Earthquake Shakes Northern Arizona
A 4.7-magnitude earthquake shook thousands of people in northern Arizona on Sunday night. This is the second earthquake that’s occurred near this epicenter in the last week. There were no reports of injury or damage.
The focus of the earthquake was approximately seven miles north of Sedona, six miles underground near the Oak Creek fault zone.
David Brumbaugh, who directs the Arizona Earthquake Information Center, said Arizona actually experiences many small earthquakes frequently not felt.
“Basically the crust in the Flagstaff area and elsewhere in northern Arizona the crust of the Earth is being stretched and lengthened and as that happens, eventually the crust will fail,” Brumbaugh said.
It’s been more than two decades since the last time northern Arizona has felt one as strong as this. Typically damage doesn’t occur until the earthquake registers a 6 or higher.
Brumbaugh said oftentimes smaller earthquakes may be on blind faults that we can’t see because they don’t reach the Earth’s surface. He and his colleagues will be pinpointing the precise location of this earthquake so they can outline the active faults.
