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| the supermoon over my neighborhood |
Since moving to Los Angeles over a decade ago, countless people have raised their eyebrows at me and said, "The big one is coming." The "big one" meaning an earthquake. It may be hard to hear this after the tragedy in Japan, but they had a lilt in their voice as if almost excited.
I always took the claims about "the big one" with a grain of salt. This is because none of the prophets were seismologists. They were hairdressers, liquor store clerks and accountants. Besides, a series of small quakes also could happen, alleviating the pressure on the tectonic plates and stopping something dramatic from happening.
But something has changed, and for the first time, I'm anticipating "the big one."
The Ring of Fire is making a near perfect circle with seismic activity around the Pacific. Moving clockwise, the U.S. West Coast appears next in line, and seismologists agree.
Scientists are beginning to uncover evidence of solar flares being linked to seismic activity. Our sun has been lashing out in a most unpredictable manner. Per this video, you can see flashes in the sky (related to solar flares and magnetic fields) right before the Chilean earthquake. Coincidence? People around the world have reported flashes in the sky before an earthquake. It's a known phenomenon. But why all the solar flares and earthquakes now?
Scientists theorize that we could be in our 65 millionth year of orbit. It may take only 24 hours for earth to orbit the sun, but it takes 65 million years for our solar system to orbit our arm of the Milky Way. This can dramatically change earth's stability. Guess when the dinosaurs disappeared? 65 million years ago.
Everyone was sitting on pins and needles on March 19th, when the "supermoon" also happened to be a full moon. A supermoon (or perigee moon) is when the moon is much closer to the earth than usual, and is magnified in size and light. Not only was it closer to the earth than it has been in about 20 years, it also was a full moon. A full moon has all sorts of effects on the tides and earth's magnetic fields. We waited for the inevitable earthquake to trigger, but nothing happened.
Not yet anyway. Everyone predicts we're next in line and that "the big one" could happen within these few weeks, and it will be in the horrific 9 range on the Richter scale. We are watching for strange animal behavior, since that's been classically linked to upcoming earthquakes. After all, millions of disoriented sardines washed up in Redondo Beach, CA days before the Japan earthquake. Everyone is keeping their eyes on the skies for strange lights, and everyone is making plans.
Couples have meet-up plans in open areas should their phones die and freeways collapse. People are throwing sneakers in their cars in case they get stuck while driving in heels. They are stocking up on water and canned goods. Here's a helpful earthquake-preparedness site. Now, all we can do is wait.
