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Showing posts with the label Earthquake

Science is Fun Fridays!

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  This is Devil's Hole in Death Valley National Park. These waters are home to an endangered pupfish, and yesterday's earthquake caused a disturbance. The National Park Service reports that a shelf was broken by waves that reached 24 inches high.  NPS biologist, Kevin Wilson, says a lot of pupfish food "just sank deeper into the cave, most likely too deep for the fish to get."  There were likely pupfish eggs that were destroyed as well. But it's not all bad news.  "It cleaned off any decaying organic matter that could otherwise cause pockets of low oxygen," so this type of reset can be good for the fish. Isolation over the course of thousands of years has led to these fish being, what is believed to be, one of the most inbred invertebrates on Earth.

Science is Fun Fridays!

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On May 15, a 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit near Tonopah, NV - the biggest quake we've had in 66 years. There have been aftershocks every day since - more than 500 of 2.5 and above, as well as some 4-5s. They're all focused in an area known as the Monte Cristo Valley. Nevada is the third most seismic state in the US, after California and Alaska.  Our biggest quake on record is a 7.3 from 1915. Our governor has declared a state of emergency for the damaged roads - US 95 (shown above), Route 6, and Route 360.  Estimates exceed $700,000 so we needed emergency funding from the Federal Highway Administration. USGS CNN FOX