2011 Virginia earthquake
The USGS found that the farthest landslide from the 2011 Virginia earthquake was from the epicenter. This is by far the greatest landslide distance recorded from any other earthquake of similar magnitude. Previous studies of worldwide earthquakes indicated that landslides occurred no farther than from the epicenter of a magnitude 5.8 earthquake. The study suggested that the added information about East Coast earthquakes may prompt a revision of equations that predict ground shaking. "What makes this new study so unique is that it provides direct observational evidence from the largest earthquake to occur in more than 100 years in the eastern U.S. Now that we know more about the power of East Coast earthquakes, equations that predict ground shaking might need to be revised."
Olancha Earthquake Sequence (2009)
The Olancha Earthquake series had epicentres southeast of the small town of Lone Pine, past the eastern rise of Sierra Nevada, approximately 290 km north of Los Angeles. The first of the shocks, with magnitude of 5.2 occurred at 6:15 pm at a moderately shallow penetration. Two small aftershocks followed this main tremor of magnitudes 4.7 and 4.9 all within a six-minute time period, according to the US Geological survey. Anthony Guarino, a seismologist at the California Institute of Technology described the sequence of events as, “a very robust sequence, with more intense shaking felt over a wider area and maybe even physical cracks in the ground”, this is largely due to the shallow depth of the shock. Californian earthquakes are between six and ten miles deep so are thus less impactful on the earth’s surface. At approximately 3 o’clock am on the following Thursday the second major earthquake struck with a magnitude of 5, proficient of causing moderate damage to surrounding areas. At least a dozen aftershocks were felt, of extremely small magnitudes, most likely on a “strike-slip fault”. A strike-slip fault is a vertical (or mostly vertical) fracture where large blocks of the earth's crust have mostly moved horizontally, either to the left (left lateral) or to the right (right lateral).