I noticed that in CNN's coverage of the Oklahoma City earthquake this
morning, the depth was given in kilometers, both on the graphic display
and orally. Unfortunately, the reporter felt contrained to give a
"translation" into miles, and then give other descriptions in miles.
I conjecture that the reason the depth was given in kilometers was that
the USGS provides it that way, and news stations are too "lazy" to
translate it quickly. The same is true, I think, of commonly giving the
atmospheric pressure of hurricanes in millibars, which is the unit the
U.S. Weather Service uses -- although I have seen a few TV reports in that
really contorted unit "inches of mercury."
_______________________________________________
USMA mailing list
USMA@colostate.edu
https://lists.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/usma
