That is good news. I was impressed with the warning system and manner in which evacuations were taking place in Alaska.

It is reassuring to know that the warning system in place...works

I wonder what effect this quake will have on the plate dynamics it is attached to?
Cause and Effect...

When ever an event happens it affects other areas too.
Crustal plates are huge but they flex. Earthquakes are basically a change in the tension between two or more plates.
When tension in one spot is released it causes a shift over the entire plate. Either increasing tension at another point or decreasing (releasing) tension at another point.

7.9 is a large amount of movement.



The Pacific plate moved.
That movement will be transmitted all around its perimeter.
It will affect all the plates against it in one way or another.
There will be more activity at areas around the plate in the near future. Especially in the unstable regions with many faults.

San Andreas is in for some shaking.

there's not anything we can do about it...

People in the affected regions can be ready and expect activity.
Can't stop the plate movement but understanding the dynamics might save lives by having the likelihood of activity fresh in the mind.

A difference of a surprise event to one that is expected.

True but its all interconnected and dynamic so it only makes sense that a slip in one spot on a plate is going to cause movement all along its edges.

Plates are big, they are floating and under tension, all the irregularities around its edges create sticking spots we call faults.

The movement at one spot takes time to affect other spots and since the irregularities are fractal, no method of prediction of the next affected fault is possible at our level of technology.

Some faults are able to take more strain, some faults are able to easily slip by but some are at just the right tension or instability to result in a seismic event of measurable magnitude.

Being aware of the physical properties of the tectonic plates and how they interact may not tell you a quake will happen at a location at a specific time on a specific day but it will make you aware that the likelihood of an event is probable and that information at the front of consciousness makes it more likely you can survive the event because it did not come as a surprise.

Someone throws a ball at you and it hits you in the head because it surprised you VS you see someone throw a ball at you, you know its coming and you catch it.

True but its all interconnected and dynamic so it only makes sense that a slip in one spot on a plate is going to cause movement all along its edges.

Plates are big, they are floating and under tension, all the irregularities around its edges create sticking spots we call faults.

The movement at one spot takes time to affect other spots and since the irregularities are fractal, no method of prediction of the next affected fault is possible at our level of technology.

Some faults are able to take more strain, some faults are able to easily slip by but some are at just the right tension or instability to result in a seismic event of measurable magnitude.

Being aware of the physical properties of the tectonic plates and how they interact may not tell you a quake will happen at a location at a specific time on a specific day but it will make you aware that the likelihood of an event is probable and that information at the front of consciousness makes it more likely you can survive the event because it did not come as a surprise.

Someone throws a ball at you and it hits you in the head because it surprised you VS you see someone throw a ball at you, you know its coming and you catch it.

California next.

possibly the whole west coast...that whole area is a big danger zone...

True but its all interconnected and dynamic so it only makes sense that a slip in one spot on a plate is going to cause movement all along its edges.

Plates are big, they are floating and under tension, all the irregularities around its edges create sticking spots we call faults.

The movement at one spot takes time to affect other spots and since the irregularities are fractal, no method of prediction of the next affected fault is possible at our level of technology.

Some faults are able to take more strain, some faults are able to easily slip by but some are at just the right tension or instability to result in a seismic event of measurable magnitude.

Being aware of the physical properties of the tectonic plates and how they interact may not tell you a quake will happen at a location at a specific time on a specific day but it will make you aware that the likelihood of an event is probable and that information at the front of consciousness makes it more likely you can survive the event because it did not come as a surprise.

Someone throws a ball at you and it hits you in the head because it surprised you VS you see someone throw a ball at you, you know its coming and you catch it.