Houston Earthquake Essay

Houston, Seattle, and San Francisco have all experienced a fault shift. In the case of Houston, the likelihood of an earthquake is extremely low. The instances of a fault shift on that area of the North American Plate don't occur often. Earthquakes that occur are not by normal means of plates shifting but from the process of fluid extraction (Fehling 19). Seattle on the other hand has a very high probability of an earthquake occurring. There are three different types of quakes that the city experiences crustal quakes, they are the most common on the fault of Seattle. Intraplate quakes which go farther into the continental crust. Finally there are earthquakes that occur at the subduction zone of the converging North American and San Juan de
Although San Francisco is just a transform boundary, it's still capable of producing a large and dangerous earthquake. Although the city has taken precautions to help protect them from the dangers of earthquakes, if a large earthquake were to hit, the results could be devastating. Seattle lies near the Cascadian subduction zone, putting it at risk of a very powerful earthquake. Scientists say that the Cascadia has the potential to create an earthquake as high as a 9 on the Richter scale. These quakes are not as common as the ones you would get in San Francisco but it has the potential to be far more dangerous. Despite the incredible power of this earthquake, many experts believe that the distance and natural barriers like the Puget Sound would protect Seattle from taking the brunt of the earthquake. Unlike San Francisco, Seattle’s infrastructure is not designed to withstand earthquakes. Houston does not lie on a fault line, the only real risk of earthquakes comes from the frequent hydraulic fracking occurs in the area. These earthquakes are minor and usually unnoticeable so there's no real threat of
To understand which city would most likely experience the greatest magnitude in earthquakes, it is best to look back at history for evidence of past earthquakes. As stated above, Seattle can suffer earthquakes from the Seattle fault line as well as the Cascadia subduction zone. In 2001, the Nisqually earthquake hit eastern Washington with a magnitude of 6.8, although Seattle was just on the border of the earthquakes reach. Recently, geologists have discovered that an earthquake with a magnitude as high as 7 occurred at the Seattle fault line over a thousand years ago. Houston lies on multiple faults known together as the Long Point Eureka Heights fault system. Houston however has no recorded history of earthquakes appearing within its borders, so it’s safe to predict that no high magnitude earthquakes will occur in this city. San Francisco lies on the San Andreas Fault, where high intensity earthquakes have frequently occurred. In the past two hundred years, multiple earthquakes with a magnitude 6 or higher have occurred within or very near the city of San Francisco. The most notable of these was in 1906, when the city experience an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8. Based on past history as evidence, San Francisco can be expected to experience an earthquake of the highest magnitude in comparison to Houston and