



by Eric Blair

August 28, 2011

from ActivistPost Website

Spanish version



USGS Shakemap Image

My first thought upon hearing the news of the rare 5.9 magnitude earthquake in Virginia this week (August 2011) was that it was not a natural occurrence.

After all, no one has ever felt or even heard of such a powerful temblor happening in this area in a lifetime. As is usual for my cynical instincts, I hoped that I was wrong. However, several anomalies indicate that something is not normal with the Virginia quake.



First, I spend a lot of time in the " Ring of Fire " zone and have experienced numerous earthquakes.

By no means does this make me an expert, nor scientifically qualified to analyze earthquakes. But, as enthusiasts, we looked up every quake we felt over a five-year period - the size, epicenter location, depth, and so on, to get a general sense of placing how it "felt" relative to the official data.



I can categorically state that, of the dozen or so earthquakes that I've experienced, including a powerful 6.2, all of them started gently, none of them were over 50 miles away, all of them had depths of several kilometers, and the big ones seemed to have multiple aftershocks reported.

Again, I say this as an observer, not as a scientist, and I'm only providing this background simply to qualify my immediate skepticism.



Furthermore, curiously, the "Great Virginia Quake of 2011," unprecedented in size and scope, should have grabbed the media headlines and discussion for weeks, but Hurricane Irene has all but wiped the earthquake off the weather map.

Even as all the storm measurements for Irene show that it will likely be a minor nuisance, maybe some flooding and power outages, multiple states of emergency have been declared, mandatory mass evacuations ordered, and the media is all too eager to spread the panic. You'd think the east coast of the United States was being invaded. It feels like a distraction, or perhaps a large but manageable live drill of some kind to make 'heroes' out of our politicians, and FEMA look like a 'successful' agency.



If this manic and surreal coverage of Irene is a deliberate distraction, the anomalies regarding the recent earthquake may have provided sufficient motivation for doing so.

Not to discount other establishment catastrophes that they may want to distract from at this critical time, like,

the crumbling economy

record political disapproval

the bungled invasion of Tripoli ,

...but, if any discussion about the unusual nature of the earthquake was allowed one must ponder if some sort of manipulation was involved. The establishment will not permit such talk, apparently; hence the rapid about-face on earthquake coverage.



Below are six abnormalities about the Virginia earthquake that should warrant further investigation: