Fault Plane News Today

were talking breaking news out of turkey where a major earthquake has struck the southern part of the country. officials say the death toll has now risen to at least 17. the u.s. geological survey says the 7.8 magnitude quake was centered east of nadagi in gaziant. p province. officials say multiple buildings have collapsed not just in turkey but also in syria. an aftershock with a magnitude of 6.7 struck northwest of the initial quake about 11 minutes later. a local journalist tells c...

So if its very close to the surface if its a shallow earthquake then it can be very dangerous. and this probably had a depth of about 18 kilometers, which is a pretty shallow earthquake for this magnitude. >> and so what does that mean when its shallow and its also hitting a very densely populated center? >> well, yeah, i mean, the faults dont know where the people live. the faults are where they are. the shallow -- what i mean by a shallow earthquake is just simply that the fault plane extends ...

>> is there a chance that on thes earthquake could be a preshock to a larger earthquake? >> there always is. >> 5% of california earthquakes are followed by something larger within three days. >> reporter: the trembler center aid long the fuentes hill fault. it was one of the first in california since 20 years ago after a quick killed more than 50 people and causing an estimated $42 billion in damage. cnn meteorologist alexandra steele says the chance far catastrophe line of scrimmage northridge...

You wouldnt expect, for instance, to see a fault of that size in the middle of the u.s. in the stable interior. so while its true that there are faults we dont know about, its not true that they can be anywhere in the world. they tend to be in the tech on theically-active areas. just to compare that, a 6.7 earthquake, the fault is not nearly as large as the size of the fault plane that rupture inside this latest japan earthquake. so we know we cant have faults that big that we dont know about be...