7.7 magnitude B.C. quake sends tremors rippling across U.S.

October 29, 2012 – CALIFORNIA – While the East Coast is bracing for the onslaught of Hurricane Sandy, southern California is contending with a pair of small earthquakes which struck Sunday. NBC reported that the tremors measured 3.9 on the Richter scale. Buildings shook in downtown Los Angeles, but no damages or injuries were reported. UPI reported that the first quake hit at 12:47 a.m., beginning from a depth of 11 miles. Its epicenter was 66 miles north of San Diego. The next one occurred at 8:24 a.m., with the epicenter five miles east of Santa Clarita, 24 miles north of Los Angeles. California was struck by a 3.5 magnitude earthquake a week earlier. It occurred at 1:40 p.m. near the City of Blue Lake, which is over 200 miles east of Sacramento. Sunday’s quake occurred three hours after a 7.7 magnitude tremor hit the west coast of Canada, which led to a brief tsunami warning in Hawaii. The Los Angeles Times reported that no warnings were issued for California at that time. –The Celebrity Café 

Arkansas tremor felt in Memphis: An earthquake that registered 3.9 on the Richter Scale hit eastern Arkansas this morning, and was felt by several Memphis-area residents as well. According to the US Geological Survey website, the tremor hit around 7:39 a.m. The epicenter was about 6 miles from Parkin, Ark., and about 30 miles from Memphis. Several Memphis residents are chattering on social media about the several seconds of tremors that shook Midtown this morning. “About 8 minutes ago, felt about 8-10 seconds of tremors in midtown,” tweeted @JeffGinMEM around 7:50 a.m. Monday. Memphis resident Jada Love posted on her Facebook, “Did anyone else in Midtown Memphis feel earthquake tremors…?” Tiffany Renee Daniel responded, “I’m in Southaven and I swear I just felt something too I was just sitting here trying to explain it away.” Love lives in a fourth-story apartment and said she could hear a low rumbling and felt her couch shake. She said her parents, who are in the Bartlett/Arlington area, did not feel anything. A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the west coast of Canada on Saturday, but there were no reports of major damage. In early October, WREG-TV reported that earthquakes elsewhere in the world can trigger tiny earthquakes on the New Madrid Fault, which sits beneath Memphis. Seismologist Dr. Christine Power with the University of Memphis Earthquake Center told WREG people need to stay concerned about the New Madrid fault which still holds many mysteries, “Our big danger comes from this fault system that we really don’t understand why we have it, so that means our danger’s going to come from here and not from somewhere else in the world. Our danger is right here.” The University of Memphis’ Center for Earthquake Research and Information has not posted anything yet. –Clarion Ledger