got geoint?

Welcome to the illustrious and critically-acclaimed “Friday’s Food for Thought” post from got geoint? How many DC-based folks out there were woken up in the early morning hours by the earth quake? Yes, that is right…we had an earth quake. And, last month, the New England area experienced a 5.0 magnitude quake. So, what is up with all the earth quakes hitting the east coast? We hope to explore this further in our earth quake-themed FFT post. Happy Friday and we hope you enjoy.

Satellite Photos of Haiti Before and After the Earthquake
While our faithful readers know that we extensively covered the Haiti earth quake earlier this year, we thought we would quickly highlight the role of satellite imagery and that devastating quake. While our lives move on and other things take over the news cycle, we should not forget that Haiti still needs our support and life has not improved for Haitians. As a reminder, here’s the Wired story from January that shows the before and after satellite images of the damage in Haiti.

What Causes an Earth Quake?
An earthquake is the shaking of the ground caused by an abrupt shift of rock along a fracture in the Earth, called a fault. Within seconds, an earthquake releases stress that has slowly accumulated within the rock, sometimes over hundreds of years. The size of an earthquake is indicated by a number called its magnitude. Magnitude is calculated from a measurement of either the amplitude or the duration of specific types of recorded seismic waves. Magnitude is determined from measurements made from seismograms and not on reports of shaking or interpretations of building damage. The intensity of and earthquake is a measure of the amount of ground shaking at a particular site, and it is determined from reports of human reaction to shaking, damage done to structures, and other effects. Read more here.

Check Out The Earth Quake Museum Blog
Yes, there is a blog called the Earth Quake Museum. The blog is billed as a place to learn everything you want to know about earthquakes. It also reports of major quakes around the world in the last few years. Though, they don’t have a post up yet about the DC earth quake. We imagine their editorial team is writing a post as we speak. Check out more here.

What Is the Biggest Earth Quake Every Recorded?
Thanks to the extensive records of the United States Geological Service (USGS), it is quite easy to learn about the biggest earthquake ever recorded, which occurred near the cities of Valdivia and Puerto Montt, Chile, in 1960. Known as the Great Chilean Earthquake, the quake measured an impressive 9.5 on the Richter scale. The death toll of the Great Chilean Earthquake is not known, although the USGS estimates about 1,655 people died, and the earthquake may have caused as much as $800 billion US Dollars (USD) in damage. Read more here.

I Feel The Earth Move Under My Feet
Yes, yes..we had to post a song about earth quakes…or at least about feeling the earth move under our feet when that someone special walks in the room. So, we hope you all enjoy this clip of Carole King singing here “I Feel The Earth Move” hit live. Despite her 1970s elementary school music teach style and mojo, it is a great song. Happy Friday.

Tags: DC earth quake, Earth Quake in the DC area, Earth Quake Museum, Friday's Food for Thought, GEOINT and earth quakes, United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, USGIF