The East Coast was struck by a 3.8-magnitude earthquake near York, Maine, just days after a 2.4-magnitude quake in New Jersey. Such earthquakes are rare in the Central and Eastern United States (CEUS) due to the absence of well-defined faults and the geological characteristics of the region. According to the USGS, the complexities of these earthquakes are compounded by environmental factors such as humidity, which erases evidence of faults more quickly than in the West. Major cities along the Eastern Seaboard are generally not prone to significant seismic activity.
Earthquakes, particularly in the Central and Eastern United States (CEUS), are relatively infrequent and difficult to predict, according to Oliver S. Boyd, USGS geophysicist.
The USGS explains a fault is a three-dimensional surface within the planet. A fault line is where the fault cuts the Earth's surface, highlighting the complexity of earthquake science.
The CEUS sits within the North American plate and doesn't have well-developed faults that can be seen at the surface along plate boundaries, like the San Andreas Fault.
Greater humidity in the eastern half of the country makes fault line evidence erased much faster, complicating the understanding of earthquakes in this region.
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