Thoughts about the Mexican dike.

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Historically, this area has been shaky. I am more worried about what could happen farther down the Sea of Cortez. The Pacific Plate is pushing up against the North American Plate. The Cocos plate is caught between them.

A significant earthquake could send a tsunami up the Sea of Cortez. A massive amount of water could wash through Mexicali and Calexico.

The current earthquakes are seven to eight kilometers below surface. Should they fracture the fault enough to let sea water in, we could see water geysers and steam all along the fault.

It may not happen in our life time, and it may never happen. But still, it is something to think about.
 
rufus said:
Historically, this area has been shaky. I am more worried about what could happen farther down the Sea of Cortez. The Pacific Plate is pushing up against the North American Plate. The Cocos plate is caught between them.

A significant earthquake could send a tsunami up the Sea of Cortez. A massive amount of water could wash through Mexicali and Calexico.

The current earthquakes are seven to eight kilometers below surface. Should they fracture the fault enough to let sea water in, we could see water geysers and steam all along the fault.

It may not happen in our life time, and it may never happen. But still, it is something to think about.
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These type of faults don't generate tsunamis.

Wouldn't an asteroid hit the planet cause a much greater calamity ?
 
Yes, it would. But I wouldn't be around to pay to have it cleaned up. We would all be done for. Still, I would hold off on buying that agricultural land in the Imperial Valley.
 
Dennis, I had a theory once that the Hawaiian Islands were the result of a meteor impact on the earth. I figured it crashed through the crust of the earth and sank toward the core. If you look on the other side of the earth, you see the great rift valley of Africa. Shoot a ball bearing into a ball of clay, and that is exactly what you would get. The geology professor said it was bunk. Maybe I was wrong, and then again maybe I was right. Who knows.
 
rufus said:
Are you thinking of the New Madrid fault? It runs through Missouri. I have a brother that lives in Rolla, Missouri. I guess he could some day find himself in a shake.

I am concerned about the Mexican dike because the Sea of Cortez has one of the largest tidal fluctuations in the world. During the 1878 earthquake that shook Arizona and Sonora it was low tide. If it happened at high tide there would have been some real problems. A tsunami could run straight up the Sea of Cortez and wash out the Calexico/Mexicali dike.

My father told me that in the 1878 quake a steam ship was washed up the Rio Asuncion and was left stranded ten miles from water. The Indians peeled the metal from it to make comals to cook tortillas on. They refer to it as el barco encallado. I keep looking on Google Earth hoping to see some remains of it. So far no luck.
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I know this is an old thread but I read about this in a western, the author referred to this (or and event like it) and other strange events with water ways in his works like in one novel how the Mississippi re-routed itself and done practally the same thing to another ship, a paddle boat if I remember correctly. The guy worked in some real events and places to make his novels more interesting (kinda like Forrest Gump was written, fiction incorperating real events).
 
Yes, in the 1870's and 1880's before the railroad came to the area, goods were shipped to La Paz in Baja California and then off loaded to steamers to be shipped up the colorado. The farthest they could go was Ehrenberg. Most of the mining equipment was brought in that way.

The 1878 earthquake was a doozy. Not many people lived in the area at that time. But most people lived in adobe houses, and adobes don't hold up to earthquakes or tsunamis. It was May and it was already hot, so people were sleeping outside.

I have heard of this lost steam ship all of my life, but so far I cannot seem to locate the remains by looking on Google Earth. Maybe time has taken its toll on the remains.

The area around Guadalupe Victoria seems to have earthquakes ever day of so. I suspect we are due for another big shake. Hopefully, it won't happen in our lifetimes.
 
Mea culpa. The earthquake was in 1887, not 1878. I should copy read before I hit the post button.
 

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