Riding Out in that Shiny Car in the Night

I recently saw an article on the Internet that seemed too tabloid-like to be true. Sadly, it may have some shred of credibility.

Essentially, the author, Mike Adams of NaturalNews.com wrote: “…Fukushima reactor No. 4… is on the verge of a catastrophic failure…. The resulting releasing of radiation would turn North America into a ‘dead zone’… from an earthquake in Japan. Such an event could result in the release of 85 times the Cesium-137 released by the Chernobyl catastrophe, say experts.” As you may know, the weather patterns would carry that deadly radiation over to North America on the wind.

“The winds that blow through the wide sky in these mounts, the winds that sweep from Canada to Mexico, from the Pacific to the Atlantic—have always blown on free men.”—Franklin D. Roosevelt

Fortunately, Japan has been relatively quiet lately in the seismic sense. But what if a substantial earthquake occurred before the Japanese had a chance to take care of business at Fukushima reactor No. 4? And what’s taking them so long, anyway? Since Cesium-137 has a half-life of 30 years, that would make North America uninhabitable for, oh, say, about 100 or more years.

That got me to thinking. Let’s say that North America reaped some strange karma by being exposed to radiation poisoning by the people who endured the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki toward the end of World War II. What would be the consequences of the demise of Canada, the United States and Mexico? Well, I can’t speak for Canada or Mexico, but here are a few thoughts about a post-mortem United States of America.

"Despite the goings-on in Congress, I don't believe the USA is bordering on madness. I believe Mexico and Canada are."—Robert Brault

On the bright side, as the highest-volume consumers of natural resources, our extinction would have an immediate, positive impact on the environment. However, we are by no means the most populated country in the world, and China and India—fast-developing countries—would eventually fill our shoes in that respect.

Another high note: Monsanto would be dealt a powerful blow and the possibility exists that the rest of the world might gang up on whatever Monsanto employees were left in satellite countries and end their GMO adulteration of our food supplies for good. Then, at least, we will not have made the ultimate sacrifice in vain.

Countries could form their foreign and monetary policies without worrying about repercussions from a testy United States. That could be good or bad, depending on if you are a woman in Afghanistan (our parting agreement there requires women’s human rights be safeguarded), a Chinese government official responsible for buying U.S. debt (that will now never be repaid), or a rival non-USA corporation that will inherit tremendous market share.

What about the joy of blaming the United States for everything bad in the world? With our country gone, the call for blood-thirsty Death-to-America Jihads and the general distaste for our arrogant corporate and political agendas would be deflated like an old party balloon. The remaining world population would have no one to blame but themselves. Not a pleasant prospect.

“If you want a symbolic gesture, don't burn the flag; wash it.” —Norman Thomas

There’s a lot to resent about the United States, but I think there would also be many things that people would miss. No more overseas shopping jaunts to New York City, Chicago or Los Angeles. No more Disneyland or Disneyworld—the parent company of the overseas versions would be deceased. No more touring our magnificent western geography or placing your hands in the cement in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. No more blockbuster movies or American television—good or bad, depending upon your tastes. No more home-grown jazz, soul or R&B.

The magnificent Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA.

Since the United States is composed not only of native Americans (the people from whom we stole all the land) but also of people from nearly every nation in the world, there might be cause for some international grieving. People might even become sentimental about us, the way people often do at a funeral, regardless of the deceased's actual character. 

My father’s family arrived here from Hungary. My best friend in high school was born in Italy. My co-workers were born in India, Mexico, Egypt, South America, Europe, Japan and China. Americans may be spoiled children, of sorts, but we’re related to just about everyone out there. So, world, if you lose us, remember, you’re losing a small piece of yourself.

“Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night?”—Jack Kerouac

Feeling the Earth Move

My husband, Steve, is a strange man and he recently hooked me into one of his unusual past-times: earthquake tracking. He looks at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) every day to view the latest earthquakes that have occurred around the world. He is tectonic-plate obsessed.

I asked Steve why he is attracted to moving, subterranean rock. He replied: “The Earth is a living thing and its way of letting off steam is volcanoes. When it’s not comfortable with its weight, it shifts around and we get earthquakes. The planet is alive.” Wow. Very poetic. He then added, “I just have a fascination with watching the destructive power of Nature.” Okay. That sounds a little less New Age, but very guy-like.

As you probably know, the Earth has seven to eight major and many minor tectonic plates. Basically, everything on the surface of the Earth rests on those plates, but unfortunately for us, they move. When they do, the results are earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building and oceanic trench formation.

On the USGS “Latest Earthquakes in the World” web page,* all tremors magnitude 2.5 and above are listed. Anything 4.5 or above is in scary boldface. The really BIG quakes, 6.0 or above, are in alarming red. What grand purpose is there in tracking earthquakes? For the average person, none really, unless you’re sitting on top of a fault line. It does, however, give Steve and me something to talk about at the end of the day. For instance, this morning at 9:56 a.m. Universal Time, Santiago Del Estero, Argentina, had a whopping 7.0 magnitude earthquake. We looked that up on Google News and found that no one was hurt. That may be because it occurred at a depth of nearly 584 kilometers, or because no one lives in the area where it occurred.

Interestingly, Argentina is part of a large area of plate movements, around which, is something called the Ring of Fire. About 90% of the world's earthquakes and 80% of the world's largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire, which is actually shaped like a horseshoe. But Horseshoe of Fire doesn’t sound as good, thus the present name. This Ring of Fire extends from Peru up the West Coast of South America to the West Coast of North America, up around the southern coast of Alaska and across the Aleutian Islands, down the coast of Eastern Russia, down through Japan, across Indonesia, and back out to the Tonga Islands and down into New Zealand. Most of the world’s volcanoes sit on the Ring of Fire.

This is a map of the Ring of Fire, which actually looks more like a malformed horseshoe.
Map is courtesy of the USGS.

Here are some interesting earthquake facts from the USGS:

• The largest recorded earthquake in the United States was a magnitude 9.2 that struck Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 27, 1964. The earthquake and ensuing tsunami took 128 lives (tsunami 113, earthquake 15). Alaska is the most earthquake-prone state and one of the most seismically active regions in the world. Its residents experience a magnitude 7 earthquake almost every year, and a magnitude 8 or greater earthquake on average every 14 years. These may temporarily obscure Sarah Palin’s view of Russia.

• The largest recorded earthquake in the world was a magnitude 9.5 in Chile on May 22, 1960. When it occurred, seismographs recorded seismic waves all around the world. The earthquake shook the entire Earth for many days. Most of the casualties were because of large tsunamis which caused damage along the coast of Chile and in many areas of the Pacific Ocean. Puerto Saavedra, Chile, was completely destroyed by waves which reached heights of 38 feet and carried remains of houses as much as 2 miles inland. Tsunamis caused 61 deaths and severe damage in Hawaii, mostly at Hilo, where the run-up height reached 35 feet. Waves as high as 18 feet struck northern Honshu, Japan, about 1 day after the quake, where they destroyed more than 1600 homes and left 185 people dead or missing. Another 32 people were dead or missing in the Philippines after the tsunami hit those islands. Damage also occurred on Easter Island, in the Samoa Islands and in California.

• The world’s deadliest recorded earthquake occurred in 1556 in central China. It struck a region where most people lived in caves carved from soft rock. These dwellings collapsed during the earthquake, killing an estimated 830,000 people. In 1976 another deadly earthquake struck in Tangshan, China, where more than 250,000 people were killed. The earliest recorded evidence of an earthquake has been traced back to 1831 BC in the Shandong province of China.

• Only four states in the U.S. did not have any earthquakes, from 1975 to 1995. They were Florida, Iowa, North Dakota and Wisconsin. Florida and North Dakota have the smallest number of earthquakes in the U.S. Instead, Florida has opted for hurricanes and North Dakota for flooding, blizzards and tornados.

• Earthquakes occur in the central U.S. Some very powerful earthquakes occurred along the New Madrid fault in the Mississippi Valley in between 1811 and 1812. Because of the crust’s structure in the central U.S., shaking from earthquakes is felt at a much greater distance from their epicenters than similar size quakes in the western U.S. The New Madrid earthquakes caused the ground to rise and fall, bending trees until their branches intertwined and opening deep cracks in the ground. Huge waves on the Mississippi River overwhelmed many boats and washed others high onto the shore. Only one life was lost in falling buildings at New Madrid, but chimneys were toppled and log cabins were thrown down as far as Cincinnati, Ohio; St. Louis, Missouri; and in many places in Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee. Had our news media existed at the time, people would have been predicting the end of the world, culminating in a made-for-television movie about it.

Apparently, Steve got his co-workers at the independent bookstore addicted to earthquake tracking as well. He has a tendency to spread his craziness wherever he goes. They check it every day and it is the subject of conversation. Perhaps the attraction is the reminder that Nature is very powerful and no matter what technologies we develop, a good earthquake will trump them every time. Earth is big; people are small. For all of us, that is a very humbling and implacable truth to remember.

*If you want to track earthquakes, go to: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.php