Yay, a second edition of Do You Know That! Here, we will be going into the seismic world. Grab some pickaxes and helmets and don’t fall into the earth’s core!

Anyways, let’s begin.

1. The maximum possible magnitude for an earthquake is determined by the fault line’s depth, length, and speed in which it ruptures. Currently, history and our knowledge of faults and quakes have shown that the highest possible earthquake that the earth can generate is a magnitude 9.5. So don’t worry about any 10s causing California to fall into the sea!
2. However, there is a theory about fault lines called supershear rupturing in which the fault line could rupture at a speed higher than its limits dictate. In this case, the seismic waves would form a cone-shaped pattern, similar to what happens during a sonic boom.
3. Contrary to popular belief, California is not the state in which a quake would be the most damaging. After all, the state has had a trillion earthquake drills and the buildings there were built to be earthquake-resistant. A far more damaging site would be the Missouri, in the heartland of the United States. This is thanks to the New Madrid Fault Line, a fault created when North America attempted to rift itself apart millions of years ago. This left that area seismically weak, so a fault line formed. It ruptured several times from 1811 to 1812, which it demolished the town of New Madrid, woke up the President in D.C., and even made the Mississippi River flow sdrawkcab(read that word with a mirror)! Read more here.
4. The Cascadia Subduction Zone, off the coast of Washington and Oregon, ruptures with a magnitude 9 every 300 years. As it last ruptured in the early 1700s, we’re kind of overdue. That’s definitely not good.
5. Relating to the first fact, while a 10 cannot be generated by a fault, extraterrestrial events like asteroid impacts can release energy with the force of a 10( the amount joules equivalent to the force of one is about 63.1 exajoules). This happened in Mexico 65 million years ago, when that asteroid hit the Yucatan Peninsula. Though, if you consider the fact that an impact like that would’ve caused firestorms on every landmass on the planet, the earthquake would probably be the least of your worries.

That’s all folks! Stay tuned for more!