Who's been in an Earthquake?

[digitalat]

My wife and I survived the March 11 earthquake in Japan. We get quakes all the time 5-10 second mostly. This one went on for 5 to 6 minutes - and kept getting stronger. Never experienced anything like it. Wife was on the 53rd floor of the Mitsui building in Shinjuku, Tokyo - building swayed very significantly and she could not get down for 4-5 hours after the event. Millions on the streets in the late evening, as the subways were down. As I was at home at the time, it was like being tossed about in a small boat on a stormy sea. Unable to stand, and I had to slowly "crab-walk" down the stairs to get out of the house. Well, most all of us in Tokyo - lucky. Continuing, heartfelt prayers for the still suffering Japanese families and deceased of Tokohu.

[wolferj-RIP]

Had 2 earthquakes here in the Bay Area today... Both relatively minor, a 4.0 and a 3.9.. Only worth mentioning due to their location, the Hayward fault.

This is a fault only recently discovered (last 20 years or so...), but it poses a significant threat to the region, as it runs on the east side of the bay. This is the most populated area in the bay and the fault runs through the UC campus in Berkeley (directly through the stadium!).

Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled program...

[teetime4one]

FWIW, i was in a few bigguns back in the 1970's when my father was a student at UCSB (Santa Barbara)...we lived in Golita when a 7.1 earthquake hit in 1976. That was one crazy ride on the skate board when it hit.
i've been in many since...living in So Cal...but none as violent as that one.

[wolferj-RIP]

Had another smallish quake here this evening. 3.7 on the scale, but felt very different than other quakes I've experienced. Rather than a rolling or shaking, it literally felt like something hit the house. Several of my neighbors thought the same thing. Like a sharp impact.

Epicenter was only about 2 miles away from my home. Location here;
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=38.074...2&f=d&t=h&hl=e

[cooljess76]

I felt one of those before and that's exactly what I thought.

[black98]

I have been in several the one i really remember was the quake in 1989 in san francisco it was a 6.0 if i remember correctly

[Coyoteh]

I've been in a few moderate sized earthquakes. I was there for the '89 Loma Prieta quake, but too young to remember that one.

Go ahead and call me crazy, but I think small-ish earthquakes are quite fun. As long as it's small enough where nothing is falling around you and there's no immediate danger.

[cooljess76]

Originally Posted by wolferj

Had another smallish quake here this evening. 3.7 on the scale, but felt very different than other quakes I've experienced. Rather than a rolling or shaking, it literally felt like something hit the house. Several of my neighbors thought the same thing. Like a sharp impact.

Epicenter was only about 2 miles away from my home. Location here;
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=38.074...2&f=d&t=h&hl=e

James, what's shakin bacon? Heard you guys got woken up early this morning

[wolferj-RIP]

Oh, yeah... Got a little shake rattle and roll at about 5:40 am today. A 4.0 about 10 miles south of me... Not too bad, just annoyed that it woke me up just before my alarm went off...

[wolferj-RIP]

Ok. Time for another bump of this thread.

Very quick, shallow and violent 6.0 quake early this morning, about 9 miles north. Substantial damage in my city, but even worse north of the epicenter in Downtown Napa. As soon as I assessed that we had no real damage to our house, I drove to my 80 y.o. mothers house in Napa. It is a historic Victorian house in the heart of Downtown. The house is still standing and structurally sound , but with a lot of damage. Been cleaning, repairing, stabilizing for 12 hours, finally wrapped up and made it home to collapse of exhaustion.

Not a fun day.

However, no one in my family was injured and that is all that matters. Everything else is just stuff, even if it is old and irreplaceable...

[Marv17]

Damn. I was woken up by the news there.. My sister in San Jose felt it badly too. But she was safe. I saw some news and bunch of buildings are damaged. Guess NorCal doesn't have a frequent quakes as SoCal... It's been a while since we had one down here. Glad everyone is okay James. Homes can be rebuilt and made better.

[wolferj-RIP]

Blasted aftershocks... woke me up this morning. Grrr...

Discovered my next door neighbor's chimney is in danger of collapsing, and if it does, it will hit my house and damage any car in the driveway. Cars are now parked in the street...

[BlackBMWs]

Hi James! I remember the chimney by the driveway. I hope your Mom and all are doing well. My relatives homes and businesses are doing fine, just a bit shaken up.

Growing up in San Francisco I have been through a few quakes and in Santa Barbara, I remember the Northridge quake. Japan too. Three notables: In one, in S.F., I was under a Fiat 850 working on a oil pan, and a roller, then a shaker earthquake hit. The car was up on stands. I shimmied out from underneath and watched the car rock back and forth on the stands. It didn't fall off.

A second one was while having lunch in a restaurant underneath the Transamerica pyramid building in S.F. when a strong shaker hit. I remember thinking "They will never find my body", then feeling very calm afterwards. Things broke, but the building stood.

The third was while on business in Seattle when a long roller/shaker hit while I was on a conference call on the 15th floor of a building and it went so long I thought the building would collapse. I recall telling folks on the call to give a message to my family in case the building gave way.

Interesting to watch people's various reactions during a quake. Reactions run the gamut of emotions. I'm just glad folks are typically safe here in the states, as in other countries, quakes are way more deadly .

James, keep the kids away from the chimney till they resolve it.

[jca]

Cousin of mine in Oklahoma experienced a mild quake about a year ago. No visible damage done. Told me that he had always wanted to be in a minor quake just to learn how it felt. Changed his mind after the real thing.

[Marv17]

I'd rather take an earthquake than a tornado coming down in my backyard tho. Tornado definitely always destroy things in its path. Quakes.... Just shake things up a bit. Been thru many already so it's nothing to me