NORTH CAROLINA - Five years ago a 5.8 magnitude earthquake in Virginia shook much of the East Coast catching millions of people off guard.
Since then scientists including some at UNC Chapel Hill have studied the seismic activity involved and found out earthquake activity in this Southeast region of the country is expected to increase in the distant future.
The study says pieces of the mantle under the Southeast region is periodically breaking off and sinking down into the earth.
This thins and weakens the remaining plate, making it more prone to slipping and causing earthquakes.
“It looks like a 100 year periodicity of this size earthquake. We don't predict earthquakes, but we can say on average this type of event will occur every 100 years,” said Jonathan Lees, professor and chair of Geological Sciences at UNC Chapel Hill.
“Our idea supports the view that this seismicity will continue due to unbalanced stresses in the plate,” said Berk Biryol, a seismologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and lead author of the new study. “The [seismic] zones that are active will continue to be active for some time.”
No one died in the quake, but the tumbler did extensive damage to the Washington National Cathedral and the Washington Monument.
Repairs to the Washington Monument cost $15 million and kept the monument closed for nearly three years.
The quake caused $34 million in damage to the National Cathedral, and repairs are still being made.
Head stone mason Joe Alonso says after five years, only 13 percent of the work has been completed.
The cathedral still needs $22 million to finish the work. Workers expect to complete the repairs in 10 years.