0
MakeItHappen

I hate those +5 earthquakes….

Recommended Posts

I hate those +5 earthquakes….

I was sitting at my desk reading something. I feel and hear a rumble. Oh it's another earthquake. We get a lot of the 1-2 range out here. They only last 1-3 seconds.

About 3 seconds into this earthquake the rumbling got much louder than 'normal' and RePete jumps off the couch and runs over to me. She gives me one of those 'I'm scared' looks. I'm about to pat her on the head and say not to worry, but then I notice some tiny relative motion between my house and the house next door.

The rumbling noise intensifies even more. I decide it might be a good idea to run outside. I say to myself 'Remember this house was built in 1911.'

I bolt for the back door as the rumbling continues. As I leave the house a picture falls of the wall. It's my earthquake detector picture. It only rests on a ledge. It's a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Total time elapsed - about 7 seconds. The earthquake died out after that.

I was about 25 miles from the center.

see
data
plot
charts
zip map
Baby aftershocks

It's amazing how much noise a house makes when it's shaking.

.
.
Make It Happen
Parachute History
DiveMaker

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
As I leave the house a picture falls of the wall. It's my earthquake detector picture. It only rests on a ledge. It's a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge.


***

Glad you're okay Jan...

When I first moved out there to the left coast, I had a huge framed picture over my bed...the place was rumbling during the northridge quake, I looked up to see the Pic doing the boogaloo all over the wall over my head....moved my 'detector' to a safe place!;)










~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Wow, was that only 7 seconds!? It seemed like at least 30 seconds, and I'm about 40 miles from it, but I guess that was just my perception. That was the biggest one I've felt in the four years that I've been in CA... (knock on wood)

I was sitting at my desk too, when I heard/felt a low rumble. I looked around and everything on my desk was shaking and it seemed to be getting louder and more intense. The other earthquakes I've felt have just been a couple of quick jolts so I knew this was different. I jumped up and yelled something as I ran to the room where Rich was still sleeping... to see him running straight from bed to his reef tank in his office. (Great, we're having an earthquake and his first concern is his tank!) I said that we should probably get out of the house, but the shaking had stopped by then. I was still in my robe, so I at least got dressed in case it should start again.

As I walked downstairs, the cats we're just crawling out of hiding, looking a bit concerned though... Nothing was knocked over, but a few things out of place on the shelves, and there is a new hairline crack in the stucco on the side of the house.

I have to admit, they're sort of fun when no one gets hurt... It got my heart rate up for a few minutes anyway. ;)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Glad you're ok...I"ve never experienced an earthquake....it's gotta be pretty freaky!



I've been through more than I can count including the Loma Prieta, North Ridge, and the Silmar way back in the 70's. They're actually kinda cool.. up to a point. They stop being cool when shit starts falling all around you.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Ha i'm ok . Haven't experieced a quake since then, and they were only after shocks. All 200 of them. Got there just 3 days after the quake and stayed for 2 months. Some were rolly, some were violent up and down , some were just one big boom and some just rattled the windows. All of them make you stare at the door knob to exit. But you just sit there and say ahh that one was a 3.2
Or you will feel something but the person next to you doesn't. Just a truck going by. Haha


Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
jan,
having lived in socal my entire life except
the last six months, I have experienced, many e quakes.... now that i am in colorado and at the foot of the rocky mountains I can't help but to think about the geological forces that were required to create this formation..... but get this... no e quakes out here. nothing but beautiful mountain scapes blues skys and a dropzone 2 miles away.

glad to here your OK.

Barry

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I'd left Orange County at about 5:30 in the morning to drive up to Fresno. As I was traversing the 99 north around Tulare, I was listening to sports radio and the jockey said, "Wow. We've just had an earthquake." He was in San Diego, so instantly alarms start going off in my mind. "Damn, if that was a Los Angeles faultline, this could be bad." So I called home and they said, "yeah, we felt it. How's the drive?"

The initial reports were a 5.6 south of Palm Springs. We shti 5.6 out here. Now I uess it's down to a 5.2. That ain't nuthin. Any earthwuake that doesn't knock four feet of water out of a swimming pool just isn't enough for much attention.B|


My wife is hotter than your wife.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

jan,
having lived in socal my entire life except
the last six months, I have experienced, many e quakes.... now that i am in colorado and at the foot of the rocky mountains I can't help but to think about the geological forces that were required to create this formation..... but get this... no e quakes out here. nothing but beautiful mountain scapes blues skys and a dropzone 2 miles away.

glad to here your OK.

Barry



What was really different was the sound of the earthquake.
The rumbling was much different than all the other earthquakes I've been in. It was distinctly different from trucks going by. Trucks shimmy the windows. This shimmied the walls.

Gus Wing and I were in the Loma Prieta earthquake in Sacto. We were driving back from a Sacto tranny shop, where I had dropped off my PU truck. The freeway kinda moved, but it wasn't registered by either of us as an earthquake. I think Gus made some snide remark about a women driver too. It was like the road swerved. After I dropped him off at Plainfield Station and I returned to Skydance, was when we learned about the earthquake.

Years earlier, I was up in Mammoth Lakes during a series of 5-ish quakes. I was new to CA then too. I ran outside. The other people in the private cabin left for Bishop. I asked the neighbors if I could stay with them. The quakes then had the same feel to them, but the noise was nothing like what I heard Sunday. The mountain cabins are definitely built better.

Anyway, a house built in 1911 will probably come down faster than something newer. There's no damage, so I'm good for the next one.

Still, I have a new 3-second rule: Key the next formation or run out of the house.

BTW, how's your back?

.
.
Make It Happen
Parachute History
DiveMaker

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
No shit there I was about 3 miles from the Northridge earthquake which was a 6.9. The aftershocks alone were in the 5-6 range. I literally thought the big one was World War 3 going off in my backyard. I am glad not to live in Earthquake territory anymore. Se La Vie California, I am glad to not have to deal with all the gangs, fires, landslides, earthquakes, etc. etc. etc.

Too scary for me :o
Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires."

Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Jan,
my back has never been better, I feel at leat 20 years younger , no bs that how bad i felt before, now 1 year and 3 months post surgery I am pain free hiking and moutain biking almost daily, the scenery out here is incredible, i am still holding off on skydiving, but there is ton's of other things out here to keep me busy..... i'll probably start looking for work sometime soon....

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
As I keep telling my children Earthquakes are fun as long as you do what mommy and daddy tell you....

To all parents please make them fun for your kids, cause the aren't going to stop and they should have to worry about them, just make sure they are smart and safe and have fun like jumping on a trampoline.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Never actually felt an earthquake. I have been in places where they occured but they were too small for me to notice. Now..........we have a phenomenon here in Iraq that I'm sure resembles an earthquake. It consists of Mortars, which shook me awake the second day I was in Baghdad, Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIED), which I felt and heard while riding in a truck with the radio on even though it was a 1/2 mile or so away. Then there is also the occasional rocket. :S

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Try living in NZ. New Zealand sits right on top of the boundary between the Pacific & Australian plates...we get around 14,000 earthquakes per annum and 200 of these are significant ones...have a look at GNS's site, some interesting info on the latest quakes: http://www.geonet.org.nz/recent_quakes.html

At some point, no one knows when of course, we'll get another BIG one (the last major earthquake completely destroyed the city of Napier in 1931, killing 256 people).

And where I live in Auckland, the city sits on about 50 volcanic cones. Some extinct some dormant...last eruption was a mere 600 years ago :S

But apart from the fact that you could be buried alive in an earthquake or burned to a crisp in a volcanic eruption, life's pretty good here :D :D

Russ
[edited for schpleing]

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0