Hi Michael. I rather doubt the 5.9 had any affect on GV14. However that doesn’t mean that it can’t. My reason for feeling this way is that the quake is to far removed from the current events.

The Richter magnitudes are based on a logarithmic scale (base 10). What this means is that for each whole number you go up on the Richter scale, the energy released by the earthquake goes up ten times. Using this scale, a magnitude 5 earthquake would result in ten times the level of ground shaking as a magnitude 4 earthquake (and 32 times as much energy would be released). To give you an idea how these numbers can add up, think of it in terms of the energy released by explosives: a magnitude 1 seismic wave releases as much energy as blowing up 6 ounces of TNT. A magnitude 8 earthquake releases as much energy as detonating 6 million tons of TNT. (I think this is the correct comparison. If not I’m sure there will be someone with the correct one.)

As you can see it would take a good number of 6.0s to release enough energy to prevent a 7.0. It could also work the other way. That last 6.0 could be the last weak link in the chain and there is now only one large rock left to keep the fault from moving with one big lurch. Take Care…Don in creepy town