Don’t Look Now, but It’s a Quiet Quake Year
People in Bishop and Palm Springs might not believe it, but according to the U.S. Geological Survey, the Earth isn’t shaking quite so much this year--at least not yet.
The survey reported that 21 “significant earthquakes” were recorded in the first half of the year.
If it keeps up at that rate, the annual total will fall well below last year’s 67 significant quakes, and even trail the 47 recorded in 1984, the lowest total since 1977, the USGS said.
Although thousands of quakes occur every year, most are so small they are never felt except by technical instruments. Thus, reports on annual activity concentrate on significant tremors.
A significant quake is one that measures at least 6 on the Richter scale, or a lesser one that causes a considerable amount of damage, deaths or injuries.
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