California, known as the golden state, is the most populous state in the US.Southern California is home to Hollywood, which is in the neighborhood of Los Angeles. Despite the fact that the sign of Hollywood and the Walk of Fame are the most prominent tourist attractions in Hollywood, the greatest reason for its fame is the amazing films that have been created there. Both the Summer and Winter Olympics have been hosted by California. In 1960, Squaw Valley hosted the Winter Olympics, and in 1984 the Summer Games were held in Los Angeles. The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles is the world’s largest outdoor amphitheater, accommodating 17,500 people to watch movies under a spectacular open sky. California vineyards are world-renowned, and over 90% of all wine produced in the United States is by the Golden State. Another California attraction in Kern County is often called the golden empire due to its oil, gold, and agricultural production history.California is well known for its popular cities and counties like Santa Rosa, Santa Barbara, Imperial Valley, Chino Hills, Lone Pine, Western Nevada, Long Beach, and Las Vegas. Las Vegas is internationally renowned for its entertainment, fine dining, gambling, and nightlife. The Nevada region is the largest gold-producing state in Southern California. Port of Long Beach lies in Los Angeles County, one of the world’s largest shipping ports and second busiest container port in the United States.Are you interested to know about frequent disasters in California history? Read on!Reasons For Earthquakes In CaliforniaIn California, an earthquake occurs at any time of the year. According to the seismic data available, it’s found that Southern California has experienced 1.81 million tremblers during the years, which has recorded momentum magnitude of different ranges. The estimate shows that an earthquake hits California roughly every three minutes.Most California earthquakes are small in magnitude, and the damages are little or nil. Many moderate or major earthquakes in California have made their mark in history, and many are still remembered to date. But it is amazing to know that California experiences more than 100 smaller earthquakes per day. The earthquakes in California are caused because of the movement of enormous blocks of the earth’s crust, the Pacific and North American plates. Earthquakes occur due to sudden movements along faults within Earth. The movements of faults release ’elastic strain energy’ as seismic waves, which propagate through the inner crust of the earth, causing the ground surface to shake in high magnitude. These waves carry important information about the internal structure of Earth.Earth comprises several layers, the inner core, the outer core, and the mantle. Tectonic plates are 15 primary slabs that makeup Earth’s outermost layer. These plates move slowly, creating plate boundary deformation, which leads to earthquakes. The Pacific plate scrapes the North American plate horizontally while moving Northwest, 2 in (5.08 cm) per year. Almost two-thirds of tectonic movement takes place on the San Andreas fault and other parallel faults.Seismology And Geology In CaliforniaDue to the abundance of earthquakes in California, various studies have been conducted to predict and make necessary precautions beforehand to lower the aftermath of earthquakes. Seismology is a subject of geophysics that studies earthquakes and how seismic waves travel through Earth’s inner crust. Geology is a division of Earth science concerned with the liquid and solid earth and the rocks and the processes they change.Earlier geophysical surveys helped identify the structure and internal properties of Earth. There can be different goals for seismological investigation, including local, regional, or of global significance. It may attempt to determine structures in petroleum or mineral exploration or subsurface faults. Today seismology has devoted attention to earthquake prediction and assessing seismic hazards at different geographic sites to reduce the risks of earthquakes. Also, seismologists have conducted research on quakes induced by human activities like detonating underground nuclear explosions and impounding water behind high dams. The study aims to find different methods of discriminating between natural earthquakes and explosions.Modern geology overlaps all other earth sciences like hydrology and atmospheric sciences. So it is treated as one major aspect of integrated planetary science and earth system science. Geology describes the different characteristics of Earth; on and beneath its surface, and provides various tools to determine the absolute age and history of rocks found in a given location. It also provides evidence for plate tectonics, Earth’s past climate, and the evolutionary history of life. Finally, geology has become a major academic discipline and plays a significant role in geotechnical engineering.Conditions In The Aftermath Of An EarthquakeAs California is prone to having a series of earthquakes, another great quake in-state would cause excessive damage, and some may be beyond recovery. One of the major threats is the damage or collapse of different buildings. Since the two significant earthquakes that shook three decades ago, California has started looking more seriously at its seismic vulnerabilities.The aftermath of earthquakes is surface faulting, ground shaking, ground failure, and tsunami. The most important secondary effect of an earthquake is fire. Northern California was hit by the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, followed by the Northridge quake, which rocked California five years later; since then, the State Of California has made considerable improvements in seismic safety.Due to earthquake damage, the quake-hit region may experience interruptions in power, gas, and other important services. A huge earthquake on San Andreas would break inflammable pipelines, leading to explosions, leaving behind craters. Studies have shown that burst water pipes due to earthquakes would result in running water shortages in parts of Southern California for even six months. Another disaster could be unusable sewer lines, and people would have to use buckets or dig holes containing human waste.Comparing To Past EarthquakesOn comparing the list of previous earthquakes there are probabilities of one or more significant earthquakes with high magnitude on different parts of the San Francisco Bay region during the next 30 years. A major earthquake is likely to hit before 2032 as the entire San Francisco Bay region is under the threat of earthquakes.The Fort Tejon earthquake, which hit the US in 1857, was one of the greatest shakes ever reported. Even though the magnitude of the Fort Tejon earthquake was approximately seven in magnitude, officials reported only two people died due to the effect of the earthquake.Another major earthquake, known as the ‘San Francisco Earthquake Of 1989’ or the Loma Prieta earthquake, which hit the San Francisco bay area in California, was the strongest earthquake since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Another great earthquake of momentum magnitude 5.5 struck about 13 mi (20.92 km) from Ridgecrest on Jun 3, 2020, and it’s considered as a large, late aftershock of the 2019 Ridgecrest sequence.The last major earthquake struck little Antelope Valley near Nevada border on Jul 8, 2021, at 3:49 p.m. local time. The earthquake was widely felt and the ‘did you feel it reports’ submitted were over 25,000. It was one of the biggest earthquakes to strike California after the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake. There were a series of earthquakes in 2021 with magnitude ranging between four to eight plus. An earthquake with a momentum magnitude six or above is only included in the list of earthquakes unless they result in damage or casualties or are notable for some special reasons in California history.Aid Given After A Tsunami HitsAfter a natural calamity like a tsunami hits a region there are support systems to give people psychological control over their destiny which is crucial after a traumatic event, apart from other financial aids.Rescue activities include education, adoption of building codes, outreach, training exercises, and rehabilitation. There are many international aid agencies that coordinate all the rescue operations, as well as donations from the public.The international rescue committee responds by providing financial and technical support to the victims, providing grants to state governments to support asset mitigation, including floods, wildfires, hurricanes, and other disasters like earthquakes.Whenever disasters like tsunami strikes, UNICEF is the first on the ground to provide life-saving operations, including the largest humanitarian supply warehouse in the world. It enables the delivery of life-saving supplies anywhere in the world within 48-72 hours. During the tsunami, UNICEF also worked to save and protect vulnerable children and helped to build communities back to normal after a natural disaster.More than 150 tsunamis have hit the coastline of California since 1880, and the most recent devastating tsunami occurred in 2011, which caused $100 million of damage to the ports and harbors. The California Department of Conservation (DOC) is the home to the California Geological Survey tsunami unit (CGS), which has a vital role in the asset management plan. CGS assisted the California governor’s office of emergency services by providing background information on the earthquake and the likely impact in California before and after the tsunami arrived. After hitting the coast of Japan, the tsunami traveled across the Pacific Ocean and arrived at the California coast 10 hours later. Many communities were evacuated, and ports and harbors were frozen from the strong currents. There was only one fatality in California, but 27 ports and harbors sustained damage around $100 million.
California, known as the golden state, is the most populous state in the US.
