Earthquake!!

[dd74]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

There is also no warning either.

Wait a minute! I thought there isn't a form of warning, either. But it seems there is...
http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF4/432.html

[m21sniper]

How many of you got an advance alert?

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by Gogar

I'm now completely convinced that some of you guys just want to "debate" each other for absolutely no reason at all.

I'd chip in, but we don't have either of your catastrophes over here.

Hope everyone's ok!

You get blizzards, I see the Storm Watch (insert year here) banners ont he weather channel every winter.


I am not debating anything just making the point I would rather know what coming.

Then after thinking about my house having its wind ripped off and rained on inside I thought I might like taking my chances with an Earthquake.

[sammyg2]

Lets keep things in perspective. Hurricanes happen all the time. several a year, and most of em do serious damage if we can believe the exaggerating news media.
We get earthquakes every day but most of em are so small no one notices. Once in a while we get one that we can feel. Maybe one every 5 to 10 years. Big deal.
Chances are only a few older houses will get cracks in the plaster or something will fall of a shelf. Get the broom and get over it.

Occasionally we get a big one like northridge and there is significant isolated damage. I felt that one in OC but nothing broke. I was thankful I didn't live closer to it.

I've lived here since 1973 and the northridge quake was the biggest I've felt. Again, nothing happened to me or my house, and that same thing goes for most of the people in So Cal.
Some people got it bad but most didn't get it at all. Yes it was big, but it did less damage that a big hurricane and a quake like that doesn't happen very often at all. Maybe once or twice in a lifetime.

We get a really big one about every 100 to 250 years or so. Chances are most of us will never experience that, knock on wood. When that happens we are screwed and we know it.

[Jim Richards]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Major rolling near the long beach area, lasted a long time with large swells but fairly gentle.

Is this a description of the earthquake or a surf report?

[TerryH]

Originally Posted by Superman

I once dated a woman who experienced "aftershocks."

That's because you were finished and left before she got undressed. You know, faster than a speeding bullet.

[TerryH]

The 15 highest magnitude US quakes give Alaska 13 and Missouri 2. California kicks in many after that, but it shows the midwest isn't immune. So add that to your tornados and blizzards and smoke it.

[therotman]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Lets keep things in perspective. Hurricanes happen all the time. several a year, and most of em do serious damage if we can believe the exaggerating news media.
We get earthquakes every day but most of em are so small no one notices. Once in a while we get one that we can feel. Maybe one every 5 to 10 years. Big deal.
Chances are only a few older houses will get cracks in the plaster or something will fall of a shelf. Get the broom and get over it.

Occasionally we get a big one like northridge and there is significant isolated damage. I felt that one in OC but nothing broke. I was thankful I didn't live closer to it.

I've lived here since 1973 and the northridge quake was the biggest I've felt. Again, nothing happened to me or my house, and that same thing goes for most of the people in So Cal.
Some people got it bad but most didn't get it at all. Yes it was big, but it did less damage that a big hurricane and a quake like that doesn't happen very often at all. Maybe once or twice in a lifetime.

We get a really big one about every 100 to 250 years or so. Chances are most of us will never experience that, knock on wood. When that happens we are screwed and we know it.

I just heard on the news a man fell out of his chair during this earthquake and some things fell off someones kitchen counter.


Terror!~ sounds just like Katrina!

[therotman]

Originally Posted by TerryH

The 15 highest magnitude US quakes give Alaska 13 and Missouri 2. California kicks in many after that, but it shows the midwest isn't immune. So add that to your tornados and blizzards and smoke it.

where did you find this list?



I'm not doubting, just curious to see it.

[TerryH]

New Madrid Missouri was rocking and rolling 200 years ago.


http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/10_largest_us.php

1. Prince William Sound, Alaska 1964 03 28 03:36:14.0 UTC 9.2
2. Cascadia subduction zone 1700 01 26 UTC ˜9
3. Rat Islands, Alaska 1965 02 04 05:01 UTC 8.7
4. Andreanof Islands, Alaska 1957 03 09 14:22:31.9 UTC 8.6
5. East of Shumagin Islands, Alaska 1938 11 10 20:18:41.2 UTC 8.2
6. Unimak Islands, Alaska 1946 04 01 12:28 UTC 8.1
7. New Madrid, Missouri 1811 12 16 08:15 UTC 8.1
8. Yakutat Bay, Alaska 1899 09 10 21:41 UTC 8.0
9. New Madrid, Missouri 1812 02 07 09:45 UTC ˜8
10. Denali Fault, Alaska 2002 11 03 22:12 UTC 7.9
11. Gulf of Alaska, Alaska 1987 11 30 19:23 UTC 7.9
12. Andreanof Islands, Alaska 1986 05 07 22:47 UTC 7.9
13. Near Cape Yakataga, Alaska 1899 09 04 00:22 UTC 7.9
14. Ka'u District, Island of Hawaii 1868 04 03 02:25 UTC 7.9
15. Fort Tejon, California 1857 01 09 16:24 UTC 7.9
16. Rat Islands, Alaska 2003 11 17 06:43 UTC 7.8
17. Andreanof Islands, Alaska 1996 06 10 04:03 UTC 7.8
18. San Francisco, California 1906 04 18 13:12 UTC 7.8
19. Imperial Valley, California 1892 02 24 07:20 UTC 7.8
20. New Madrid, Missouri 1812 01 23 15:00 UTC 7.8

[PatrickB]

OK... I live roughly 8 miles NW of the epicenter...

Worst shaking I've felt in this house in at least 15 years. Better to happen at 1142 am instead of the usual wake up call at 3 am! Oddly enough, I lived in Whittier during the '87 quake, but was in Brea when it struck... This one felt WAY worse!

I first felt a sharp jolt, then some shaking. First thought of course it's "just a tremor." Then all hell broke loose. Violent shaking that lasted for about
10-15 seconds. I was on the second story of my home and the place was shaking HARD from left to right.
As I was hearing **** fall off the walls, & Lots of glass crashing in the kitchen, I seriously thought this might be the big one!

Every picture in the house was knocked off the wall. 3 of my kitchen cabinets opened up & everything fell off. Everything that was glass broke,
obviously! A very expensive bottle of single malt scotch fell out of the liquor cabinet. Instead of the bottle breaking, it put a nice chip
and crack in the ******* tile floor. No windows broke, but I now have 3 good sized stress cracks in interior walls that will need fixing... Upon exterior inspection, I have some serious cracks in one of my exterior walls... Furthermore, it appears that my fireplace has separated from my house...

Sounds like I got the worst of it in my family. My brother, who lives 2 miles away, just had a few things fall off the walls, but nothing broken.
My Mom, who lives 1 mile away, lost a few wine glasses, but nothing else...
Neither Mom or I lost power though.. My brother lost power for about 2 hours.

Watching the news, looks like old part of Pomona & Chino suffered the worst structural damage. Fortunately, I'm off work again for a few weeks, as I had more surgery last week. My work site is about 2 miles from ground zero. No fun being there (Prison) after an earthquake & power outage! Been there done that...

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Major rolling near the long beach area, lasted a long time with large swells but fairly gentle.

I was at the beach, the Long Beach peninsula. I walked out of the house I was working on after the one big rolling jolt. Lotsa after activity, but the junior lifeguard program out in front on the sand barley noticed. Must not have big a big deal on th sand.

So, what swells? I saw nothing as I sat on the boardwalk wall feeling the aftershocks.

[slodave]

Even a local astrologer could not predict this one

[PatrickB]

nothing like dead air, followed by cleavage & swearing! This girl has a big future in broadcasting!

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by milt

I was at the beach, the Long Beach peninsula. I walked out of the house I was working on after the one big rolling jolt. Lotsa after activity, but the junior lifeguard program out in front on the sand barley noticed. Must not have big a big deal on th sand.

So, what swells? I saw nothing as I sat on the boardwalk wall feeling the aftershocks.

I meant to suggest that the ground was swelling. It felt like waves. I was a mile form the water at the time so I didn't see any real swells.

[JeremyD]

You guys in California are delusional. There is no warning with earthquakes and you are due – maybe overdue for a once per 100 year event.

I lived in San Mateo for a few years – got tossed from my bed at 3:00 am and decided at that point I was moving. I’ve been in Tornadoes in Texas and Indiana and several hurricanes in Florida – although 17 years in Florida before I felt the need to evacuate. I can see the hurricanes coming and I can decide, well ahead of the time to stay or leave. In an earthquake you are a slave to the time and place.

We Floridians don’t have the charter on evacuations, gas shortages and busted up property - we’ve just had more recent practice at it.

[slodave]

Originally Posted by JeremyD

You guys in California are delusional. There is no warning with earthquakes and you are due – maybe overdue for a once per 100 year event.

Care to expand on this? There is only one link that dd74 posted regarding earthquake warnings and it was published by the University of Alaska.

And yes, we know we are due.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by nostatic

It totally depends on where you are, and distance isn't necessarily the biggest factor - depends on the geology.

I was in marina del rey - 4th floor doctor's office and my ortho was filling a syringe to give me a shot when it happened. I'm amazed it was only 5.8 as it was a *long* roller - easily 30-45 seconds.

I've been through a bunch of quakes here. The scariest being an aftershock of the Whittier Narrows quake in '89 that hit at about 3am (I was living in Pasadena), and then the '94. That one felt like it picked up the house and dropped it back down (again, in Pasadena).

yeah, look at what happened last time in SF with all that landfill in the Marina

I bet I know 30 people that were in the '89 SF quake and the one a few years later in Northridge. All people who did their 4th year at LA County in my class.

Originally Posted by scottmandue

I was in the air and space gallery... imagine having an F-20 and a T-38 hanging on cables over your head.

I don't suppose you happened to have a video camera with you? That would totally kick ass

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

The woman next to me asked, "What do I do? Go under the table?"

You had the presence of mind to say yes I hope. In the '89 quake I was in anatomy lab, seemed to last a long time after the lights went out. Building was on rollers and springs, no damage at all, felt pretty freaky. The Canadians in my lab group were looking at me for what to do. "WTF are you thinking, get away from the window, stand in the doorway" I must admit, we did have a nice view of downtown. The crane across the street swaying back and forth, North to South.

I would rather have earthquakes. If you have a hurricane, you get your flooding, and your tornadoes, air borne debris, ever see a drinking straw buried into a tree? Floods are nasty, been in a few flooded houses, smell is almost to the level of gangrenous foot or necrotic bowel in some cases.

You are unlikely to be severely injured in an earthquake unless you are very unlucky, wrong place, wrong time. My brother-in-law was in Scott's Valley(near the epicenter, definitely the wrong place and wrong time) when that '89 quake hit; in a warehouse with sheet metal stacked to the ceiling, destined to be the metal box for a personal computer to live in. He was able to run outside and avoid being injured or killed by falling metal. Their 55 gallon fish tank did not even fall off the crappy bookshelf they had it on in San Jose, where it shook pretty hard, according to the sis.

We are due for one, been earthquake weather lately too...

[dd74]

Originally Posted by slodave

Care to expand on this? There is only one link that dd74 posted regarding earthquake warnings and it was published by the University of Alaska.

And yes, we know we are due.

...and I was joking. There are no viable warnings. If there were, Caltech would recommend the "warning" to everyone.

You truly don't know if you will live or die in one of these things.

[Hugh R]

Lived in El Aye 29 years the biggest loss was the Northridge Earthquake, lost two brick fireplaces. Cost was about $20K for both. Did a bunch of upgrades, but didn't have quake insurance, big mistake then, lots of people made big money on that. Have the state quake insurance now, which probably won't cough up much, but I have it.

Today, nothing. I didn't lose a drop of water out of the 55 gallon aquarium. (But it is attached securely to the wall).

Tornadoes scare me, no predictability. Wham, your house is just gone.