Where I'm from people freak out when they feel an earthquake and they think it's divine punishment, so they all drop on their knees and pray for mercy. (no joke). I felt one when I was at the theater watching Nightmare on elm street reboot. And ironically it happened when Freddy Kruger appeared in front of a character. The screen was shaking, and everything else of course. Everyone freaked out, I was laughing with my popcorn.
Some people go through life under the illusion that the entire body of humanity's knowledge is no greater than their own. It's incredibly annoying to deal with when this illusion presents itself, but it's also kind of sad. There's so much to learn if only they would bother to look. There's no shame in ignorance, but there is great shame in willful ignorance.
Geology as an entire field is relatively young. Plate tectonics which is our fundamental theory was only widely accepted a half a century back. Most of my professors were around when plate tectonics was a forbidden topic of study at most universities, a topic geologists only whispered about at the bars.
Ihhdbhh bcc has is the worst game I ever had and how much they have been so far and the same level I had to play with my kids I don’t even want them I had a bad time I would
Description of subduction at 4:10 isn't particularly accurate. The mantle, in general, isn't molten, and the oceanic crust doesn't wholesale melt into the mantle. In some cases, seismologists have traced the subducting plate all the way to the core-mantle boundary. Melting in the mantle is localized, occurring where there are chemical, temperature or pressure changes. For instance, water released from subducting oceanic crust changes the chemistry of the surrounding rock and results in the partial melting that fuels the stratiform volcanoes on the overriding plate.
@@sethoday1731 Like the answer to most of these questions about the interior of the Earth: seismic waves from earthquakes. The speed of seismic waves is slower through the subducting slab than it is in the surrounding mantle (because the slab is wetter and colder). This creates differences in the travel times of seismic waves travelling through the slab (and also subtle reflections). Using the worldwide seismograph network over multiple earthquakes, geophysicists are able to create 3-D reconstructions of the low-speed section corresponding to the slab.
"most of the sciesmic activity, all over the world, take place along the edge of oceanic plates and continental plates. there are 7 of them all told" 7 main plates* there are many more called secondary or tertiary plates. these include the Arab and Indian. Just wanted to clear that up for anyone else wondering, because of a dropped description.
First time I ever felt an earthquake was in Illinois while sitting on the floor watching tv after school. The house gently moved side to side for about 5 seconds. I had no idea what it was. In the midwest we aren't used to earthquakes but we're sure familiar with tornadoes...so being the smart kid I was, I ran outside and looked around for the twister. Did I say smart? I meant dumb as hell =/
Mine was the Virginia earthquake a few years ago.i was on a trailer for school waiting for the next class. My teacher yelled at us because she thought we were moving to trailer.
I just found this video. It was not in my subscriptions tab. I check youtube daily as I watch it more than any other source of media. Just wanted to let you know that an avid fan that checks your stuff regularly just happened to see this video a week after it was uploaded.
The first time I felt an earthquake was when i was on a school trip to Manali and Shimla. When we were returning to Ahemdabad,we stopped in Amritsar.during the night,we felt a magnetitude 4 earthquake.I was on the bed when my friends came and told that we should get out of the hotel.my teacher scolded some students who did not come out of the hotel because they were watching pal pal dill ke pass.
Actually Hank, there are 12 tectonic plates: The Antarctic Plate, Australian Plate, Eurasian Plate, South American Plate, African Plate, Middle-Eastern Plate, Indian Plate, Caribbean Plate, Pacific Plate, Nazca Plate, Scosha Plate, and North American Plate.
When I first took an undergraduate geology course at UNLV in 1965 we were given mimeographed inserts about plate tectonics because it wasn't covered in our text books.
I actually experienced my first earthquake last week, and it was on the Wasatch Fault. It's awesome that this video was posted only two days after it happened, just as I was getting more curious about the way earthquakes work. Good job scishow.
Hearing the word "fault" so much gave me an Animaniacs flashback because of their "Quake" song. "Whose fault? Whose fault? The San Andreas' fault. 'Cause Mr. Richter can't predict 'er kicking our asphalt."
I love the geology videos but there are a few things that need to be corrected: 1) The mantle is dominantly a solid fluid. It is not a liquid. That is to say it is a mess of crystals slowly creeping past one another. There is a common misconception that the earth is full of hot magma waiting to bubble up to the surface and this is just not true. At divergent boundaries the decrease in pressure changes the local thermodynamic character sending some chemicals into a liquid state which then rise and freeze at the surface. 2) Subducted plates do not just sink back into the earth and melt like an ice cube in water. As gravity pulls the giant slab of earth down it rapidly releases volatiles locked up in mineral structures which rapidly become unstable as pressure and temperature increase. These slabs continue to drive through the fluid (but solid) mantle until they reach a depth of about 660km where things become complicated. There is a major thermodynamic barrier where slab behavior is still not entirely understood. Some slabs seem to get stuck at this depth and others push on to the mantle-core boundary. EDIT: Hank, you should do a video on why the interior of the earth is NOT molten. Hint: www.geo.mtu.edu/~hamorgan/Images/earth_geotherm1.gif
For anyone who doesn't know, some of the biggest city in alaska, Anchorage, sunk into the ocean. I live in Alaska and my teacher was telling me about when the earthquake happened, he lost half of his paper route that day. You can still go visit there today. The road just suddenly gets really steep near the ocean.
in south carolina we have a massive fault directly beneath charleston. it can be even more destructive than the one in alaska, in fact it decimated the immediate vicinity in the 1800's. people are saying it's time for it to happen again, and i must request you make an episode concerning this, as it could affect areas as far as DC.
Hank makes a couple of comments here that make it sound like the mantle of the Earth is made of molten magma. It is actually mostly solid rock due to the enormous pressures with only small patches that melt.
When I was in school, I used to work at the local science centre and they chose to showcase the unique local geology. The centre sits on exposed bedrock and the entrance is actually a rock tunnel. A fault line goes through it and it's on the rim of an ancient meteor crater so you can actually see shatter cones. It's pretty freaking neat.
I was there for BayQuake '89 (Coalinga). Really weird experience. Just before it happened (maybe 20 seconds) our cat ran through the house and jumped through the kitchen window, and our four goldfish dove for the bottom of the tank. I felt the New Madrid quake in '68, and another small quake in CA. Geology was one of my favorite subjects.
I actually live right next to the that fault from idaho to utah and a lot of people say a very large earthquake could happen any time I live in Provo Utah so that's scary
Yes there's a fault running through Missouri. Due to the "70 year rule" (theory sort of) it is estimated that every 70 years a major earthquake is supposed to happen on a major fault line. I personally think it's very lose in truth as many major fault lines have gone without earthquakes for twice as long.
So you're saying before this quake, we didn't understand the Faultlines in our Stars, but after Looking for Alaska, we have a better handle on it. Um, Paper Towns.
Content selection is pretty good. However pace is maybe 20% too fast for most of the target audience, AND -- the biggest issue -- WAY too much time is spent on the talking head -- 80-90% of the screen time should be on the relevant graphics, and the dialog keyed to pointing out the salient features of those images. Thanks for this work.
Your diagram of the San Andreas fault is incorrect, as it shows that the North America plate and the Pacific plate are moving in opposite directions. In fact, they are both moving in the same direction, but the North America plate is moving slower than the Pacific plate, giving it the illusion that they're moving in opposite directions (this is a pretty common mistake that people make).
I climbed Mt. St. Helens right after it was removed from level-3 eruption status and while I was at the top there was a 3.7 earthquake centered 500 meters beneath our feet. It wasn't a strong quake, but it was the most terrifying thing I've ever experienced.
You guys should do an episode on the science of being nervous, as in why you feel like you're going to pee yourself and why you get butterflies, either on SciShow Crash Course Psychology
As a high school teacher who lives & works along the San Andreas and was busy going through my VidCon schedule today, this video gave me a great idea for how to improve shows like this or Crash Course and other edutainment channels. Need to polish it up but hopefully by VidCon I'll be able to pass it on. Could make these almost as fun as the days of Bro'hood 2.0 and even better as an educational tool. Not complaining, excited. Thanks. (Happy Subbable patron)
I live near the Wasatch Fault... just waiting for the day there's a huge earthquake. There's actually crazy people who build their houses on the fault line.
and with 100 that do damage, I think you mean 100 that do significant damage, because for example Groningen (not that I live there) still has a lot of earthquakes, while none (as far as I know) actually did that much damage, but a lot of small ones can still make buildings collapse, so there are more that do damage.
I don't know if you have done this show idea yet (i'm a scishow noob) but during this piece you mentioned a scientist whose career was ruined by offering a correct theory. Im sure there are other scientists who have suffered this fate... what a great show!
Here in Oklahoma (USA), there's been a recent uptick in earthquakes. Some people attribute this uptick to increased fracking (hydraulic fracturing). It's interesting to consider fracking within a plate tectonic framework...
I realize that this may be only me, but once Hank started talking about FAULTS, I kept waiting for him to give a nudge-nugde-wink-wink shout out for his brothers movie.
Hank, noticed the way you pronounced himalaya, if you wanna make it more accurate go with 'him-aa-luh-ya', it's a combination of two words 'Hima' (Snow) and 'Aa-luh-ya' (Home) :) Cheers!
Agreed, some of the points are slightly cringy though, it's a good way to briefly look over things but describing the NA Plate as lighter gives off a bad impression... It's less dense than the pacific, that's why the pacific subducts
I live in Christchurch, New Zealand. After awhile you stop reacting to earthquakes the same, you start to understand whats going to get worse and when to duck for cover!
It would have been nice at least a tiny mention to other big earthquakes, like the one that hit my country on February 27th, 2010, or the one that hit Japan on March 11th, 2011. :(
Montana is one of the most seismically active states in the Union. From 1-2 per day to 100 (called swarms) in a single day with magnitudes of up to 3.8 in Yellowstone.
There are more than 7 plates there are just 7 really really large plates, but there are quite a few smaller plates as well. Like the indian plate which is the cause of the Himalayan mountain range.
Only ever felt one earthquake here in the UK, we don't really get them here but there was one about 4.2 on the scale, it felt like I was on a train and the sofa was moving a bit. Still made me run to the door where I though it was safer. A real one must be very frightening indeed, that was only a tremor really.
As a Californian, I feel that the California animation at 4:51 is insultingly wrong. There's a sliver of California on the coast that will slide upwards against the rest of California not on the coast. The fact that this animation (which is showing about half of California being "eaten up", through random, unknown means, DURING THE PART OF THE TALK ABOUT PLATES SLIDING PAST EACH OTHER), the fact that it got through the sensors and scientists is saddening to me. THIS is what the San Andreas Fault looks like: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Sanandreas.jpg EDIT: Holy...HOW DID THEY GET THAT PICTURE UP THERE
Any planet with a liquid interior and a solid surface should display some level of tectonics. The solid surface essentially floats on the liquid interior. In the Earths instance the fact our core is hot means we have convection within it. This is because the magma (liquid) is heated near the centre, moved to the outer edges just under the crust (solid), when it moves around and falls back to the centre. Just like in a saucepan with boiling water.The magma nudges crust around.
According to available data it appears that neither Mercury, Venus nor Mars have plate tectonics. Mercury shows signs of large-scale crust compression (thermal shrinkage), Venus - global uniform surface rejuvenation (the whole crust covered with relatively fresh basaltic lava) and Mars is geologically mostly dead. There are some signs of past crustal spreading, similar to oceanic ridges on Earth, but they are ancient and inactive. There is a hypothesis suggesting that a rocky planet needs a certain size, composition, active internal thermal engine and some sort of lubricant to develop tectonic plate movement (spreading and subduction). On Earth this lubricant exists in the shape of water (or generally various fluids). It lowers melting points of minerals and facilitates plate movement along faults or other contact surfaces. According to this hypothesis Mercury and Mars are too small to have a core active enough to develop the necessary heat flux and start a tectonic cycle. Venus on the other hand might be too dry. No water (or any other significant lubricant) causes the crust to be stiff and rigid. The plates, if they exist, are tightly locked for hundreds of millions of years before a global event remodels the whole crust in a short period of time, all at once.
@Justin Gabriel What a great question. Ask NASA. The only planet we have touched so far is Mars. I don't know if they have experienced any earthquakes on Mars but your question is one that a true scientist would ask. Stick with it. You might be the one to discover the answer to that question.
OFF TOPIC: My boyfriend and I are having an argument. He says evolution is a crapshoot and I say the whole, incredibly long, long , long process is for the betterment of a species and the negatives are displaced by the positives. (This MAY explain the argument: it began when we wondered if a co-worker might be the missing link between we regular humans and a new flying species due to it's not insubstantial arm mass while also not being very dense) His argument is that the effort of learning to fly will keep us from being fast enough at running therefore ensuring the end of our species. I say evolution wouldn't begin in the first place without ensuring survivability in the first place. Nerdfighters...Assemble!!!
is it possible that an earthquake large enough could fracture an entire plate creating a new one? or maybe some other geologic process? (not asteroids or anything)
The earthquake is only the symptom, but over a big enough timespan the subduction process that causes earthquakes will make the whole plate disappear under another. In other places, new faults will tear up, e.g. over the last couple of million years in East Africa, and split existing plates.
Lovely video content! Apologies for butting in, I am interested in your initial thoughts. Have you researched - Proutklarton Crisis Away Plan (do a search on google)? It is a good exclusive guide for surviving and preparing for a disaster minus the headache. Ive heard some decent things about it and my friend got astronomical success with it.
It can be caused by movement in the mantle tearing a plate into 2 parts (known as a Rift Valley) the great Rift Valley in Kenya will eventually split the African plate into 2 separate plates,
I know I should be grateful and that earthquakes are dangerous but as an english geology student I really want to experience one, I live right in the middle of the dull Eurasian plate, earthquakes are rare and really small
Where I'm from people freak out when they feel an earthquake and they think it's divine punishment, so they all drop on their knees and pray for mercy. (no joke).
I felt one when I was at the theater watching Nightmare on elm street reboot. And ironically it happened when Freddy Kruger appeared in front of a character. The screen was shaking, and everything else of course. Everyone freaked out, I was laughing with my popcorn.
Some people go through life under the illusion that the entire body of humanity's knowledge is no greater than their own. It's incredibly annoying to deal with when this illusion presents itself, but it's also kind of sad. There's so much to learn if only they would bother to look. There's no shame in ignorance, but there is great shame in willful ignorance.
That is great xD here in California nobody even reacts to an earthquake unless we hear the walls and ceiling breaking or stuff falling
DanThePropMan That first sentence is very well put. So much more eloquent than "Some people think they know everything".
***** Thanks! That's just it, though, isn't it? It's not that they think they know everything; it's that they think no one knows anything.
Absolutely. It's the "My guess is as good as anyone else's" mindset.
Megathrust Earthquake souns like a pokemon move
Sounds like Primal Groudons signature move, if it was translated directly from Japanese -> English
lol
I'm pretty sure that "earthquake" is a pokemon move.
kolikooo1
It is, *Megathrust Earthquake* isn't (bold for clarity)
Honestly it sounds more like an 80's porno...
Ze Rubenator You just put the incredibly disturbing image of poke-porn in my head....a pokemon porn battle...oh god, I hate you.
I'll never forget the great earthquake of Southern New Jersey...Just thought there was an 18-wheeler driving by...
I had no idea that earthquake science was so young.
Geology as an entire field is relatively young. Plate tectonics which is our fundamental theory was only widely accepted a half a century back. Most of my professors were around when plate tectonics was a forbidden topic of study at most universities, a topic geologists only whispered about at the bars.
It's because they're too scared of being wrong look up dutchsinse he predicts quakes he's figured out how it all works
I know right! You’d think they would be at it sooner.
Ihhdbhh bcc has is the worst game I ever had and how much they have been so far and the same level I had to play with my kids I don’t even want them I had a bad time I would
Yeah... We developed nukes before we understood plate techtonics.
Description of subduction at 4:10 isn't particularly accurate. The mantle, in general, isn't molten, and the oceanic crust doesn't wholesale melt into the mantle. In some cases, seismologists have traced the subducting plate all the way to the core-mantle boundary. Melting in the mantle is localized, occurring where there are chemical, temperature or pressure changes. For instance, water released from subducting oceanic crust changes the chemistry of the surrounding rock and results in the partial melting that fuels the stratiform volcanoes on the overriding plate.
How do seismologists trace the subducting plate? I'm interested in details like this.
@@sethoday1731 Like the answer to most of these questions about the interior of the Earth: seismic waves from earthquakes.
The speed of seismic waves is slower through the subducting slab than it is in the surrounding mantle (because the slab is wetter and colder). This creates differences in the travel times of seismic waves travelling through the slab (and also subtle reflections). Using the worldwide seismograph network over multiple earthquakes, geophysicists are able to create 3-D reconstructions of the low-speed section corresponding to the slab.
... .Looking for the Faults in our Alaska
I used to watch these for fun (and still do) but now they're actually helping me with my schoolwork. I send my gratitude to the Sci Show team :)
"most of the sciesmic activity, all over the world, take place along the edge of oceanic plates and continental plates. there are 7 of them all told"
7 main plates* there are many more called secondary or tertiary plates. these include the Arab and Indian.
Just wanted to clear that up for anyone else wondering, because of a dropped description.
So why did the 1964 earthquake happen? It's because the Faults in our Earth were Looking for Alaska.
First time I ever felt an earthquake was in Illinois while sitting on the floor watching tv after school. The house gently moved side to side for about 5 seconds. I had no idea what it was. In the midwest we aren't used to earthquakes but we're sure familiar with tornadoes...so being the smart kid I was, I ran outside and looked around for the twister.
Did I say smart? I meant dumb as hell =/
Yeah Illinoisans ftw
Mine was the Virginia earthquake a few years ago.i was on a trailer for school waiting for the next class. My teacher yelled at us because she thought we were moving to trailer.
Wy'Kia
I slept through that... it was my only chance to feel an Earthquake and I slept through it :(
Stefko Stravanek most of the kids were running around they missed it too. At least you could say you slept through one.
Are you familiar with the New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811-12? Everyone along the Mississippi river should know about that.
There are 7 major plates. There are a lot more if you count minor plates e.g Juan de Fuca,Nazca plate etc.
Thanks Hank! For the _metric_ :D
'The Fault in our Sta...erm...Planet' :)
I'm fascinated by all the science, really I am, but I can't get over the awesomeness of Wegener's pipe!
I just found this video. It was not in my subscriptions tab. I check youtube daily as I watch it more than any other source of media. Just wanted to let you know that an avid fan that checks your stuff regularly just happened to see this video a week after it was uploaded.
Good Friday? I don't think so. March 27, 1964 was a bad Friday for the Alaskans.
Why can't I remove your comment?!
KCStyleZ001 Only SciShow can remove it
I have a new youtube name I can use spaces and punctuation now too :D YAY! :DDDDDDDD Incorrect. I can remove comments too.
I have a new youtube name I can use spaces and punctuation now too :D YAY! :DDDDDDDD Like that. ;)
Koppa Dasao Mind blown
where where you before my geography exam huh hank?
HUH HANK?!
Me to!! My Geography test on this was on Wednesday!!
haha mine is this Friday, thanks for the material Hank!
@@supermonkeywtf09 mine is tomorrow which is also friday😂
Here in Chile if isn't a 7 or higher, we don't even get up the bed...
Great video!
My mom was 3 years old and living in Alaska when this happened. My grandmother remembers it pretty well.
So, the fault in our boundaries?
+TheTimtam112 W
The first time I felt an earthquake was when i was on a school trip to Manali and Shimla. When we were returning to Ahemdabad,we stopped in Amritsar.during the night,we felt a magnetitude 4 earthquake.I was on the bed when my friends came and told that we should get out of the hotel.my teacher scolded some students who did not come out of the hotel because they were watching pal pal dill ke pass.
Actually Hank, there are 12 tectonic plates: The Antarctic Plate, Australian Plate, Eurasian Plate, South American Plate, African Plate, Middle-Eastern Plate, Indian Plate, Caribbean Plate, Pacific Plate, Nazca Plate, Scosha Plate, and North American Plate.
Don’t forget the Juan de Fuca plate.
When I first took an undergraduate geology course at UNLV in 1965 we were given mimeographed inserts about plate tectonics because it wasn't covered in our text books.
I actually experienced my first earthquake last week, and it was on the Wasatch Fault. It's awesome that this video was posted only two days after it happened, just as I was getting more curious about the way earthquakes work. Good job scishow.
2:00 mesosphere often refers to a layer of the atmosphere.
i prefer the term mantle.
Hearing the word "fault" so much gave me an Animaniacs flashback because of their "Quake" song.
"Whose fault? Whose fault? The San Andreas' fault. 'Cause Mr. Richter can't predict 'er kicking our asphalt."
I love the geology videos but there are a few things that need to be corrected:
1) The mantle is dominantly a solid fluid. It is not a liquid. That is to say it is a mess of crystals slowly creeping past one another. There is a common misconception that the earth is full of hot magma waiting to bubble up to the surface and this is just not true. At divergent boundaries the decrease in pressure changes the local thermodynamic character sending some chemicals into a liquid state which then rise and freeze at the surface.
2) Subducted plates do not just sink back into the earth and melt like an ice cube in water. As gravity pulls the giant slab of earth down it rapidly releases volatiles locked up in mineral structures which rapidly become unstable as pressure and temperature increase. These slabs continue to drive through the fluid (but solid) mantle until they reach a depth of about 660km where things become complicated. There is a major thermodynamic barrier where slab behavior is still not entirely understood. Some slabs seem to get stuck at this depth and others push on to the mantle-core boundary.
EDIT: Hank, you should do a video on why the interior of the earth is NOT molten. Hint: www.geo.mtu.edu/~hamorgan/Images/earth_geotherm1.gif
I was in Puerto Rico for two years and we had three earthquakes, one of which knocked me off my feet, it was terrifying!!!
Hank, subducted plates don't melt in the mantle, they go all the way down to the core.
For anyone who doesn't know, some of the biggest city in alaska, Anchorage, sunk into the ocean. I live in Alaska and my teacher was telling me about when the earthquake happened, he lost half of his paper route that day. You can still go visit there today. The road just suddenly gets really steep near the ocean.
The Faults in our Plates by Hank Green.
Hank, I'm proud of you for not making a Fault in our Stars joke.
Watching this in Alaska, the second it ended there was (is as I'm typing this) a tremor. Go figure.
in south carolina we have a massive fault directly beneath charleston. it can be even more destructive than the one in alaska, in fact it decimated the immediate vicinity in the 1800's. people are saying it's time for it to happen again, and i must request you make an episode concerning this, as it could affect areas as far as DC.
There are 7 main tectonic plates, but there are several smaller ones which play a crucial role in tectonic events.
alas, chiles 1960 valdivia earthquake, w/ 9.5 richter and the a power that made hills disapear is ignored once again
I felt my first earthquake ever, a few months ago! In Florida!!!! (it was centered in cuba)
It's called the epicentre FYI :)
When was that? I live in south Florida and didn't know there was an earthquake.
Michael Tilton I don't know, google cuba 2014 earthquake and it might say, there was some video of people in FL on the news talking about feeling it
I did, they claimed it could be felt in my town but I had no idea it happened and saw nothing about it on the news.
Castro is attacking!!! Prepare the nukes!!!!
Hank makes a couple of comments here that make it sound like the mantle of the Earth is made of molten magma. It is actually mostly solid rock due to the enormous pressures with only small patches that melt.
When I was in school, I used to work at the local science centre and they chose to showcase the unique local geology. The centre sits on exposed bedrock and the entrance is actually a rock tunnel. A fault line goes through it and it's on the rim of an ancient meteor crater so you can actually see shatter cones. It's pretty freaking neat.
I was there for BayQuake '89 (Coalinga). Really weird experience. Just before it happened (maybe 20 seconds) our cat ran through the house and jumped through the kitchen window, and our four goldfish dove for the bottom of the tank. I felt the New Madrid quake in '68, and another small quake in CA. Geology was one of my favorite subjects.
I actually live right next to the that fault from idaho to utah and a lot of people say a very large earthquake could happen any time I live in Provo Utah so that's scary
Yes there's a fault running through Missouri. Due to the "70 year rule" (theory sort of) it is estimated that every 70 years a major earthquake is supposed to happen on a major fault line. I personally think it's very lose in truth as many major fault lines have gone without earthquakes for twice as long.
So you're saying before this quake, we didn't understand the Faultlines in our Stars, but after Looking for Alaska, we have a better handle on it.
Um, Paper Towns.
Content selection is pretty good. However pace is maybe 20% too fast for most of the target audience, AND -- the biggest issue -- WAY too much time is spent on the talking head -- 80-90% of the screen time should be on the relevant graphics, and the dialog keyed to pointing out the salient features of those images.
Thanks for this work.
Could not agree more with you on this! I know that I've mentioned the same issue on another interesting video of theres a while back as well.
Your diagram of the San Andreas fault is incorrect, as it shows that the North America plate and the Pacific plate are moving in opposite directions. In fact, they are both moving in the same direction, but the North America plate is moving slower than the Pacific plate, giving it the illusion that they're moving in opposite directions (this is a pretty common mistake that people make).
I climbed Mt. St. Helens right after it was removed from level-3 eruption status and while I was at the top there was a 3.7 earthquake centered 500 meters beneath our feet. It wasn't a strong quake, but it was the most terrifying thing I've ever experienced.
You guys should do an episode on the science of being nervous, as in why you feel like you're going to pee yourself and why you get butterflies, either on SciShow Crash Course Psychology
As a high school teacher who lives & works along the San Andreas and was busy going through my VidCon schedule today, this video gave me a great idea for how to improve shows like this or Crash Course and other edutainment channels. Need to polish it up but hopefully by VidCon I'll be able to pass it on. Could make these almost as fun as the days of Bro'hood 2.0 and even better as an educational tool. Not complaining, excited. Thanks. (Happy Subbable patron)
I live near the Wasatch Fault... just waiting for the day there's a huge earthquake. There's actually crazy people who build their houses on the fault line.
They didn't have kilometers in 1964 Alaska. :-)
A kilometer is just a unit of measurement.
No, man, sending them to Alaska is hella expensive with the international shipping. They didn't get their first kilometer until the late '90s.
R3Testa are you high?
Sannou No, I live in the lower 48.
Kinda dumb when you consider there is 49 states below Alaska
As someone living near three plates (southern British Columbia, Canada), earthquakes scare me
and with 100 that do damage, I think you mean 100 that do significant damage, because for example Groningen (not that I live there) still has a lot of earthquakes, while none (as far as I know) actually did that much damage, but a lot of small ones can still make buildings collapse, so there are more that do damage.
The Faults in Our Earth
The name of said meteorologist actually was Alfred Wegener
Faults and Alaska. Common themes in the Green brothers' works ;)
This was the first well made document/video in a while. Good job Scishow!
I don't know if you have done this show idea yet (i'm a scishow noob) but during this piece you mentioned a scientist whose career was ruined by offering a correct theory. Im sure there are other scientists who have suffered this fate... what a great show!
Where I live, there's a fault line that runs through my city. There are some minor earthquakes every few years or so.
More time was given to Alaska in this video than all of Crash Course US History
Holy shit, Hank. You made Geology interesting.
What's funny is that Hank recently missed a question about faults in SciShow Quiz Show that he talked about in this video xD
Had a small 2.5 magnitude here in western NC a few days ago, which is rare. They've been happening more though, and each time everyone freaks out.
Cool story bro, though a lorry truck driving past your house would structurally cause larger shockwaves.
No shit. I didn't feel it but my nephew said he did and got all excited.
I'd have thought that Americans would have weighed down their tectonic plate enough to make it dive downwards...
I feel bad for people who freak out over earthquakes because where I'm from we're overdue for an earthquake worse than the one in Alaska.
A new book should be written by Hank...the fault in our plates
On a scale of Good Friday to The Worst Friday, I rate that a Sub Par Friday.
Here in Oklahoma (USA), there's been a recent uptick in earthquakes. Some people attribute this uptick to increased fracking (hydraulic fracturing). It's interesting to consider fracking within a plate tectonic framework...
Ty for helping me out
I realize that this may be only me, but once Hank started talking about FAULTS, I kept waiting for him to give a nudge-nugde-wink-wink shout out for his brothers movie.
I can't believe I had never heard of the Alaskan Earthquake.
This pretty much sums up my first chapter that I have to learn for my Geography Finals! Thanks a bunch.
Hank, noticed the way you pronounced himalaya, if you wanna make it more accurate go with 'him-aa-luh-ya', it's a combination of two words 'Hima' (Snow) and 'Aa-luh-ya' (Home) :) Cheers!
Great video, but i've learned about this and more about earthquakes in school.
Agreed, some of the points are slightly cringy though, it's a good way to briefly look over things but describing the NA Plate as lighter gives off a bad impression... It's less dense than the pacific, that's why the pacific subducts
I live in Christchurch, New Zealand. After awhile you stop reacting to earthquakes the same, you start to understand whats going to get worse and when to duck for cover!
As a Geologist, this was a nice refresher. :)
It would have been nice at least a tiny mention to other big earthquakes, like the one that hit my country on February 27th, 2010, or the one that hit Japan on March 11th, 2011. :(
I absolutely can not hear the word "magma" without thinking about Dr. Evil with his pinky in the corner of his mouth.
Yeah, geology rocks!
Hey! Alfred Wegener proposed the theory of continental drift, not the theory of plate tectonics. You should know this, Hank, you did a video on him.
pipelines rise up out of the ground during liquefaction, the petrol inside makes the pipes buoyant
Montana is one of the most seismically active states in the Union. From 1-2 per day to 100 (called swarms) in a single day with magnitudes of up to 3.8 in Yellowstone.
It is weird to think about the Earth's crust just being thick slabs of dirt that float on an ocean of lava underneath it.
I am kinda disappointed that New Zealand and the rest of the Ring of Fire wasn't mentioned, or the mystery of the Christchurch Earthquake
There are more than 7 plates there are just 7 really really large plates, but there are quite a few smaller plates as well. Like the indian plate which is the cause of the Himalayan mountain range.
I can't believe you guys dint mention the Puerto Rico Trench.....its so hard to find information about it even here on the actual island.
Speaking of Geology things, can you talk about how Hawaii was formed?
Only ever felt one earthquake here in the UK, we don't really get them here but there was one about 4.2 on the scale, it felt like I was on a train and the sofa was moving a bit. Still made me run to the door where I though it was safer. A real one must be very frightening indeed, that was only a tremor really.
Excellent video!
As a Californian, I feel that the California animation at 4:51 is insultingly wrong. There's a sliver of California on the coast that will slide upwards against the rest of California not on the coast. The fact that this animation (which is showing about half of California being "eaten up", through random, unknown means, DURING THE PART OF THE TALK ABOUT PLATES SLIDING PAST EACH OTHER), the fact that it got through the sensors and scientists is saddening to me.
THIS is what the San Andreas Fault looks like:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Sanandreas.jpg
EDIT: Holy...HOW DID THEY GET THAT PICTURE UP THERE
Do any other planets have plate tectonics?
Any planet with a liquid interior and a solid surface should display some level of tectonics.
The solid surface essentially floats on the liquid interior. In the Earths instance the fact our core is hot means we have convection within it. This is because the magma (liquid) is heated near the centre, moved to the outer edges just under the crust (solid), when it moves around and falls back to the centre. Just like in a saucepan with boiling water.The magma nudges crust around.
PokéCenter
Did, mars no longer has a molten core.
According to available data it appears that neither Mercury, Venus nor Mars have plate tectonics. Mercury shows signs of large-scale crust compression (thermal shrinkage), Venus - global uniform surface rejuvenation (the whole crust covered with relatively fresh basaltic lava) and Mars is geologically mostly dead. There are some signs of past crustal spreading, similar to oceanic ridges on Earth, but they are ancient and inactive.
There is a hypothesis suggesting that a rocky planet needs a certain size, composition, active internal thermal engine and some sort of lubricant to develop tectonic plate movement (spreading and subduction). On Earth this lubricant exists in the shape of water (or generally various fluids). It lowers melting points of minerals and facilitates plate movement along faults or other contact surfaces.
According to this hypothesis Mercury and Mars are too small to have a core active enough to develop the necessary heat flux and start a tectonic cycle. Venus on the other hand might be too dry. No water (or any other significant lubricant) causes the crust to be stiff and rigid. The plates, if they exist, are tightly locked for hundreds of millions of years before a global event remodels the whole crust in a short period of time, all at once.
PokéCenter
PokheeeCentaaahh? It's leviosaaaAAAH.
@Justin Gabriel What a great question. Ask NASA. The only planet we have touched so far is Mars. I don't know if they have experienced any earthquakes on Mars but your question is one that a true scientist would ask. Stick with it. You might be the one to discover the answer to that question.
The Fault in Alaska, by John Green's brother. Buy it now.
should have mentioned the 5 Italian scientists who got imprisoned for not predicting an earthquake.
Excellent!
OFF TOPIC: My boyfriend and I are having an argument. He says evolution is a crapshoot and I say the whole, incredibly long, long , long process is for the betterment of a species and the negatives are displaced by the positives. (This MAY explain the argument: it began when we wondered if a co-worker might be the missing link between we regular humans and a new flying species due to it's not insubstantial arm mass while also not being very dense) His argument is that the effort of learning to fly will keep us from being fast enough at running therefore ensuring the end of our species. I say evolution wouldn't begin in the first place without ensuring survivability in the first place. Nerdfighters...Assemble!!!
This was a REALLY good episode!
is it possible that an earthquake large enough could fracture an entire plate creating a new one? or maybe some other geologic process? (not asteroids or anything)
No.
The earthquake is only the symptom, but over a big enough timespan the subduction process that causes earthquakes will make the whole plate disappear under another. In other places, new faults will tear up, e.g. over the last couple of million years in East Africa, and split existing plates.
Lovely video content! Apologies for butting in, I am interested in your initial thoughts. Have you researched - Proutklarton Crisis Away Plan (do a search on google)? It is a good exclusive guide for surviving and preparing for a disaster minus the headache. Ive heard some decent things about it and my friend got astronomical success with it.
ForeverOfTheStars
It can be caused by movement in the mantle tearing a plate into 2 parts (known as a Rift Valley) the great Rift Valley in Kenya will eventually split the African plate into 2 separate plates,
I know I should be grateful and that earthquakes are dangerous but as an english geology student I really want to experience one, I live right in the middle of the dull Eurasian plate, earthquakes are rare and really small
we are on a big ass ball spinning guys. My mind is blown. imagine us all on a giant spinning ball.
Well, Alaska got a GOOD hit on that FRIDAY
thank you for a great , interesting videos
i live in ireland i have been to earthquake zones before but never experianced one