OPINION (BW) – According to the LA Times, the seismic storm that unleashed more than 1,000 small earthquakes in San Bernardino and Riverside counties these last three weeks elicited what has become a typical reaction in quake country. To some, the “swarmageddon” 40 miles east of downtown Los Angeles brought fear that a bigger threat was coming. To others, as long as they didn’t feel a shake, it was easy to just put it out of their minds. California has small quakes all the time — a magnitude 3 every other day, on average. But not all of them act the same, and some bring more danger than others. As officials install more seismic sensors as part of the state’s early warning system, experts are getting an increasingly better look at California’s smaller earthquakes.
According to The Daily Mail, It’s reminiscent of activity near the San Andreas Fault three years ago that had some scientists on edge for a possible large triggered earthquake. While that never happened, a spike in small earthquakes can raise the chances of a bigger event, albeit only slightly. Scientists say people living in the earthquake-prone state. Meanwhile, the Daily Express claimed earlier today, a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded in Manhattan, Montana, just 100 miles from the Yellowstone caldera. Though the tremors were small, they will still be of interest to scientists due to the high possibility of a swarm, which can see hundreds of small earthquakes in a short period of time. USGS’s website explains: “Since 1973, there have been over 48,000 earthquakes located in the Yellowstone region. The Yellowstone Caldera is a supervolcano located below Yellowstone National Park in the Western US. READ MORE
