I absolutely love living in my home state of Michigan, but if I could afford it, I would love to live in California too. However, even if I could afford the cost of living there, my concern would be earthquakes claiming my home in California; not that wildfires or floods couldn’t do the same, but the idea of the earth cracking open seems a little more frightening.
Although California averages about seventy earthquakes per day, they are barely considered tremors and apparently, Californians don’t even feel them. When I first learned that, it sounded crazy to me. Like, what – seventy per day?
I guess it’s a similar train of thought people outside of Michigan get into when they hear six inches of snow fell, and we Michiganders just continue on with our day as if it is just a minor inconvenience because, really, it is.
Let’s see what the scientific experts have to say. According to the official United States Geological Survey, they report that, “An earthquake is the ground shaking caused by a sudden slip on a fault.
Faults are caused by the tectonic plates grinding and scraping against each other as they continuously and slowly move. In California, for example, there are two plates – the Pacific Plate (which extends from western California to Japan, including much of the Pacific Ocean floor) and the North American Plate (which is most of the North American continent and parts of the Atlantic Ocean). The Pacific Plate moves northwestward past the North American Plate along the San Andreas Fault at a rate of about two inches per year.
Parts of the San Andreas Fault system adapt to this movement by constant ‘creep’ resulting in many tiny shocks and a few moderate earth tremors.
Alaska registers the most earthquakes in a given year, with California placing second, until 2014 when a sudden increase in seismicity in Oklahoma pushed it well past California as the second most active in terms of magnitude (M) 3.0 and greater earthquakes,”.
Well, that’s far off from what I ever thought was true regarding California earthquakes. Still, someday, if I ever get sick of winters, instead of being a snowbird, maybe I will reconsider moving across the country to live in southern California, where the palm trees are tall, and the temperatures are perfect all year long. My idea of perfect weather includes temps that are anywhere from the mid-seventies to the low eighties, with sunny skies and a salty ocean breeze.
U.S. cities with most natural disasters
Living in the Northeast region of the United States, surrounded by the Great Lakes (Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, and Lake Superior) with our friendly Canadian neighbors close by, we have been fairly isolated from severe natural disasters.
Sure, we do get affected by those frigid Canadian winds whipping through our Pure Michigan state, dumping lots of snow and cold weather our way. First, let’s see which US cities have the most natural disasters, although I think I have a good idea which states they’re in.
Climate Check reports that, “The United States weathers more natural disasters than any other country in the world. From hurricanes to tornadoes, flooding to fires, Americans are dealing with some costly natural disasters. Here is a list of the top five states in the US that are hit hardest by natural disasters each year.
5. Florida
4. Louisiana
3. Oklahoma
2. California
1. Texas,”.
They go on to note, “Texas takes the top spot for the state most prone to natural disasters. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc on the state, and it has been described as the worst natural catastrophe in its history.
The Lone Star State has also seen floods, tornadoes, severe ice storms, and drought, with over 255 federally declared disasters since 1953. Every year, at least one major catastrophe event is declared in the state of Texas,”.
So far, it seems Oklahoma and Texas are more prone to severe natural disasters than I thought California was.
Earthquake Michigan
Even though we Michiganders are fairly safe from any major disasters, especially earthquakes, they do happen from time to time. In fact, it just happened last month, but I never heard about it.
Recent CBS News reports stated, “A 2.9 -magnitude earthquake recorded in Lake Michigan offshore from Chicago’s North Shore suburbs last month was only the second to be recorded ever in the lake, but scientists said there may have been others in the past that weren’t detected.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was recorded about 20 kilometers, or about 12.5 miles, east-northeast of Kenilworth, Wilmette and Evanston, Illinois, at approximately 2:38 p.m. Wednesday, July 8.
There were reports that the quake was felt in multiple north suburbs, including Evanston, Deerfield, Kenilworth, and as far north as Waukegan. According to reports made in the USGS, reports of people feeling the earthquake have come from as far south as Chicago’s South Side.
Another 2.9 magnitude earthquake was also reported on Aug. 2, 2024. This earthquake was not near the Chicago area — it was centered offshore from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin in Door County, about 245 miles north of Chicago.
Researchers from the DEEPS Seismology Group reported that it is hard to say whether or not similar earthquakes happened in Lake Michigan before those two, particularly when looking back into the 20th century. The country has not always had as many seismometers out to detect earthquakes as today, and the seismometers that were operational weren’t always sensitive enough to pick up all the 2.9-magnitude earthquakes in the area around them, researchers said.
Of the 11 earthquakes in the area around Lake Michigan between 1900 and 2011, all but three were of a magnitude of 3.8 or higher. Such higher-magnitude earthquakes are around 10 times less frequent, researchers said,”.
The reports showed that this “quake on the lake” happened in early around July 8th. I was camping in Holland, Michigan, later that month, and we had unusually large waves on Lake Michigan while we were there.
It was a lot of fun swimming in the waves even though red flags were posted everywhere. I cannot help but wonder if the earthquake had anything to do with the size of the waves?
How often do earthquakes happen in California
In conclusion, California’s earthquakes sound intimidating, but understanding the facts makes them less mysterious—and maybe a little less scary than Michigan winters.