Experts: Three Recent Powerful Earthquakes Not Related
Strong earthquakes in California, Japan, and Venezuela occurred within hours but are unrelated, experts say. The timing is coincidental, though the Venezuelan quakes may have been triggered by each other due to proximity.
A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck rural northern California on Wednesday. Hours later, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit northern Japan, and two powerful quakes rocked Venezuela, causing mass casualties. The events occurred within an eight-hour span, sparking online speculation about a possible connection. However, experts confirm they are not related.
According to William Barnhart, assistant coordinator for the US Geological Survey's earthquake hazards program, all episodes occurred along well-known plate boundaries with high seismic hazard, but their timing is purely coincidental. "Earthquakes happen every day all over the world. Most of them happen far from people," Barnhart said. "Yesterday was just a very peculiar day where you had a couple of fairly significant earthquakes happen in areas where people felt them."
While a large earthquake can trigger tremors elsewhere, Martin Hudson, an adjunct professor at UCLA, noted it is unusual for such a cascade effect to occur thousands of miles apart. "If you look at the last 100 years of earthquakes, we've never seen earthquakes this far apart be related," Hudson said.
In contrast, the initial 7.1-magnitude temblor in Venezuela likely triggered the subsequent 7.5-magnitude quake due to their proximity. "A fault might be ready to go, and then if there's a nearby earthquake, it causes it to tip over the edge," Hudson explained.
Hudson noted that in any given year, there are dozens of earthquakes greater than magnitude 7 worldwide. "It was a terrible happenstance that it was in a populated area in Venezuela," he added of the ongoing disaster, which has confirmed at least 188 deaths.
