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(CNN Spanish) - The ground moved again in California this Tuesday at dawn. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), an earthquake of magnitude 4.5 was recorded at Pleasant Hill by 1:30 am ET. It is not an unusual event in that state ... nor in the region.
Several countries of the American continent are located in the so-called Belt of Fire. The Pacific coasts are prone to earthquakes and constantly the Rivera, Pacific, Cocos, Nazca, Caribbean and South American plates cause seismic activity.
There are several tips on what you should do in case of an earthquake, but not all are based on real events. These are six myths about earthquakes that you might have believed.
Earthquake drill at a school in El Salvador in 2017. (MARVIN RECINOS / AFP / Getty Images)
“Earthquake Climate”
According to the USGS, a correlation between the weather and earthquakes has not been found.
"Earthquakes begin many kilometers below the region affected by surface weather," explains the US agency.
Stand under the door
The USGS says that this is obsolete advice, because the doors are no longer necessarily the strongest parts of the house.
"You are safer going to the floor, covering yourself and waiting under a sturdy piece of furniture like a desk or a strong table," he says.
If you are driving, stop at the side of the road and preferably not under any overpass or power line.
The triangle of life
The triangle of life, a method created by Doug Copp - head of rescue and disaster management director of American Rescue Team International (a private company not affiliated with the United States government) - indicates that during an earthquake “you have to lie close of furniture and not getting under them. ”
This, because when “the buildings fall, the furniture generally crushes, but there is always a triangular void next to them that is not affected (space in which the person lies),” explains the Ministry of Education of Colombia.
But of course, it depends on the material of the furniture or structural elements.
Pets sense earthquakes
According to the Seismological Society of America, there is no solid evidence behind the claim that cats, dogs and other animals go crazy before an earthquake.
Although the society reviewed about 200 publications on the abnormal behavior of animals before the tremors "from seconds to months before the earthquakes, and at distances of a few to hundreds of kilometers from the origin of the earthquake," the researchers still They are not sure if there is a relationship or not.
The floor will open
Although cracks may form, the faults do not open during an earthquake, the lands on both sides of the fault slide over each other, according to the USGS.
In other words, you should not fear that the ground will open beneath you as the Hollywood movies show.
California will be dragged into the sea
While "the Pacific Plate is moving northwestward with respect to the North American Plate," as the USGS says, the agency believes that California being thrown into the ocean is "absolutely impossible."
What will continue to happen is the slow movement, approximately 5 centimeters per year, towards Alaska.
With information from Christina Maxouris.
Earthquakes Tremors
