2006-10-20 18:01:11 · 15 answers · asked by justsomedumbgirl 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Geography
There was an earthquake in upstate New York sometime around 2002 (plus or minus a year). I was woken up at five in the morning by the shaking. My bed was rocking back and forth and things were falling off the walls. When I saw the news reports that reported an earthquake I was surprised because I didn't know we could have earthquakes here. I didn't know there was a plate that ran through northern NY and southern Canada.
2006-10-20 18:12:26 · answer #1 · answered by Harry Manback 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are earthquakes happening all over the world most of the time. The majority are so slight they do not register with us.The East coast of USA is not near a fault line [ a fault in the earth's crust which allows the tectonic plates to move-buckle-scrape together ]. The major fault line in the US is in California[ San Andreas fault] It is part of the Pacific Rim fault that surrounds the Pacific ocean and so that is where major quakes can occur.
Try here for more info: wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologic_fault.
2006-10-21 01:21:01 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There have not been major quakes in NY because it is not near the edge of a tectonic plate. the edges that tend to generate significant earthquakes are usually on the side of the continent away from Africa (the west coast of the Americas, and the east coast of Asia.
2006-10-21 02:06:45 · answer #3 · answered by actuator 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Who says there are no earthquakes in New York? There have been recurring quakes recorded there since 1730. Type "earthquakes in New York" on you browser's search line and see at least 289 references.
2006-10-21 01:18:04 · answer #4 · answered by eferrell01 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because there may not be the symptoms for volcanic eruption as
A volcano erupts when the pressure of magma within the volcano gets so high that it fractures its way to the surface. When molten rock is below the surface we call it "magma" and once it has reached the surface we call it "lava" if it is flowing or "pyroclastic material" (ash, cinders, etc.) if it is being blown apart and thrown into the air. Many volcanoes have magma chambers that always have a certain amount of magma inside them.
so we should see what is the reason for volcanic eruption whenever we are confused in these type of questions....
2006-10-21 02:51:38 · answer #5 · answered by apurva 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's nowhere near a fault line, I would imagine.
Okay, I found a website that has a picture of the fault lines in the US. You can see for yourself that there are no fault lines near NYC:
http://channelevents.aol.com/research/natgeo/print/earthquakes.adp
I, myself, have spent all but about 2 years of my life living in an earthquake prone area. I keep thinking I should get a good rattling some day. Maybe I should move away from the fault lines...
2006-10-21 01:06:16 · answer #6 · answered by Bronwen 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The ground is also a little bit stronger on the north-eastern coast. California is stucked between two Earth crust faults, so it gets much stronger earthquakes.
2006-10-21 01:04:18 · answer #7 · answered by icez 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are very minor ones. But the plate edge happens not to be near New York, and the one that is closest is just not that active.
2006-10-21 01:03:29 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
New York, as most of the eastern sea board, does not sit on a fault line.
2006-10-21 01:29:50 · answer #9 · answered by brobob46 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are. We had a 4.5 about 5 years ago.
It is said Manhattan is due for a huge one!
2006-10-21 01:04:30 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋