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jlf1961 -> RE: Okay, another reason NOT to visit <insert country> (9/15/2016 6:44:12 AM)
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Greta, funny thing about Singapore....
First, it is not near any KNOWN fault systems, which has it listed as geologically stable (no earthquakes, not near any volcanoes.)
That being said, Singapore has a high geothermal gradient, 70C (158 F.) and they use that for geothermal power generation.
Now the funny thing about that is, no one has actually done a really thorough and deep geological survey of Singapore to actually determine the source of that heat.
Now, hot springs are common in none volcanic regions, Hot Springs Arkansas, Hot Springs North Carolina are good examples, however those places have a medium to low geothermal gradient, so those springs are closer to the temperature of a hot bath, 50c or 100F.
Now, with that bit of knowledge, consider the Pacific Ring of fire, and look at Java, Malaysia, Indonesia west of Singapore, then trace the ring through the Philippines, on to Japan....
Notice anything?
look here for hint
Now if you look at the highlighted areas, you will notice that the Singapore Strait is right in the middle of it on the western edge where the ring extends toward Indonesia.
Okay, how about this bit of information.
In 1943 a farmer was plowing his field in Mexico.
He noticed smoke coming out of his field....
Long story short, that smoke grew into a cinder cone volcano.
Geology is one of those sciences where there is no history of something till it happens.
My point is that Singapore lies within the known threat zone near the ring of fire, and just because it has not happened in known history, does not mean it cant or wont have some event in the future.
Now, as for earthquakes in Texas, it is true that in recent history, all of them have been due to fracking.
However, Texas has had earthquakes due to mother nature letting us know who is boss. West Texas and the panhandle have a history of MODERATE earthquakes, 3.5 to 5.5 sometimes 6.0 in recent history.
There is a region of Texas that is considered a dormant/extinct volcanic area.
There is the Rio Grande rift valley, very prominent in New Mexico, less so on the lower Rio Grande where the continent is trying to go two different directions at the same time.
Of course, there is the Valles caldera in New Mexico, west of Sante fe that is one of Yellowstone's little sisters (there is her California dwelling sister Long Valley, and her Idaho sister, Snake river volcanic fields.)
Then you go east to Arkansas, home of Diamond Field National park, where you can dig for diamonds.
Funny thing about diamonds, they are formed in magma, which comes out of volcanoes, which means at one time, there was a volcano in Arkansas.
Of course, there is the simple truth, where a volcano once was, one can be again. The term extinct in application of volcanic formations is falling out of use simply due to the fact that systems dormant for millions of years, have for some stupid reason known only to Mommy Nature have seemed to wake up in recent years.
And of course, humans, being notoriously stupid creatures, tend to live in places where these things have happened in recent memory. Look at the millions of people living around Mt. Vesuvius. Mommy nature wiped out Pompei and Herculium in 70 AD, a few villages during WWII, and people still live on the freaking mountain.
In the early 1800's, a series of magnitude 8.5 quakes rocked the from Memphis Tn. to St. Louis. The Mississippi river flowed backwards for christ's sake.
So what did the humans do? They built some whopping big over crowded cities in an area that is tectonically unstable, then to really make things interesting, have started fracking operations in the fault zone!
So, to be brutally honest, there are few places on this rock that is geologically safe, if any. Mommy Nature makes the rules, and then she breaks them without warning.
Oside, to be honest, my major problem with California was the Loma Priata quake. I was there, I felt it, and I have one point to make.
If a tornado is headed my way, I can get underground.
If a hurricane heads my way, I can get out of the way.
Volcanoes gives a bit of warning in the form of harmonic tremors...
Earthquakes give no warning (okay the animals figure out its coming a few minutes before it hits) and then the ground tries to shake the hell out of you.
Now if you like living in an area that has the goal of dropping your house on your head, great.
Personally, after visiting every part of this country, I like living in an area that is fairly stable, and if the ground does move, it is not bad enough to drop my house on my head.
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