• Rhaedas@kbin.social
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      9 months ago

      In areas that are prone to earthquakes, not really. This isn’t one of them, so it’s unusual and worth a report and determination of the source. A 4.0 at the epicenter would feel different farther depending on the material too - most of Florida wouldn’t transmit the energy well and slosh around a bit, unlike some bedrock that can carry the energy much farther. My real question would be if this is a natural cause, can there ever be a potential for seafloor movement that would power a tsunami (I don’t think so)? That would be far worse than the actual ground shaking for Florida coastline residents.

    • comador @lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      There is a direct correlation between the earthquake’s magnitude and its depth in how we feel them. The deeper it is, which can occur as shallow as 8 miles (13 km) deep all the way to 316 miles (500 km) deep, the less we feel it.

      So while a magnitude 4 is something most of us would normally sleep through on any given day (especially for those of us used to them), a shallow magnitude 4 would definitely knock over a tree (assuming it was above the epicenter).

      edit, further reading: https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-magnitude-does-damage-begin-occur-earthquake