Earthquake Anxiety May Point to Future Trouble

it is a signal that something is not normal

April 11, 2010
By Cari Bourette
Special to The Jackson Sun

The earthquake in Haiti was a tragic incident, with devastation and loss at a scale rarely seen. The following month, on Feb. 27, an earthquake of magnitude 8.8 hit Chile. Since then, numerous interviews of earthquake experts around the world and articles have addressed the pervasive public concern: Could we be next?

According to some experts, it is possible for earthquakes to trigger additional movements along the same fault line. The U.S. Geological Survey insists the number of major quakes occurring has not increased in frequency, yet people continue to be unusually concerned. When a 4.4 quake woke Los Angeles residents the morning of March 16, one anxiety that needed to be addressed was the possibility of this quake foretelling "the Big One."

It's important for government officials and experts to reassure the public when no immediate danger is present. But it also may be prudent to allow for the possibility, albeit remote, that something unusual is occurring.

The maps displayed at earthquake.usgs.gov may previously have been as crowded with little squares representing both major and minor quakes as they are today. Perhaps this has happened many times. Yet in the past few months, people have perceived an unusual frequency of earthquake activity and seem to be more worried than usual about future activity.

While popular understanding of such events may often be at odds with the current scientific paradigm, it's foolish to dismiss mass perceptions as simply meaningless. "Earthquake weather" is a common belief among people who live in Southern California. Locals can be heard discussing the topic most often during the heat waves of late August and early September.

While there may be no direct causal link between earthquakes and the weather, the perception being expressed isn't necessarily invalid. According to a recent study, earthquakes in California, at least since 1992, seem to follow an annual cycle, with September the peak month. Apparently, in their folklore, Californians are expressing a valid correlation between time of year and earthquakes. The attribution to current weather may be in error, a bad "naming," but the perception of a connection may be valid.

There is a widespread perception that something unusual is going on. In the past week, I had a conversation with a woman in South Korea who is making sure she is prepared for a tsunami "just in case" and another conversation with an insurance agent in the central United States who is concerned with the "number of recent earthquakes" and whether that has implications for her and her family.

There seems to be a pervasive level of anxiety regarding the stability of the earth under our feet - something we normally take for granted. This feeling may be a metaphor for a general anxiety about the stability of our world and way of life, or it may be expressing a perception that we are in a season of earthquakes or natural disasters in general. Either way, it is a signal that something is not normal.

Geographic research and analysis could help us better understand the relationships between people, their moods, and physical systems. Until then, the specific meaning of these mass perceptions may be unclear. For now, it would not be imprudent to take these as a cautionary sign to be prepared for the unusual and to stay alert for the out of the ordinary. Checking emergency kits and affirming emergency plans with family members would not be a bad idea.

http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/20100411/OPINION/4110305