What’s happening with earthquakes in the United States this month?
So far this month, we’ve seen a large earthquake in Northern California, another major one in Alaska, and now nine separate U.S. states being impacted at the same moment.
This weekend, earthquakes struck nine states in the United States at the same time, including California, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Texas, Kansas, Alaska, New Mexico, and Washington.
The shocks occurred a week after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Northern California, triggering a tsunami alert. Those who live near fault lines are in for a scare.
A photo depicts the sites where earthquakes struck in the United States during the weekend.
Nine separate states in the United States were affected simultaneously.
While some are concerned that a rise in earthquakes may indicate a larger one, one expert stated that this is common behavior.
“A temporary increase or decrease in seismicity is part of the normal fluctuation of earthquake rates,” explained a USGS spokeswoman to Newsweek. “Neither an increase nor decrease worldwide is a positive indication that a large earthquake is imminent.”
Fortunately, none of the earthquakes that occurred this weekend were large enough to cause damage. According to reports, they all had magnitudes between 3.0 and 4.0.
“When looking at earthquake data over the past 30 days, next to California, earthquakes seemed to strike most frequently in Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Texas and Oklahoma,” according to Newsweek.
“Over the last week, the most powerful earthquakes have impacted California and Nevada. The tremors that struck Friday morning were unlikely to do any damage.
Stay safe out there, everyone. Make sure you have a plan in place in case an earthquake strikes.