why does Hongkong don't have earthquakes?
85265
Actually about two earth tremors are felt every year in Hong Kong. They are small, and less frequent than in other areas, however Hong Kong is NOT necessarily safe from earthquakes. \n\nThe nearest known plate boundary (of the Eurasian and Pacific plates) is about 600 km away, but there are still occasional midplate earthquakes that occur (seismologists do not know the origin of these). However, this does not mean that there is not some other fault nearby that has not revealed itself. Microplates near plate boundaries do exist, and sometimes these are surrounded by "locked" faults (because sufficient stress has not accumulated to overcome the resistance presented by asperities).  This can either mean that the chance of earthquakes is reduced, but it can also mean that if these asperities are overcome, the energy release can be substantial. \n\nThe Hong Kong government seismic observatory states that:\n\n"Several scientific studies carried out recently showed that in Hong Kong, the return period for an Intensity V (5) tremor would be 15 to 20 years and that for an Intensity VII (7) tremor would be 350 to 400 years." \n\nThe intensity scale is known as the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale. An intensity of V corresponds to a magnitude of 4.3 to 4.8 on the Richter scale. An intensity of VII corresponds to a magnitude of 4.8 to 6.2 on the Richter scale.\n\nAccording to the official government of Hong Kong publication on earthquake hazards in Hong Kong:\n\n"Every year, about two earth tremors are felt in Hong Kong. To put this in context, studies into earthquake risk in Hong Kong carried out by the Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO) classified the seismicity of Hong Kong and the adjoining Guangdong Province as "low to moderate". The earthquake hazard in Hong Kong is therefore considered to be very much lower than in areas such as Japan, Taiwan and the western USA which lie close to the earth's more seismically active zones along crustal plate boundaries. However, earthquake risk in Hong Kong cannot be regarded as negligible."
1176166
one cannot predict earthquakes, but due to the behavorial changes or sounds made by birds or other animals we can just become aware and alert about the possibility of an earthquake. also if some underground animals start coming out of their holes it means an earthquake can occur because they have very good sensing organs and can sense the frequencies matching that of an earthquake.
730324
"The Word " ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS & SUMATRA " will be removed from the geographical area in another 10 million years since the eurasian plates are moving inch by inch .\n\nThe region where the great earthquake occurred on 26 December 2004, marks the seismic boundary formed by the movement of the Indo-Australian plate as it collides with the Burma subplate, which is part of the Eurasian plate. However, the Indo-Australian tectonic plate may not be as coherent as previously believed. According to recent studies reported in the Earth and Planetary Science Letters (vol 133), it apears that the two plates have separated many million years ago and that the Australian plate is rotating in a counterclockwise direction, putting stress in the southern segment of the India plate.\n\nFor millions of years the India tectonic plate has drifted and moved in a north/northeast direction, colliding with the Eurasian tectonic plate and forming the Himalayan mountains. As a result of such migration and collision with both the Eurasian and the Australian tectonic plates, the Indian plate's eastern boundary is a diffuse zone of seismicity and deformation, characterized by extensive faulting and numerous large earthquakes.\n\nThe epicenter of the 26 December 2004 earthquake was near the triple point junction of three tectonic plates where major earthquakes and tsunamis have occurred in the past.\n\nPrevious major earthquakes have occurred further north, in the Andaman Sea and further South along the Sumatra, Java and Sunda sections of one of the earth's greatest fault zones, a subduction zone known as the Sunda Trench. This great trench extends for about 3,400 miles (5,500 kms) from Myanmar (Burma) south past Sumatra and Java and east toward Australia and the Lesser Sunda Islands, ending up near Timor. Slippage and plate subduction make this region highly seismic. The volcanoes of Krakatau, Tambora and Toba, well known for their violent eruptions, are byproducts of such tectonic interactions.\n\nIn addition to the Sunda Trench, the Sumatra fault is responsible for seismic activity on the Island of Sumatra. This is a strike-slip type of fault which extends along the entire length of the island.\n\nThe Burma plate encompasses the northwest portion of the island of Sumatra as well as the Andaman and the Nicobar Islands, which separate the Andaman Sea from the Indian Ocean. Further to the east, a divergent boundary separates the Burma plate from the Sunda plate.\n\nMore specifically, in the region off the west coast of northern Sumatra, the India plate is moving in a northeastward direction at about 5 to 5.5 cm per year relative to the Burma plate.\n\nChronological Sequence of Major Aftershocks Along the West Coast of Northern Sumatra and in the Nicobar and Andaman Island Region Following the Major Earthquake om 26 December 2004\n\n\n MAGNITUDE   DATE  UTC-TIME  LATITUDE  LONGITUDE  DEPTH  REGION \n              \n 8.9  2004/12/26  00:58:51  3.298  95.779  10.0 West Coast of Northern Sumatra \n 5.9  2004/12/26  01:48:47  5.393  94.423  10.0 West Coast of Northern Sumatra \n 5.8  2004/12/26  02:15:58  12.375  92.509  10.0 Andaman Islands \n 6.0  2004/12/26  02:22:02  8.83  92.532  10.0  Nicobar Islands \n 5.8  2004/12/26  02:34:50  4.104  94.184  10.0 West Coast of Northern Sumatra \n 5.8  2004/12/26  02:36:06  12.139  93.011  10.0 Andaman Islands \n 6.0  2004/12/26  02:51:59  12.511  92.592  10.0 Andaman Islands \n 5.9  2004/12/26  02:59:12  3.177  94.259  10.0 West Coast of Northern Sumatra \n 6.1  2004/12/26  03:08:42  13.808  92.974  10.0 Andaman Islands \n 7.3  2004/12/26  04:21:26  6.901  92.952  10.0  Nicobar Islands \n 5.7  2004/12/26  06:21:58  10.623  92.323  10.0 Andaman Islands \n 5.7  2004/12/26  07:07:10  10.336  93.756  10.0 Andaman Islands \n 5.8  2004/12/26  07:38:25  13.119  93.051  10.0 Andaman Islands \n 6.5  2004/12/26  09:20:01  8.867  92.382  10.0  Nicobar Islands \n 6.2  2004/12/26  10:19:30  13.455  92.
299379
Since 1900 in the state of New York, there have been 16 measurable earthquakes. Dividing 16 (number of quakes) by 106 (number of years since 1900) gives a 15.1% chance that a given year may have an earthquake.\n\nOf the 16 quakes, all but 5 of them were class VI quakes which may knock items off of shelves but won't do any serious structural damage.\n\nWith only 5 quakes capable of producing any large damage, the percentage chance of experiencing a damaging quake drops to 4.7% for a given year.
855026
Most earthquakes happen along the edge of the oceanic and continental plates. [Oceanic plates are under water, continental plates are above.] The earth's crust (the outer layer of the planet) is made up of a bunch of pieces, called plates. The plates get moved around by the liquid layers of magma underneath the Earth's crust. The plates are always bumping into each other, and pulling away from each other or past eachother. Earthquakes usually happen when two plates are running into each other or sliding past each other. They can also happen along faults, too though.
1181105
I lived in L.A. for twenty years - and I'd rather be in an earthquake.  Most of them don't do much damage, they're over quickly enough and aftershocks are rarely bigger than the original quake.  For the most part, people know what to do when the Earth starts to move, and there often aren't any fatalities or even injuries.\n\nYou might be able to get away from a hurricane because you have warning, but overall the damage is much more severe and all encompassing than an earthquake, and because you've left, you don't always know what's going on with your home.\n\nI'd take my chances with an earthquake, thanks.
403621
In a nutshell, their is no way to predict earthquakes because there are little to no warnings signs. For example in California, This is a transform fault where two plates are sliding past each other... Eventually the stress builds up so much that it moves a lot at one time.. This is what causes Earth Quakes there, and when they happen they are devastating... We just cant tell when the stress is so much that an earthquake is going to happen.. It is not possible and probably will never be.
245651
I know I am not going to win with this answer but the answer is "All of them".\n\nThe reason stems from the fact that a seismometer placed anywhere on the planet will record motions in the Earth.\n\nSomalia and Ethiopia (and even Sudan, Eritrea and Egypt) lie directly on plate boundaries so they will continuously experience quite large earthquakes.\n\nI know you were probably referring to some big specific event, registering some high value on the Richter magnitude scale, and that I would have to look up somewhere. I don't know where.
396469
The path of the light (or shadow) is unrelated to the gravity.  Gravity of both bodies (sun and moon) is acting on the whole Earth, not just the area where the eclipse is seen, so earthquakes would not be related to the eclipse.  BTW: Tidal forces of the sun and moon happen all the time and alignments and oppositions will create extreme pulls.
42841
It's fairly unhealthy on the busy streets, but the harbor is right there and keeps things fresh. It doesn't feel as bad as most huge cities in the world, again due to the harbor. The Hong Kong infrastructure is excellent, and they have great systems of charting pollution levels, so you get ample warnings.
742010
Earthquakes: \nIt all comes down to stress and strain from the interaction of different plates, chiefly at the boundaries. It is not 'the plates rubbing together' as many people say; or at least that's a very simplistic view.\n\nPlate tectonics causes stress on the continents and oceans, all over the surface of the earth. In some places, the stress is very small (usually within the plates). Elsewhere, the stress is high, usually where the plates meet each other. Since each plate moves, when two come in contact, the stress each other. They can push on each other and cause compressional stress, they can pull with extensional stress, and they can slide past or shear each other with tensional stress.\n\nFaulting, causing earthquakes, comes from the fact that this stress is building up all the time, but rocks and continents are strong materials. Just like hitting a rock with a small hammer, you do put stress on it, but a small amount. It would take a sledgehammer to put enough strain (effects and accumulation of stress) to build up and cause breakage. In the earth, the area around an active fault builds up strain from the stress of plate tectonics. Most faults become locked, because of this strength, and thus can not release their strain. Away from the fault, the stress produces very small and slow movement of the rock masses as a whole. Eventually, the strain is too much and the rest of the plate has moved too far and the fault releases the strain build-up all at once in a big stress release called an earthquake. This is called the elastic rebound theory, and it explains most (but not all) movements.\n\nThis is why an earthquake's size is relative to the fault size. The bigger the fault, the bigger the strain build up, and the bigger the release in an earthquake. Subduction zones and collision zones, where large portions of plates actually can rub together as a whole, have the really big earthquakes, like the 2004 Sumatra earthquake. In other plate boundaries, the entire plate boundary does not act together, so the faults become spread out and many faults take up the strain from the tectonic stress, like with the San Andreas Fault in California (it only takes up ~3/4 of the stress between the plates).\n\nEarthquakes are really tricky things; there is still so much we need to learn. As of now, there is no way to predict them, but we can say where the danger is highest and about how long between events.
56382
First off earthquakes can't occur on Jupiter or Saturn since their "surface" is fluid.  \n\nIt's my understanding that earthquakes are the result of active plate tectonics.  Active plate tectonics only occur in our solar system on this planet.  So my guess is no.  Maybe in the past thought.
1089394
earthquakes occur when the tectonic plates that cover the earth noticably shift. These movements can also form volcanoes and trenches
1042660
There are pre-tremors associated with impending earthquakes in well defined regions.  However, these are seismic as well, and not associated with the atmosphere.  There is no one sign in the atmosphere, and certainly not three.
88247
yes, usually but sometimes they are so small they can't be felt.  If you go the usgs.gov website it will give you all the earthquakes which occur on a daily basis.  Most earthquakes that occur can't be felt on the surface.
362562
Well, to avoid tsunamis and typhoons/hurricanes you need to be in a landlocked country. To avoid tornadoes you need something fairly mountainous. As for earthquakes, you need to avoid fault lines. I would guess somewhere in Germany or thereabouts.
845607
I'v heard about buildings being put on ball bearings so that the building will remain stable while the earth rocks beneith it. I'v seen a few specials on the Discovery Channel about it. Apparently the technology was pioneered in Japan. It makes sense since Japan has A LOT of earthquakes.