What is earthquake weather?
It’s the weather we have during an earthquake… BUT it has nothing to do with Earthquake! Literary metaphors and foreshadowing in books and on TV often use weather to depict bad things to come (that have nothing to do with the weather.) Such things have nothing to do with real life situations like earthquakes, and shouldn’t be correlated to earthquakes. Floods, storm surges, tornadoes, etc. can foreshadow bad things to come, but an earthquake isn’t one of them. On a geological scale, the atmosphere is a super-thin eggshell compared to Earth, and doesn’t have the energy needed to induce earthquakes. Contrary to popular belief, exfoliating rocks aren’t enough to cause an earthquake either! Earthquake weather is a myth!
It’s a close, oppressive day, perhaps hot and humid, with clouds appearing overhead and no rain in sight. People may look at such a day as typical earthquake weather, a term used to describe weather patterns that suggest an earthquake might be forthcoming. Actually there’s no such thing as earthquake weather, and a general study of the pattern and occurrences of earthquakes show they occur in all seasons, all temperatures, all times of the day, and in many different weather patterns. The philosopher and intellectual, Aristotle surmised that earthquakes were caused by winds in caves, and as such, there was specific earthquake weather. This is definitely not the case. Like most people, Aristotle was looking to explain things that were mysteries by making logical hypotheses. Since Aristotle, numerous people have pointed to various signs of the weather, and this varies, as earthquake weather.
Youll notice if youre in the city on a certain rare kind of day that some people will bring up the subject of earthquake weather. Earthquake weather is typically an unseasonably hot, slightly humid day with an overcast sky… but also an unnatural, eerie stillness to the air. Although we San Franciscans like to believe we invented the idea, it is an old theory… VERY old. In the 4th Century B.C., the Greek philosopher Aristotle proposed that earthquakes were caused by winds trapped in subterranean caves. Small tremors were thought to be caused by air pushing on cavern roofs, and large ones by the air breaking the surface. This theory led to a belief in earthquake weather, that – because a large amount of air was trapped underground – the weather would be hot and calm before an earthquake. (from the Wikipedia page on Earthquake Weather). Now, living in the SF Bay Area for all of my 44 years, I can tell you theres no such thing as earthquake weather. On the other hand…
Earthquake weather is a type of weather popularly believed to precede earthquakes. From the ancient histories of Herodotus to the modern writings of David Lance Goines, the notion that weather can somehow foreshadow coming seismic activity has been the topic of much discussion and debate.[1] The USGS website states that, In the 4th century B.C., Aristotle proposed that earthquakes were caused by winds trapped in subterranean caves. Small tremors were thought to have been caused by air pushing on the cavern roofs, and large ones by the air breaking the surface. This theory led to a belief in earthquake weather, that because a large amount of air was trapped underground, the weather would be hot and calm before an earthquake. A later theory stated that earthquakes occurred in calm, cloudy conditions, and were usually preceded by strong winds, fireballs, and meteors. Geologists maintain that there is no connection between weather and earthquakes.
