Another earthquake

We were so excited in March when we experienced our first (small) earthquake after living in the Bay Area for 18 months. Well we just had another one!

I was upstairs and thought DH had just left to go to the laundry and slammed the front door too hard. When I went downstairs he was sitting on the couch and he said to me "what are you dropping up there". I said maybe it was an earthquake, but we decided it was over too fast, and didn't rattle enough.

But sure enough... http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/...14.php#details

Epicentre is about 35km away from us. Even the cats didn't flinch. We must be getting used to this

You enjoy these earthquakes? I like checking out the usgs website but I want them to stay far away from me! I've watched a few too many movies or something! Not the typical hollywood tragedy type but the hallmark mini-series science based kinds!

I don't enjoy or dislike them - they're so small they don't cause any damage, or cause anything else except us going "did someone just slam a door hard or was that an earthquake"?

Given the cats barely made a movement, despite the fact that it was relatively close, you can get an idea of how "scary" it was...

I've always wanted to experience an earthquake. A little one, not a big destructive one. I think there was one when I was little, but unless you were sitting completely still, you weren't able to feel it at all. I think I live on a large fault line too!!

I did experience one tremmor as a kid. I remember I was coming down the stairs and it felt like it was moving or something. Mom said she noticed a closet door swaying so we went outside. A bunch of our neighbors felt it and were outside too. Not that it was really shaking things, just that they don't get that much of that there!

Originally Posted by Samantha1979

I've always wanted to experience an earthquake. A little one, not a big destructive one. I think there was one when I was little, but unless you were sitting completely still, you weren't able to feel it at all. I think I live on a large fault line too!!

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Yes, you do. It's called the New Madrid Seismic Zone. It's a really nasty one. When (not if) it starts really shaking, everyone in the midwest will feel it. It's ALL over. But the nastiest part is in TN and that area. It has a lot of seismic tension building... so at some point it will start letting off some 'steam.'

My brother is a geologist in Modesto, CA. We all grew up in the SF/Bay Area. I've been through more than my share of them. I was in counselling in the police station (high school) during the 1989 one that messed up the World Series.

They don't faze me too much, unless they're over a 6. Then I am on edge for a bit... but calm down. if it's over 7, then I get more worked up. I feel them all, down to about a 2.5. But they don't unnerve me as they did when I was a kid.

If you want to read a decently written fiction book on the New Madrid, or earthquakes in general, try Peter Hernon's 8.4. I read it, then bought a second copy and sent it to my dad, who let my brother read it as well... they were both very impressed. Coming from a geologist and a civil engineer, that's darn good. It deals with a series of three fictional quakes on the New Madrid. Brutal, and quite high on the Richter Scale. Highly recommended.

Originally Posted by MoochNNoodles

I did experience one tremmor as a kid. I remember I was coming down the stairs and it felt like it was moving or something. Mom said she noticed a closet door swaying so we went outside. A bunch of our neighbors felt it and were outside too. Not that it was really shaking things, just that they don't get that much of that there!

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The best place is not out in the open (trees falling, downed power lines, etc...) but standing in the doorways under load-bearing walls. Like a front door. Now, if the building is collapsing, as in a major quake, then yes, get the h*** out... but steer clear of trees and such... but in a minor one, where you feel a little shaking and closet doors are shifting a little, then stay indoors under load-bearing walls. If the plaster is coming down, then get out.

And keep an emergency kit. There are sites that give you lists for what you should put in it. The USGS may at least have a link, if not a list itself.

Our work actually handed out awesome earthquake kits just recently which are incredibly comprehensive.

I just don't know what to do about the kitties if we have a big one though. They'd be hiding, and I'd have to go seriously looking for them which would risk my life probably, and Lily absolutely would not come near me if there was a big quake.

I guess I'd just have to try to leave open the front and back doors for them and hope for the best... Hopefully it'll never come to that!

Originally Posted by RubSluts'Mommy

The best place is not out in the open (trees falling, downed power lines, etc...) but standing in the doorways under load-bearing walls. Like a front door. Now, if the building is collapsing, as in a major quake, then yes, get the h*** out... but steer clear of trees and such... but in a minor one, where you feel a little shaking and closet doors are shifting a little, then stay indoors under load-bearing walls. If the plaster is coming down, then get out.

And keep an emergency kit. There are sites that give you lists for what you should put in it. The USGS may at least have a link, if not a list itself.

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Guess it's a good thing we were all in a large courtyard then. I think there were just clothse lines there at that time. Hopefully people in that area are more educated now. I did a quick search online to see if I could find info on that particular time. It had to be between 1984 and 1990, but I was old enough to remember it so I'm guessing between 1987 to 1990. From what I did find online, it's rare to have a truly noticeable earthquake up there, but it's happened.

We have had our share here along the Ohio and Wabash Rivers. The last one of note actually occured about 20-30 miles from me and was deep underground. One massive jolt. I had thought the guys working out front (installing gas line) had dropped the backhoe they were unloading!

The New Madrid quake of the early 1800s was felt in Boston - if I recall correctly.

I am a CA girl and now am in UTAH I do not miss the weekly shaking. I hate them and hope I never have to go thru the onse we did living there.