An earthquake near Florida?

Question

What the fu(k was that about?

Answer 1

It was centered about 250 miles WSW of Bradenton Beach, Florida (Bradenton Beach is near Tampa). The final assessment was that is was a magnitude 6.0. It was originally assessed to be a 5.8. The depth of the earthquake was approximately 6.2 miles deep. It occured on Sunday, September 10, 2006.



http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2006/usslav/



The USGS official summary of the quake was that it was a "midplate" earthquake, not associated with a specific fault, that represented release of long-term tectonic stress. On February 10, 2006, a magnitude 5.2 quake took place in the same region. Over the past 16 years, at least 4 earthquakes have taken place in that area.



My own opinion, as a geologist who works in the Gulf of Mexico, is that there is likely to be an unknown and previously undetected fault associated with this earthquake. Much of Florida's deep basement rock is believed to have been part of what is now Africa, about 230 million years ago. It is possible that these unknown faults were created when Gondwana collided with Eurameria during the Carboniferous Period, about 350 million years ago. That collision formed a supercontinent called Pangea, that later rifted apart leaving parts of Florida behind as part of North America. Those ancient faults are probably still there.



To see some maps that show how Florida was once part of Africa go here:

http://www.scotese.com/jurassic.htm

and to see other periods of time go here:

http://www.scotese.com/earth.htm

Answer 2

It registered 5.8 on the global seismographs, even though the following article says 6.0. It usually takes 8 or 9 to create dangerous tsunami.



From TBO.com



A strong, 6.0 magnitude earthquake in the Gulf of Mexico sent shock waves throughout Florida and the southeast United States. The quake caused little damage but had many residents on edge.



The quake's epicenter was about 260 miles southwest of Tampa. Tremors from the 10:56 a.m. quake lasted up to 20 seconds in the Bay area.



Chris Warrington of Spring Hill had just returned home from the store and was putting away groceries when the trembling began.



"All of the sudden the fridge started shaking, the china was shaking, the whole house," he said.



The quake also caught meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Ruskin by surprise. Like many people in the Bay area, forecasters first thought the shaking was from a fighter jet breaking the sound barrier, meteorologist Rick Davis said.



"It's extremely unusual," he said. "Earthquakes in the Gulf of Mexico have occurred but are rare."



The quake had many residents concerned that the offshore rumblings could cause a tsunami, like the one that ripped through Southeast Asia in 2004. But Sunday's quake was too small to cause a tsunami, Davis said.



Florida is more accustomed to hurricanes than earthquakes, but a 5.2 magnitude quake was reported in the same area of the Gulf in February. However, it had minimal effect on land.



The last report of sizable tremors in Florida was in 1952, in Quincy, a small town about 20 miles northwest of Tallahassee.



U.S. Geological Survey reports from that year say the shock waves rattled windows and doors and "interfered with the writing of a parking ticket."



This time, emergency officials throughout the Bay area received calls from people asking what the shaking was but had no reports of damage or injuries.



Residents of Point Brittany, on the Isla Del Sol island community between St. Petersburg and St. Pete Beach, were evacuated briefly from the 15-story, age 55-plus condominium, said Lt. Rick Feinberg of St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue.



"They actually felt their building shake," said Feinberg, adding that no structural damage was found.



Back in Spring Hill, Warrington said he's just chalking up the earthquake on the list of natural disasters he has seen in Florida.



"California has nothing on us now," he said.

Answer 3

It happened in the Gulf of Mexico, a 6.6 I think, mid-afternoon. Pretty crazy, that's for sure. First thing I thought of was a Tsunami for all the Gulf Coast States, but thank goodness, that didn't happen.

Answer 4

You have a garabage mouth, but it was a 6.0 in the Gulf of Mexico.