Hazards and Plate Tectonics- USA

This week we are exploring plate tectonics and how the location of each country is affected by its position respect to plate boundaries.

The NOAA map below shows clearly how the Easter US is a passive margin and the Western side of the country is a very active one, with the Pacific Plate, Cocos, Juan de Fuca plates connecting to the North American plate. Not a surprise we are on the ‘Ring of Fire’, where a lot of the volcanic and seismic activity happens!

Of course, there are a few exceptions, like the current activity of Hawaii (hot spot) or the New Madrid area (ancient rift), both not at plate boundaries, but is for some other time.

We might not know when events like volcanic eruptions or big earthquakes will happen, but if you know your Tectonics, you definitely know where the do happen!

All for now-

Other Plate Maps found at USGS or Esri: interactive

Largest Wildfire in California's history-August 2018

A pair of wildfires in Northern California, the River Fire and the Ranch Fire, burned more than 454 square miles, becoming the largest in state history Monday evening. The so-called Mendocino Complex surpassed last December's Thomas Fire, which burned more than 440 square miles in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, claiming more than 1,000 structures and one life. Combined, the Mendocino Complex has burned an area nearly the size of Los Angeles. The Mendocino Complex has destroyed at least 75 homes, 68 other structures and threatens 11,300 buildings, Cal Fire said. A tenacious heat wave and relentless winds are not helping the firefighting efforts. Even with almost 3500 assigned personnel, it was 34 percent contained as August 7th.

For information about prevention and education, http://www.preventwildfireca.org/

and https://www.fs.fed.us/fire/prev_ed/index.html are good resources.

Also worth checking out is https://projects.sfchronicle.com/2018/fire-tracker/.