’s been a lot to worry about with the weather in 2020, and if worry really can age you, as they say – then it’s time to start searching for the best anti-aging serums, because more wild weather is ahead.
2020 has seen it all, weather of biblical proportions in the United States and around the world. Across the globe, giant swarms of locusts ravaged from East Africa to India, while 500-year floods occurred in Europe, while typhoons battered parts of the East, and a derecho with 140 mph winds flattened over 40% of corn and soybean crops in Iowa, CNN reports.
In the western US, unprecedented wildfires sparked by dry lightning struck California, as well as numerous heat records, were broken and more to come over Labor Day weekend. A hyperactive Atlantic hurricane season is churning and is far from over. And throughout the year, several earthquakes have occurred in diverse places.
A rare magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck North Carolina, near Sparta on August 9, the strongest to hit the state since 1916. It was also the strongest earthquake ever felt in East Tennessee, when a 4.7 struck in 1973, WBIR reported.
Lots of people were surprised when Idaho had a 6.5-magnitude earthquake on March 31. But in reality, Idaho does have its own hotspots of seismic activity.
But before you get too alarmed, the US geological survey (USGS) wants you to know that California isn’t the only place in the United States that’s seismically active. According to earthquake facts, the USGS records that as of April 2015, in terms of seismic activity of 3.0 or greater magnitude, Oklahoma has had 260 events, which is well ahead of California at 29 such events.
However, California does have the most damaging earthquakes.
The two states with the fewest earthquakes each year are Florida and North Dakota.
Further, according to long-term records (starting around 1900), the USGS says we should expect around 16 major earthquakes in any given year, comprised of 15 in the magnitude 7 range, and one earthquake around 8.0 or greater.
The most major earthquakes occurred in 2010, with 24 earthquakes greater than or equal to magnitude 7.0. The fewest major earthquakes occurred in 1989 (6) and 1988 (7).
