IMPORTANT: The "Ring of Fire" Earthquakes

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

And I don't mean Johnny Cash's song. Those of you who live on the west coast of North America, I highly recommend that you watch this video.

The "Ring of Fire" earthquakes going clockwise, beginning with Chile late last year, the one recently in New Zealand, and the last major one in Japan last Friday. Guess who's next in line in the "ring?" The Pacific Coast of North America. Yeah, I'd definitely be worried if I lived over there. I don't think these are coincedences.

Remember the reports of all those fish dying and birds falling? I KNEW it had to do something with the magnetic fields and changes in the water. I should be a freakin' scientist or something with these instincts of mine.

Watch for the warning signs, my friends on the West Coast. And be safe.

[Night-Hunter]

DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT!!! I live two hours away from Seattle and I easy see Mt. Rainer... great so I can watch it go boom when it happends. *forehead meets desk*

[Optimal Optimus Primal]

I hope you'll be fine, N-H. I've seen Rainier a few times from Vancouver; it's quite beautiful. ...When it's asleep. Heh. Didn't realize you were so close to it. Seattle, Washington is located on or near a major fault line. Just be aware over the next week or so; the quake specialist predicts it to be around March 19th to the 26th. Keep an eye on the news about significant amounts of dying fish and birds dropping from the sky, and animals running through cities (who are most likely running AWAY from the danger). Follow the animals!

I'm a little more worried about the super volcano under Yellowstone. An enormous quake on the west coast could trigger something underground causing it to erupt. Then the whole planet will be screwed.

I hope people take this seriously, just in case, when it comes to the nuclear power plants on the west coast. Let's learn from Japan's tragedy and make sure we have a better handle on such a situation if an earthquake occurs near one.

Also, I hope Obama gets done with his partying, golfing and traveling soon so he can actually possibly lead his own country through such a crisis. He obviously has shown little care for Japan, among other things that go on even in the US. Silly puppet.

[GoktimusPrime]

I just found out earlier this evening that a Transformer fan in Japan whom I've interacted with for the past 11 years is okay. *phew* I've been spending the past week checking up with folks in Japan... that Transfan and one other guy were the last two on my checklist, so everyone I know is okay, thank Primus. Likewise all the TF fans I know in New Zealand are fine too, although I saw photos of this one dude's Transformer collection with toys scattered on the floor... looked like it had been ransacked.

HobbyLinkJapan posted a video where they recorded the earthquake live here - and they have photos of the aftermath to their office and warehouse here. But amazingly they still managed to ship off my United Grapple earlier this week! Everyone I know in Japan have just been telling me that it's life as usual, people are just moving along (although I don't know anyone who lives within the immediate vicinity of Sendai or Fukushima).

[Phoenix]

I don't know how involved magnetic field shifts are with Earthquakes going about.. It's true that the magnetic poles change places once in a while, as has been the case in the past too. But as sad as these recent earthquakes are, there's been many other severe earthquakes that do not fit this 'ring of fire' in recent years.

Our planet is very much so alive, with a crust that moves in different directions and thus you have mountain ranges, volcanoes and earthquakes being much more severe and frequent in the locations that happen to be in areas where these plates of the crust meet or drift apart.

California and surrounding areas happens to be near where two plates are rubbing up against each other, thus putting them at very high risk. But I wouldn't necessarily connect that to a 'ring', as that seems to ignore many other locations around the globe that have had serious earthquakes or a lot of volcanic activity in recent years..

Japan had an 8.3 earthquake back in 2003.
New Zealand had an 8.1 in 2004.
Same year Indonesia had a whooping 9.1, which caused the massive tsunami that killed 230K + people.
In 2005 Pakistan had a 7.6 earthquake that killed 80,000 people.
Russia had an 8.3 in 2006, and another 8.1 in 2007.
Also in 2007 the Solomon Islands shook from a 8.1. Peru followed up with a 8.0, and Indonesia had an 8.5.
The Samoan Islands in the pacific ocean rumbled to a 8.1 in 2009.
Following up was Haiti with a 7.0 quake that killed 316K in 2010.
Same year Chile suffered an 8.8, and China, India, and Sumatra also shook a fair deal.
The recent one in New Zealand was actually just a minor quiver compared to some of the giants we've had this past decade, being a mere 6.3 with 166 fatalities.
And of course last, but certainly not least, the 9.0 in Japan.

[Night-Hunter]

Oh, i'm so conviced that we're all gonna die in 2012, i'm only going to be 22! *forehead meets desk again*

[Phoenix]

Oh, i'm so conviced that we're all gonna die in 2012, i'm only going to be 22! *forehead meets desk again*

Uh uh. :p I have not gone through these past nearly 7 months of random nausea&vomiting, gastric reflux, finger tingling and bad leg cramps, extreme fatigue, general malaise, no immune system so the cold I have been struggling with seems endless, headaches, and house buying & moving, only to have the world end when our son is a mere year old. :p Not happening.

[Razor One]

I don't buy what that guy is talking about in the video. Correlation does not imply causation. Especially since part of his pet theory happens to have been invalidated.

I'm pretty sure the Earth's magnetic field has very little to do with tectonic stresses. The diamagnetic field of the Earth is actually generated in the core via the convection of heat through the mantle and rotation. Earthquakes are a purely crustal phenomena where tectonic plates get stuck and then slip and rip past each other releasing the stresses built up over the years.

The "Ring of Fire" is just the area surrounding the boundaries of the Pacific Plate where Earthquakes are more likely to occur, it does not of course discount other regions where continental plates are in collision. The reason why it's somewhat more notorious than others is because it tends to be the largest section of tectonically active crust where people actually live.

Japan had an 8.3 earthquake back in 2003.

RoF

New Zealand had an 8.1 in 2004.

RoF

Same year Indonesia had a whooping 9.1, which caused the massive tsunami that killed 230K + people.

RoF

In 2005 Pakistan had a 7.6 earthquake that killed 80,000 people.

Pakistan sits roughly on the confluence of the Indian and Asian continental plates, the same ones that are colliding currently driving up the Himalayas. The same mechanism that causes the Ring of Fire

Russia had an 8.3 in 2006, and another 8.1 in 2007.

Both of those occurred around the Kuril Islands... which is on the RoF.

Also in 2007 the Solomon Islands shook from a 8.1. Peru followed up with a 8.0, and Indonesia had an 8.5.

RoF. RoF. And RoF.

The Samoan Islands in the pacific ocean rumbled to a 8.1 in 2009.

RoF.

Following up was Haiti with a 7.0 quake that killed 316K in 2010.

Where the Caribbean plate is colliding with the North American plate.

Same year Chile suffered an 8.8, and China, India, and Sumatra also shook a fair deal.

RoF.

The recent one in New Zealand was actually just a minor quiver compared to some of the giants we've had this past decade, being a mere 6.3 with 166 fatalities.

RoF.

And of course last, but certainly not least, the 9.0 in Japan.

...and RoF.

Almost all of those locations sit on the Ring of Fire. Only the Haiti and Pakistani quakes didn't sit on it and those were still at tectonic boundaries.

Oh, i'm so conviced that we're all gonna die in 2012, i'm only going to be 22! *forehead meets desk again*

Relax. People have been saying the world would end since... 2800 BC or so. It's still here. Mostly. They said it would end again in 634 BC... or at least the Romans thought so. Ditto for 666 AD, just have one guess why. Same with 999 AD, the "New Millenium" was scary to most people. Again in 1666. Have a guess. The year 2000 was another big date and a double whammy with Y2K AND the "End of the World" wingnuts along with the New Age idiots screaming about disaster and world changing events that passed us by with nary a whisper.

6 / 6 / 2006 was another day the world was meant to end. And now they're saying 21 / 12 / 2012 is yet another day the world will end?

By this point I've survived so many Apocalypses I may as well be Ragnarok Proof.

That and there are suckers born every minute.

Trust me when I say this, when someone says "The End is Nigh!" they're just a crackpot, an idiot, a sensationalist, or a conman trying to make you part with your hard earned cash. Do not discount the possibility that they may in fact be all of these things at the same time.

Still think the 2012 doomsday crap is legit? Look at your calendar. Go on. Now flip through it. Keep going. Did it end on December 31st 2011? HOLY SLAG! WE PREDICTED THE END OF THE WORLD! OH. MY. PRIMUS. QUICK! TO THE LIFEPODS!

The only reason the Mayan calendar stops at 21 / 12 / 2012 is because a calendar has to stop somewhere. When you run out of days on your calendar you get a new calendar. The Mayans were thinking the exact same thing. Anyone that thinks they predicted the end of the world is an idiot.

Of course, this discounts the possibility that the ancient Mayans were in fact trolling the lot of us from over a thousand years ago. If they were, not only were they the first trolls, they were the broadest thinking, most intelligent, most widely reaching and most Magnificent trolls to have ever existed. Seriously. Hats off to them if that was their intention.

On to something slightly more constructive. I've already donated to help the poor folks over in Japan. Frankly it's the least I can do.

Threadless currently has a T-Shirt Challenge going on. The winning design will have 100% of the profits go towards the relief efforts.

I'm currently in love with This and This. Definitely picking up a few of either of them if they win. While it's not my place to plug things, I figure it's for a good cause. I suggest creating an account there, casting a vote and buying a shirt. You'll be donating to the relief efforts and you'll be getting a neat T-Shirt. Everybody wins.

[Phoenix]

My point with posting all those earthquake facts was not to disprove the ring of fire's existence. I'm well aware it does exist, and it covers a HUGE territory that is pretty much running through at a third of the globe.

Nevertheless I argue the video guy's claims that simply because there have been a number of ring of fire earthquakes lately, that the next big one is bound to hit any specific location. It's a well known fact that the California region has been waiting for 'the big one' for a while now. Sooner or later it's bound to happen, but it may not necessarily be as devastating as certain 'doomsday' sayers claim.

[Razor One]

Ah, fair point, I agree fully.