There have been some interesting earthquake swarms, plus a 6.0 earthquake with many aftershocks, which have been happening in California in recent times. The writer believes these earthquakes are interesting for a particular reason. He has reason to suspect that the earthquakes which will be mentioned in this post may be associated with that ancient, originally oceanic rift which is now buried beneath the western part of the United States. And, from the earthquake activity in recent times, there is reason to suspect that things could be preparing to rift apart, with some immense and highly damaging earthquakes, as the California landmass begins to pull apart and separate.
The writer first wrote about this ancient, buried oceanic rift about half-way-down within a post made on September 7, 2016, which post is linked here and is titled Considering the Location of an Ancient Rift. The writer also wrote about the ancient buried rift in a post made on September 9, 2016. That post is linked here and is titled Rift Zones and Volcanoes, plus the Pacific Coast. The buried oceanic rift is also spoken about in the lower portion of the post for September 10, 2016, which post is linked here and is titled Two Massive Earthquakes in 1872...A Connection?. The ancient, major rift zone beneath California is mentioned in the post of May 11, 2018. That post is linked here and is titled The Real CALEXIT Separation from the United States ?.
Looking further into this matter, the buried oceanic rift, along with potentially associated surface features, are spoken about in more detail in the post from December 8, 2018, which is linked here and is titled A Zone of Continental Rifting ?. About five paragraphs down, it notes that the Walker Lane, which is along the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada, as stated by Cathy Busby of the Department of Earth Science, University of California at Santa Barbara, "has the structure that is the most similar to Gulf of California transtensional rift basins..." Why is the Walker Lane similar to the Gulf of California transtensional rift basins? Well, it is possibly because the ancient oceanic rift system now lies buried beneath the continental landmass in the vicinity of the Walker Lane.
In the post of March 23, 2021, which post is linked here and is titled Cascadia, the Big Rift, plus a Massive Earthquake, part way down in that post is the section titled The Ancient Rift System. In this section is also further discussion about the buried oceanic rift system. And again, the writer has reason to suspect that some of those recent earthquakes and earthquake swarms in Eastern California may be associated with movement on that ancient, now deeply buried section of what was formerly the oceanic rift system, which could now potentially be signaling the opening up of the rift, plus the separation of the landmass, with an associated oceanic flooding of the area between the separated landmasses.
Now, the latest earthquakes in the Walker Lane area to the east of the Sierra Nevada, plus southward from there, which the writer suspects may be associated with the buried rift system, are noted in the pages accessed using the links below. This series of quakes started happening on July 8, 2021.
5.9 magnitude earthquake rattles California-Nevada border
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/08/california-earthquake-nevada-border-walker
6.0 quake rocks Northern California followed by more than 60 aftershocks. Jolt felt in Bay Area
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Quake-felt-in-Bay-Area-has-epicenter-in-San-16302407.php
Magnitude 6.0 Earthquake in California
https://www.usgs.gov/news/magnitude-60-earthquake-california?qt-news_science_products=2#qt-news_science_products
Aftershocks expected for days after California, Nevada quake
https://www.news4jax.com/news/national/2021/07/09/aftershocks-expected-for-days-after-california-nevada-quake/
5.9 Earthquake Shakes Wide Area of California
https://weather.com/news/news/2021-07-08-earthquake-california-tahoe-shaking-damage
Magnitude 5.9 earthquake shakes up California-Nevada border, regionally largest 'in almost two and a half decades'
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/07/08/5-9-magnitude-earthquake-california-nevada-border/7910048002/
Swarm of earthquakes, including magnitude 6.0 quake, felt across NorCal
https://www.kcra.com/article/2-earthquakes-rattle-northern-california/36974715#
6.0 magnitude quake is biggest of earthquake cluster near Tahoe
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/4-8-magnitude-earthquake-strikes-near-Stockton-16302419.php
CA quake: Several earthquakes centered near California-Nevada border felt across SF Bay Area
https://abc7news.com/earthquake-bay-area-tahoe-earth-quake-near-me-just-now/10872467/
CA quake: Hundreds of small earthquakes reported following 6.0 near California-Nevada border
https://abc7news.com/california-earthquake-just-now-today-ca-aftershocks/10873937/
A page linked here states that the latest earthquake "originated in the seismically busy Central Walker Lane..." The page also states: "In the last three years, four large earthquakes -- greater than magnitude 6.0 -- have struck the Walker Lane region." The page notes that more of these larger earthquakes "have occurred along the Walker Lane Fault system than any other single fault system in the western United States."
The page linked above indicates that sizeable quakes have occurred around the Walker Lane area, to the east of the Sierra Nevada, in 2019, 2016, 2011, 2008. The page also states: "The largest-known Walker Lane event was the 1872 magnitude-7.4 Owens Valley earthquake," which quake is spoken about in this blog in the entry for September 16, 2016, which post is titled A "General Convulsion of Nature", and is linked here. This 1872 quake is also spoken about in this blog in the entry for September 10, 2016, which post is titled Two Massive Earthquakes in 1872...A Connection?, and is linked here.
Not only have there been many earthquakes to the east of the Sierra Nevada in the Walker Lane area, there have been a number of quake swarms in the area of the Salton Sea, in Southern California. The latest swarm, as of this writing, happened in June of 2021, and is spoken about in the pages linked below.
Swarms of dozens of quakes continue to shake California lake, USGS reports
https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article252101173.html
Magnitude-4.6 Earthquake and Swarm of Smaller Quakes Rattle Salton Sea Area
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/earthquakes/magnitude-earthquake-swarm-quakes-salton-sea-california/2615803/
Then, in the latter part of 2020, there was a large earthquake swarm by the Salton Sea. This is spoken about in the first page linked below. And the second page linked below speaks about a quake swarm by the Salton Sea in 2016.
More than 600 earthquakes strike small California town in swarm around Salton Sea
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-10-01/earthquake-series-of-small-quakes-rattles-brawley-calif-area
Nearly 200 earthquakes hit Salton Sea amid quake swarm
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/la-me-quake-swarm-20160926-snap-story.html
Now, it seems to be generally agreed upon that these quake swarms by the Salton Sea appear to be related to that ancient oceanic rift which is buried beneath the landmass. And then, once again, when it comes to the rift system in the bottom of the Gulf of California, in the third paragraph of this post, it is said that the Walker Lane area to the east of the Sierra Nevada "has the structure that is the most similar to Gulf of California transtensional rift basins..." The Walker Lane also contains all those many volcanic features which are largely missing from the San Andreas Fault system.
Yes, there is reason to suspect that from the Salton Sea area, the ancient oceanic rift buried beneath the landmass in its northward section, actually is located near the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada. And then, there is that geologic "jumble" of the Eastern California Shear Zone (1)(2)(3).
The writer has wondered at times if this Shear Zone may be the surface manifestation of something along the line of a step-over ramp (1) or bend/offset (1) in the rift system buried deep beneath the landmass. Could a potential offset in the rift beneath the Shear Zone be a little like some of those offsets associated with the oceanic rift system in the bottom of the Gulf of California, which offsets are shown in images accessible via the following links: (1)(2)(3)? Just something to think about.
Now, there is something which the writer really believes should be said. When things really tear apart in California in the days ahead, while California (plus possibly even parts of Nevada, like the sin cities) is utterly devastated by massive earthquakes, there is something which no one will have any further questions about. We will all know exactly where that section of buried oceanic rift has lain beneath the landmass all along. But, unfortunately, the answer to this particular question will come at a very steep price, with an incredible loss of life and structural devastation, plus the catastrophic flooding of a very large area which contains towns and cities.
Other pages which may be of interest to at least some:
Current Expectations for a Cascadia Mega-Quake
https://cascadian.neocities.org/cascadiaquake.htm
Hanford and that Record Earthquake of 1872
https://cascadian.neocities.org/hanfordquake1872.htm
The Apparent Predicament of Grand Coulee Dam
https://cascadian.neocities.org/predicgrandcoulee.htm
The Greatest Earthquake Ever Felt
http://ourworld.freevar.com/greatestearthquake.htm
The End of the World --- Part 1 -- Fire and Smoke
http://ourworld.freevar.com/EndWorld/endworld_01.htm
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