California: Earthquakes Are Increasing, But Scientists Aren’t Sure What It Means

Luke 21:10-11, “Then He said to them, ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven …’”

Romans 8:22, “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.”

By Rong-Gong Lin II, LA Times – “No, it’s not your imagination: The Los Angeles area is feeling more earthquakes this year.

After a relatively quiet period of seismic activity in the Los Angeles area, the last five months have been marked by five earthquakes larger than 4.0. That hasn’t occurred since 1994, the year of the destructive Northridge earthquake that produced 53 such temblors.

Over the next two decades, there were some years that passed without a single quake 4.0 or greater.

Earthquake experts said 2014 is clearly a year of increased seismic activity, but they said it’s hard to know whether the recent string of quakes suggests that a larger one is on the way.

‘Probably this will be it, and there won’t be any more 4s. But the chance we will have a bigger earthquake this year is more than if we hadn’t had this cluster,’ U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones said. ‘Every earthquake makes another earthquake more likely.’

Quakes in the magnitude 4 range are large enough to be felt over wide areas but generally too small to cause much damage. The largest this year was a magnitude 5.1 in La Habra, which caused several million dollars in damage. Others hit Fontana and Rowland Heights.

But scientists are particularly intrigued by the other two quakes, which were centered along the 405 Freeway under the Santa Monica Mountains.

In addition to a 4.4 quake March 17 in Encino and Sunday’s 4.2 temblor a few miles away in Brentwood, 15 earthquakes between magnitude 1.0 and 2.5 hit between January and March in the Santa Monica Mountains near Wilacre Park.

The quakes show that seismic activity underneath the Santa Monica Mountains is increasing …” Read more.

Flashback: There Are Almost As Many Earthquakes Rattling Oklahoma As California This Year, ‘We Haven’t Seen This Before’ – “Mile for mile, there are almost as many earthquakes rattling Oklahoma as California this year. This major increase in seismic shaking led to a rare earthquake warning today (May 5) from the U.S. Geological Survey and the Oklahoma Geological Survey. In a joint statement, the agencies said the risk of a damaging earthquake— one larger than magnitude 5.0 — has significantly increased in central Oklahoma. Geologists don’t know when or where the state’s next big earthquake will strike, nor will they put a number on the increased risk.” Read more.