Ace of Spades HQ

November 05, 2011

My Second Earthquake
— rdbrewer

Update: The USGS has revised the number to 5.6.

Oklahoma. The USGS says it was a 5.2. Here's a map. I'm about fifty miles directly west of there, and it was very jerky--much jerkier than my first quake last February. Just guessing here, but the dominant frequency was something like 2hz to 3hz. My first quake was a 4.7, also about fifty miles away, southeast. It had a frequency more like a jackhammer, 5hz to 6hz, seems like.

So, I'm wondering. Any earthquake veterans out there? Do they normally vary that much (subjectively)? Is a 5.2 that much worse than a 4.7? Also, any geologists? What's up with all the earthquakes around here lately? Has there been a surge in this region? Any chance there will be a significantly bigger one?

And when does the volcano break through?

More here, here, here, and here.

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Posted by: rdbrewer at 08:42 PM | Comments (233)
Post contains 154 words, total size 2 kb.

1 That's close to a "truck driving by" earthquake. Just a bit more, so you did have a jolt, yes. Nothing that would make me get up I don't think (SF Bay Area).

Posted by: Clutch Cargo at November 05, 2011 08:45 PM (Qxdfp)

2 It's been bumped to a 5.6 per the USGS

Posted by: Doc at November 05, 2011 08:46 PM (vvr5S)

3 Thanks, clutch. You know, I can breeze through a tornaodo warning, but this thing. Teh weird is strong. I guess because it's so unexpected.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 08:47 PM (hnsH9)

4 We pay our dues in tornadoes. I'm used to them. I'd much rather deal with that.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 08:48 PM (hnsH9)

Don't get yer knickers in a knot about a piddly little 5.2 earthquake. Earthquakes are graded on a log scale, such that a 5.3 is 10 times as bad as a 5.2 etc.

Unless you're right on top of the epicenter, most earthquake damage down in the 5.3/5.5 range is limited to cracked plaster, stuff falling off shelves and such.

Earthquakes do happen in the center of the country. The largest known quake in the USA was supposedly back in Missouri in the early 19th Century. If you're living in Oklahoma you need to be a heck of a lot more worried about tornadoes than you do earthquakes.

Posted by: So Cal Earthquake Veteran at November 05, 2011 08:48 PM (3ESDJ)

6 Okay, so the worse it gets, the more the lower frequencies are emphasized? And that's why it felt more herky-jerky?

Because, I swear, that 4.7 was just like a muffled jackhammer going off about 20 yards away.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 08:52 PM (hnsH9)

7 "Is a 5.2 that much worse than a 4.7?"

the scale is logarithmic, a fancy way of saying that a 1-unit increase indicates a 10-fold increase in energy. If the quake was upgraded to 5.6, that means the 5.6 is approximately the same as nine 4.7 earthquakes going off simultaneously.

-- a math teacher guy

Posted by: Wry Mouth at November 05, 2011 08:53 PM (paBtR)

8 This one? This one was more like being shaken by someone, like someone waking you up.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 08:54 PM (hnsH9)

9 I kinda felt it up here in Kansas City. My chair was shaking. Felt like my dog was up against it and started scratching herself, so I didn't think anything of it (and why would I?) until a friend on Twitter asked why her house was shaking. Bingo, it was the earthquake. Kinda weird to have my first time be so disappointing.

Posted by: FPW at November 05, 2011 08:54 PM (BDNF5)

10
3

Dude, I'd take an earthquake any day over a tornado. Maybe I like 'em cuz they're fast. My relatives in OK are scared to death of the possibility of earthquakes when they come out here, so I've already pinged 'em.

As you'll start to notice (since you're going to start getting them) there are all different kinds, the seismic scale is just one thing. There's jumps, jerks (a quick move to the left), rolls, and rumbles.

The best ones are the ones you hear coming first. Like the Loma Prieta was in our location.

Posted by: Clutch Cargo at November 05, 2011 08:54 PM (Qxdfp)

11 My niece goes to University of Arkansas and she said she felt the quake.

We had lots of them in the SF Bay area while I lived there. The strange thing for me was that first I'd hear all of these car alarms going off in our apartment complex parking lot and then I'd feel the quake.

Posted by: Theresa--SCOAMF is 1 and done! at November 05, 2011 08:55 PM (Zgfnd)

12 energy release seems to be even more 'sensitive', as noted in the ever-lovin' Wikipedia: " An earthquake that measures 5.0 on the Richter scale has a shaking amplitude 10 times larger and corresponds to an energy release of √1000 ≈ 31.6 times greater than one that measures 4.0"

Posted by: Wry Mouth at November 05, 2011 08:55 PM (paBtR)

13 4.7 to 5.6 is, what, like a 1000x jump?

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 08:55 PM (hnsH9)

14 In California we would barely notice an earthquake like that.

Posted by: red at November 05, 2011 08:57 PM (A+59T)

15 I remember one quake we had, it was around a 6 back in the 70's. Looking down a long tile hallway it was literally rippling - looked like water. Way cool.

Posted by: Clutch Cargo at November 05, 2011 08:57 PM (Qxdfp)

How it feels also depends on the depth of the quake. Shallow can feel more herky jerky, deep can feel more rolling (at least as I remember the feeling, but I could have those two mixed up). Plus, what type of ground you are on as the quake is happening. And the actions of the plates.

Posted by: ParanoidStillAGirlinSeattle at November 05, 2011 08:58 PM (RZ8pf)

17 Earthquakses are more excitink when you link kitteh videos in your posts.

Posted by: Ann d'Mestik at November 05, 2011 08:58 PM (ufRpu)

18 There's jumps, jerks (a quick move to the left), rolls, and rumbles.

Hah! Last February was jumps, little jumps. This one was jerks with some roll.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 08:58 PM (hnsH9)

19 14

Yup, it's one of those where you give a holler "quake?" to everyone else in the house, and then look at something that's hanging like a chandelier to make sure.

Posted by: Clutch Cargo at November 05, 2011 08:58 PM (Qxdfp)

20 USGS upgrades latest earthquake to 5.6; strongest on record in Oklahoma http://tinyurl.com/676v3rf

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at November 05, 2011 08:59 PM (UR5vq)

21 I can't be sure but I think I felt it in SW Ohio. That seems nuts brewer, but right bf I read your tweet, I felt something and thought 'the hell?'

Certainly didn't think quake.

I think it's just in my head. I didn't see any report of it all the way out here.

Posted by: laceyunderalls at November 05, 2011 08:59 PM (dsFHI)

22 You guys felt it in Kansas City and in Arkansas? Wow. They really do propagate more here.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 08:59 PM (hnsH9)

23 10 There's jumps, jerks (a quick move to the left),
___________

...and then a step to the ri-ii-iii-iight.

Posted by: Let's Do the Time Warp Again at November 05, 2011 09:00 PM (6fER6)

24
#15 - During Loma Prieta I lived in Fremont. I remember looking down at the living room floor and it was rippling up and down, weirdest thing I'd ever seen. Had just sat down on the couch to watch the Oakland-SF series baseball game.

Posted by: Theresa--SCOAMF is 1 and done! at November 05, 2011 09:00 PM (Zgfnd)

25 Lincoln County, OK apparently has significant damage per various news/weather folks on twitter

Posted by: Doc at November 05, 2011 09:01 PM (vvr5S)

26 I live 10 miles from the San Andreas fault, and while a 5.6 might have gotten our attention, I'd have to see how well the house was riding it out before getting up from my chair.

Posted by: Drumwaster at November 05, 2011 09:01 PM (Qv8r9)

27 18

It's really interesting to check out the faults in your area, and it gives you a good idea of how they're moving and why they cause the type of movements they do. Once the "ripple" starts, it causes weird stuff in outlying areas to happen.

That's why the Loma Prieta quake here didn't bother some places, and traveled in an interesting pattern.

I was literally 20 miles away from my Mother on the phone with her when I heard it coming and mentioned it, she said "yes!" and it hit. I had a bookcase fall on me, she didn't feel squat. Houses a quarter mile from her got wasted. Had something to do with the hill she lived on.

It can be just as random as a friggin' tornado!

Posted by: Clutch Cargo at November 05, 2011 09:03 PM (Qxdfp)

28 Pfffffftttt earthquakes I grew up in ca I was n the sf and the la earthquake

Posted by: phoenixgirl at November 05, 2011 09:03 PM (7rX87)

29 rd, depends on if it was a shallow or deep earthquake.

Posted by: CDR M at November 05, 2011 09:03 PM (Ybl9g)

30 23

well you definitely live in CA.

Posted by: Clutch Cargo at November 05, 2011 09:03 PM (Qxdfp)

31 #15 - During Loma Prieta I lived in Fremont. I remember looking down at the living room floor and it was rippling up and down, weirdest thing I'd ever seen. Had just sat down on the couch to watch the Oakland-SF series baseball game.

Posted by: Theresa--SCOAMF is 1 and done! at November 06, 2011 01:00 AM (Zgfnd)

Wow. I was in Hayward for that one!

Posted by: CDR M at November 05, 2011 09:04 PM (Ybl9g)

32 22 You guys felt it in Kansas City and in Arkansas? Wow. They really do propagate more here. Because the ground is still intact. That's why the effects of that earthquake in VA a few months ago could be felt in northern NY. Places where it is more "active" are more broken up, thus preventing the force of the earthquake from moving further on the ground.

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at November 05, 2011 09:04 PM (UR5vq)

33 An earthquake that measures 5.0 on the Richter scale has a shaking amplitude 10 times larger and corresponds to an energy release of √1000 ≈ 31.6 times greater than one that measures 4.0"

Interesting. A 1000x more energy for ten times amplitude. And, really, it's the amplitude that translates more directly into the subjective experience, not the energy released.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 09:04 PM (hnsH9)

34 Just like a virgin! I've gone through a bunch. They very alot from rumbling to swaying to jolts. When you climb into the 4.5 range they start to get powerful quick. Remember earthquakes are graded on a logorithmic scale like sound. Every 0.3 increase is a doubling of strength.

Posted by: MikeTheMoose at November 05, 2011 09:05 PM (GE1+K)

35 Try a 7 around 4 am. Northridge. They suck. Especially if you wake up to them 1 minute before they happen.

Posted by: Corona at November 05, 2011 09:06 PM (fh2Y7)

36 I can't be sure but I think I felt it in SW Ohio. That seems nuts brewer, but right bf I read your tweet, I felt something and thought 'the hell?'

That was it. Because that's exactly what I was thinking in that moment. When the side to side movement started, I jumped up. Pretty excited, really.

But teh weird. That was truly freaky.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 09:07 PM (hnsH9)

37 ParanoidStillAGirlinSeattle is correct. The type of slippage, vertical or horizontal, and the depth will create different effects and "feels". At that distance the type and nature of the soil will make more difference in damage and perception than that difference in energy release. The inverse square law applies so energy falls off quickly but some conditions can channel or amplify the effect over that distance and greatly change the effect. The soil under Mexico City made the damage much greater than would be expected from such a quake normally.

Posted by: Machinist at November 05, 2011 09:08 PM (zQeSp)

38 Felt it here in Western MO about an hour East of KC. It was very interesting, just sort of a soft vibrating to everything in the house.

Posted by: Drew in MO at November 05, 2011 09:08 PM (CAYt4)

39 >>>During Loma Prieta Everyone remembers where they were at for Loma Prieta; it's not everyday the bay bridge suffers a collapse.

Posted by: MikeTheMoose at November 05, 2011 09:08 PM (GE1+K)

40 I lived in the Marina district in San Francisco for several years. One night we had a 3.2 and a 3.3 about 30 seconds apart. The first one felt like a "pop" and the second one was a "roll". Even though the magnitudes were nearly identical, the feel and the sounds they created were completely different. I didn't even realize that the first one was an earthquake (I thought someone in the apartment above me had slammed a window really hard) until I felt the wave of the second one!

Posted by: Moonbeam at November 05, 2011 09:10 PM (1k4dd)

41 Lacey, before it grew big enough for me to realize what was going on, I was all, there's something going on. Then it got big enough for me to figure it out. For you, I bet it never went past the there's something going on stage.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 09:11 PM (hnsH9)

42 Remember to report what you felt to USGS they analyze the "I felt it" reports

Posted by: MikeTheMoose at November 05, 2011 09:11 PM (GE1+K)

43 Everyone remembers where they were at for Loma Prieta; it's not everyday the bay bridge suffers a collapse.

Posted by: MikeTheMoose at November 06, 2011 01:08 AM (GE1+K)

Thankfully I was at home. I gotta say the World Series game is probably what saved my ass as I would normally be on or about the 880 Interchange that collapsed around the time of the earthquake.

Posted by: CDR M at November 05, 2011 09:12 PM (Ybl9g)

Everyone remembers where they were at for Loma Prieta; it's not everyday the bay bridge suffers a collapse.

Well Thank God for that.

Seattle's decided to eliminate the threat of a viaduct collapse by instead digging a tunnel through the fill dirt along the waterfront for the road. So insted of dying in a bridge collapse folks will die when the tunnel collapses and the surge of water fills it.

Posted by: ParanoidStillAGirlinSeattle at November 05, 2011 09:12 PM (RZ8pf)

45 Clutch, there was another quake, a 4.7 last night, about 22 hours before and a few miles from this one. So, they're related, obviously.

If you go on Google and check the earthquake overly, you can see a cluster in that area.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 09:13 PM (hnsH9)

46 I'd have to see how well the house was riding it out before getting up from my chair.

Heh.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 09:16 PM (hnsH9)

47 Had something to do with the hill she lived on.

Clutch, she lives on bedrock. Has to be.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 09:16 PM (hnsH9)

48 When you have a network of fault lines a release at one point can add stress at other places close to tripping, causing them to release. A chain reaction causing clusters of earthquakes or aftershocks.

Posted by: Machinist at November 05, 2011 09:17 PM (zQeSp)

49 >>>on or about the 880 Interchange that collapsed That interchange was nad news. I forget how many died. My wife's dad should have been on it; got out of work early that day. I was at home. Watched the house do the mamba from the inside.

Posted by: MikeTheMoose at November 05, 2011 09:17 PM (GE1+K)

50 Clutch, she lives on bedrock. Has to be.

Oh, whoops. I just remembered something about wave forms cancelling each other out.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 09:17 PM (hnsH9)

51 Well as a geologist who has worked in that area for many years, you are atop the Nemaha Uplift, which is a long imbricate fault zone. Years of water injection for secondary oil production along with withdrawal of billions of barrels of oil can lubricate fault planes or draw down overlying beds and has been the proven culprit of many associated earthquakes in oil producing areas. Fracing for horizontals can only be termed a very minor secondary issue.

Posted by: TexasJew at November 05, 2011 09:17 PM (z8HSj)

_{^{Seattle's decided to eliminate the threat of a
viaduct collapse by instead digging a tunnel through the fill dirt along
the waterfront for the road. So insted of dying in a bridge collapse
folks will die when the tunnel collapses and the surge of water fills
it.}}

_{^{Posted by: ParanoidStillAGirlinSeattle at November 06, 2011 01:12 AM (RZ8pf)}}

One positive, the leftys will be closer to hell when they go.

Posted by: MrCaniac at November 05, 2011 09:18 PM (AM+sr)

53 It's the headline on Drudge now.

Posted by: Moonbeam at November 05, 2011 09:18 PM (1k4dd)

54 Sorry, that wasn't an earthquake, that was just my NASCAR career hitting the ground. Sorry about that.

Posted by: Kyle Bush at November 05, 2011 09:20 PM (AM+sr)

55 One positive, the leftys will be closer to hell when they go. That assumes Hell is in the center of the Earth. I've always thought of Hell as some alternate dimension or a place of torment somewhere on the edge of the universe.

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at November 05, 2011 09:21 PM (UR5vq)

56 Well, I'm just glad I wasn't dropping acid and watching Pat Condell videos again.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 09:22 PM (hnsH9)

57 Theres no volcano Jesus, too many shit Hollywood movies..

Posted by: TexasJew at November 05, 2011 09:22 PM (z8HSj)

58 I'm 45 miles west of the epicenter in OKC. The one we had last night wasn't anything to write home about (4.7). The one this evening was much stronger - 5.6. My chair and the floor was moving back and forth. I'm with some of the other folks here - I would much rather deal with the tornadoes. I have a fraidy hole I can crawl into and be safe.

Posted by: Racist, Right-Wing Terrorist...or Tea Party Member for short at November 05, 2011 09:26 PM (99pI5)

59 What is strange about this is the swarm that went on just before it hit and the fact that ALL of them are very shallow, 3.1 miles is very shallow

Posted by: Tracy Coyle at November 05, 2011 09:26 PM (1yL9l)

Felt it in north central Arkansas. Took me a second to realize what it was, not being in SoCal. Funny how it didn't register right away.

My uncle's cattle were acting up right before it hit.

Posted by: AuntTammy at November 05, 2011 09:27 PM (iBll1)

61 ^{That assumes Hell is in the center of the Earth.
I've always thought of Hell as some alternate dimension or a place of
torment somewhere on the edge of the universe.}

^{Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at November 06, 2011 01:21 AM (UR5vq)}

I've always pictured hell as a leftist utopia.

Posted by: MrCaniac at November 05, 2011 09:28 PM (AM+sr)

62 Well as a geologist who has worked in that area for many years, you are atop the Nemaha Uplift, which is a long imbricate fault zone. Years of water injection for secondary oil production along with withdrawal of billions of barrels of oil can lubricate fault planes or draw down overlying beds and has been the proven culprit of many associated earthquakes in oil producing areas.

That might explain why it seems to me they are happening more now. But in my case it could be a thing similar to selection bias, where I'm just now taking account of what goes on around here. I don't know. I'd love to read a thorough account of what's going on. I love learning about geology.

It could also be the 2012 Mayan thing.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 09:28 PM (hnsH9)

63 Didn't feel jack here and MO is right next door. I am grateful for, unlike many of you, I don't find earthquakes exciting.

Posted by: Baroque at November 05, 2011 09:29 PM (B0LGd)

64 ^{57
Theres no volcano

Jesus, too many shit Hollywood movies..}

^{Posted by: TexasJew at November 06, 2011 01:22 AM (z8HSj)}

Giant sandworms then?

Posted by: MrCaniac watching SyFy at November 05, 2011 09:29 PM (AM+sr)

65 I would much rather deal with the tornadoes. I have a fraidy hole I can crawl into and be safe.

Fuckin' a.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 09:30 PM (hnsH9)

66 I'd love to read a thorough account of what's going on. I love learning about geology. It could also be the 2012 Mayan thing. Posted by: rdbrewer at November 06, 2011 01:28 AM (hnsH9) OK Google Nemaha Uplift, Nemeha Ridge, Humboldt Fault and Midcontinent Rift. That will teach you lots of geology and blow your mind...

Posted by: TexasJew at November 05, 2011 09:30 PM (z8HSj)

67 By time you read this you will be dead.

Posted by: Romney Voter at November 05, 2011 09:31 PM (7MFxV)

68 Google Nemaha Uplift, Nemeha Ridge, Humboldt Fault and Midcontinent Rift.
That will teach you lots of geology and blow your mind...

Awesome. Thanks, TJ.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 09:31 PM (hnsH9)

69 I'm in Kansas City and didn't feel anything

Posted by: Jose at November 05, 2011 09:31 PM (oMY/5)

70 But seriously, I actually lived through one of those and thought the cat jumped on the bed.

Posted by: Romney Voter at November 05, 2011 09:33 PM (7MFxV)

71 What is strange about this is the swarm that went on just before it hit and the fact that ALL of them are very shallow, 3.1 miles is very shallow
Posted by: Tracy Coyle at November 06, 2011 01:26 AM

How is it strange?

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 09:35 PM (hnsH9)

72 I am a veteran of the 1971 Sylmar and 1994 Northridge quakes, having lived only two miles from the Northridge epicenter. We had aftershocks a bit larger, and mostly smaller than 5.6 for months afterwards. It is scary and nerve wracking for sure. There is a big difference in how we experience quakes versus a midwest quake. There are massive rock structures (mountains) above and below the surface, which deflect and absorb the energy.

Also our quakes tend to be deeper in the earth, allowing for a greater dissipation of energy before it hits the surface. Your quake was very shallow and more energy reached the surface. Because there is looser soil and very little rock structures, much of that energy stayed intact as it radiated across the plains.

Have a drink and relax. These things don't usually presage a bigger event.

Posted by: Joe Bidenmytime at November 05, 2011 09:36 PM (GhV2m)

73 i can't believe anyone is this w*rked up over such a small quake...

it wasn't even strong enough to properly shake up a martini.

/Los Angeles Native

Posted by: redc1c4 at November 05, 2011 09:36 PM (d1FhN)

74 Funny how it didn't register right away. Posted by: AuntTammy at November 06, 2011 01:27 AM (

I was thinking about that. On some level--before I was even consciously aware of movement--something was telling me something is going on.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 09:37 PM (hnsH9)

75 During Loma Prieta I was at the game and watched the playing field with waves going across it. Later, the parking lot was all cracked up. It was 15 seconds long, which doesn't seem like a long time, but try staying on a bucking horse for that long. Oh yeah, the bridge fell down. The repair for that might be finished by 2013.

Posted by: navybrat at November 05, 2011 09:38 PM (cjtQE)

76 It is scary and nerve wracking for sure. Posted by: Joe Bidenmytime at November 06, 2011 01:36 AM

Okay, I have to admit, my nerves are wracked. I'm not scared and didn't get scared. But I feel like I drank a pot of coffee.

Oh. Adrenaline.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 09:39 PM (hnsH9)

77 Denton, TX checking in here. So now I've experienced a [x] Tornado; [x] Hurricane; [x] Blizzard; and finally...[x] Earthquake! So which one will be next - [ ] Volcano or [ ] Asteroid? : )

Posted by: goozer at November 05, 2011 09:41 PM (vQcKN)

78 Imagine the ride at the top of a drill rig...there was a 4.something in that area when I was working Derricks.Fairly high pucker factor until I figgered out it wasn't a blowout. Have felt a bunch while in the Bay Area...was gone for the Loma quake. All are different. Felt one in Ohio several years ago...thought I was imagining it until I saw the rocker on the neighbors porch moving with no one in it.(creeped their dog right out)

Posted by: jeff talbut at November 05, 2011 09:42 PM (HQi+b)

79 Also our quakes tend to be deeper in the earth, allowing for a greater dissipation of energy before it hits the surface. Your quake was very shallow and more energy reached the surface. Because there is looser soil and very little rock structures, much of that energy stayed intact as it radiated across the plains.

Have a drink and relax. These things don't usually presage a bigger event.

Okay. That makes sense. And all this sedimentary soil around here; it's like a wave on water.

I don't drink anymore, but I'd have one if I did.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 09:44 PM (hnsH9)

80 Posted by: redc1c4 at November 06, 2011 01:36 AM (d1FhN) You won't be laughing when that volcano erupts from the La Brea tar pits! God, that was such an awfully bad movie.

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at November 05, 2011 09:44 PM (UR5vq)

81 Goozer, you felt this one down in Texas?

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 09:45 PM (hnsH9)

82 A 5.6 is a good size, much larger than February earthquake. Not sure if I would even bother getting out of bed for a 4.7, though. Once you start getting in the 6 range, you want to stand under a doorway.

Posted by: SoCal Girl at November 05, 2011 09:47 PM (o+q0n)

83 5.6 was the official magnitude. Felt it about 2250 hrs here in Wichita. Shook my whole fucking house.

Posted by: Samuel Adams at November 05, 2011 09:47 PM (d+oj5)

84 The repair for that might be finished by 2013.

Make that 2023 if I've got anything to do with it!

Posted by: ♫ Ride, Ride, Ride, the Wild SCOAMF ♫ at November 05, 2011 09:48 PM (JOM6t)

85 North Texas here. Barely felt it, but did actually feel it, in my desk chair. Felt like a barely detectable series of pulses, almost like the body sensation of a very strong heart beat. No dogs barking either. Aren't they supposed to sense those things and warn us mortals?

Weird. First time to "feel" an earthquake. I feel better about it, though, than those damn, dirty tornadoes and their hailstorms.

Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at November 05, 2011 09:49 PM (eHIJJ)

86 I really dread the day the New Madrid fault decides to give way again. We feel a little tremor once in a while -- just enough to remind you that the thing exists and that the last time it acted up was in 1811-1812. And things got pretty ugly that time -- long before the area had been developed in any meaningful sense.

Posted by: Damn Dirty RINO at November 05, 2011 09:50 PM (+iwM3)

We are 5 years out at the best from an 8+ here in Cali. maybe 3 decades at the least, smoke and mirrors people, USGS...not so smart...Gypsies...maybe smarter...want to know when it will all end here in Calibonya?

Put a loaded gun to your head and pull the trigger.....now ya know....

Posted by: Richard at November 05, 2011 09:51 PM (zJc8Z)

88 I feel better about it, though, than those damn, dirty tornadoes and their hailstorms.

How come a tornado never touches down at one of the Occupy protests?

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 05, 2011 09:51 PM (JOM6t)

I'm about 100 miles away from the epicenter at the base of the Boston mountains. We get tiny quakes all the time but I've never felt one. This one, I felt.

My first thought was that the newlywed couple upstairs were being particularly vigorous tonight. Then I took the headphones off and thought that they must be tipping over cabinets up there. Strange sound...like the building was shifting. About 20 seconds of shaking and watching my monitor jiggle and then 2 minutes of creaking when the apartment complex settled. That's when I realized what it was - when it was already over.

A tad bit exciting for a first timer, but more of a bragging right to say I finally felt one. No biggie.

Posted by: Rob K. at November 05, 2011 09:51 PM (cpr0i)

90 Cool, I have officially lived through an F-4 tornado and now a 5.6 earthquake. I must say however, that the tornado took my house whereas this earthquake only shook it.

Posted by: Samuel Adams at November 05, 2011 09:52 PM (d+oj5)

91 Also, not to be unempathetic about your quake but here in CA, we call a 5.6 "The Kiddie Slope."
;-)

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 05, 2011 09:53 PM (JOM6t)

92 86 I really dread the day the New Madrid fault decides to give way again. We feel a little tremor once in a while -- just enough to remind you that the thing exists and that the last time it acted up was in 1811-1812. And things got pretty ugly that time -- long before the area had been developed in any meaningful sense.

Posted by: Damn Dirty RINO at November 06, 2011 01:50 AM (+iwM3)

===

For real. Where I live is built mainly on top of limestone/karst - in other words: caves. Most of the buildings here are brick and mortar (the older ones anyways) the rest are modern tract houses made of the cheapest shit developers can get away with. The only building that might still be standing is the hospital.

This place will look like Hiroshima after NM let's go.

Posted by: Baroque at November 05, 2011 09:54 PM (B0LGd)

93 Cool, I have officially lived through an F-4 tornado and now a 5.6 earthquake.

Great to hear it Sam! Now let's hear how you stand up to imminent level-5 "nuclear accident."

Posted by: ♫ Ride, Ride, Ride, the Wild SCOAMF ♫ at November 05, 2011 09:55 PM (JOM6t)

94 Also, not to be unempathetic about your quake but here in CA, we call a 5.6 "The Kiddie Slope."

So, you'd shit your pants in an F-4 tornado or baseball sized hail. Trust me.

Posted by: Samuel Adams at November 05, 2011 09:55 PM (d+oj5)

95 I was walking the dog, hear something rattle, didn't think anything at the time until I saw Drudge.

Posted by: auscolpyr at November 05, 2011 09:56 PM (8HSZ0)

96 That New Madrid quake changed some state boundary lines and made the Mississippi flow backward. That'll be an ugly one.

But it hasn't been all that long. Have they been able to estimate the period between quakes? With core samples or something?

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 09:57 PM (hnsH9)

97 5.6 Would make it just a tad stronger than the Chino Hills quake.

Posted by: Cranky Business Professor at November 05, 2011 09:58 PM (85u4A)

98 Sam, not arguing but at least in case of those you've got somewhere handy to hide away (i.e., the basement). Re a quake, the only hideaway is on some kind of an aircraft.

Having said that, I wouldn't want to get into an argument about which causes more property damage/loss. Both tornadoes and quakes do a bang-up job on those.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 05, 2011 09:58 PM (JOM6t)

99 The upside is that earthquake insurance is cheap as dirt, here. A whole year's premium for earthquake coverage only cost me $65.00

Posted by: Baroque at November 05, 2011 10:01 PM (B0LGd)

100 qdpsteve: "How come a tornado never touches down at one of the Occupy protests?"

Bad luck. But we did have a blizzard go through the northeast already, so at least they're on our side.

Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at November 05, 2011 10:03 PM (eHIJJ)

101 Posted by: qdpsteve at November 06, 2011 01:58 AM (JOM6t)

Don't want to deal with either but have dealt with both. You're right, both suck and it freaked me the fuck out. Funny thing was that it has been windy here and initially I thought it was a big wind gust until it lasted longer than one second. Then I told my wife that we're having an earthquake. Weird. Look, I know the weather here in Kansas. I am a trained weather spotter and have been in some fucked up weather events that have caused deaths, but this was a first. We actually have reported building damage.

Posted by: Samuel Adams at November 05, 2011 10:04 PM (d+oj5)

102 81 Goozer, you felt this one down in Texas?

Yep, just barely though. Kinda interesting...but I think I'd like to keep them all at such a distance. My youngest brother experienced the Northridge quake and just missed getting his head sliced off when the window above his bed shattered.

Posted by: goozer at November 05, 2011 10:04 PM (vQcKN)

103 @ 92 -- This place will look like Hiroshima after NM let's go. You ain't kiddin'. I live in KY near the confluence of the Ohio & Mississippi. If it goes in my lifetime, I expect to be cut off from civilization for a while. Thankfully, I live on a fairly high spot that probably won't be under water. But places like Cairo, IL -- they'll just be gone. There's barely anything holding the place up as it is. The sand boils from the recent flooding certainly didn't help matters. And there's lots of towns like Cairo all along the Mississippi Valley.

Posted by: Damn Dirty RINO at November 05, 2011 10:06 PM (+iwM3)

104 Being from Socal, all I can tell you is they switched from the Richter to the moment magnitude scale. Both are exponential.

Posted by: Sock Puppet in Training at November 05, 2011 10:06 PM (/0euP)

105 Samuel Adams: "I must say however, that the tornado took my house whereas this earthquake only shook it."

Holy crap. Glad you made it out alive.

Did they find its wheels?

Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at November 05, 2011 10:06 PM (eHIJJ)

106 I was about 8 miles from the epicenter of the 2001 8.1M Ash Wednesday quake in Lacey WA. After the quake, as we were all standing in the parking lot, waiting for word that we could re-enter the building, or go home if the damage was bad enough. After about 15 minutes this Japanese guy came out of the building, wanting to know why everyone was upset, it was just an earthquake.

Posted by: Pistol Packin Papa at November 05, 2011 10:07 PM (xmg69)

107 I'm positive you know it better than I do Sam. I've never been further east than Utah (though my family says I was taken as far away as Colorado for camping trips back in the late 1960s, when I was no more than a toddler; obviously, I've no memory of those). Anyway, I'd like to fix that sometime before I die-- but I've reached the conclusions since 9/11 that if I die before ever seeing NYC, Mexico, or Europe, I'll be okay.

Anyway, all jokes aside, I hope the damage and loss of life was absolutely minimal, no matter the cause.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 05, 2011 10:07 PM (JOM6t)

108 Wikipedia tells me I am an asshole, not exponential, but logarithmic.

Posted by: Sock Puppet in Training at November 05, 2011 10:09 PM (/0euP)

109 rd -- They really don't understand the New Madrid fault very well at all. There's hardly any movement along the plates compared to what there is along one like the San Andreas. There's a small chance that another 7.5 - 8.0 could hit within the next 50 years, something like a 10% chance, give or take -- but I suspect it's just the proverbial SWAG.

Posted by: Damn Dirty RINO at November 05, 2011 10:09 PM (+iwM3)

110 Holy crap. Glad you made it out alive.

Did they find its wheels?

Myself plus my two young sons and my stepdaughter survived in our crawlspace in the May 3rd 1999 tornado that killed 6 here in Wichita but killed over 40 in the OKC area.

Posted by: Samuel Adams at November 05, 2011 10:09 PM (d+oj5)

111 103 @ 92 -- This place will look like Hiroshima after NM let's go.

You ain't kiddin'. I live in KY near the confluence of the Ohio & Mississippi. If it goes in my lifetime, I expect to be cut off from civilization for a while. Thankfully, I live on a fairly high spot that probably won't be under water.

But places like Cairo, IL -- they'll just be gone. There's barely anything holding the place up as it is. The sand boils from the recent flooding certainly didn't help matters. And there's lots of towns like Cairo all along the Mississippi Valley.

Posted by: Damn Dirty RINO at November 06, 2011 02:06 AM (+iwM3)

===

I live near Cumberland Falls. Whenever there's a good quiver out of the NMF, we have a hill slide off onto the road and sinkholes underneath the road crack or open right up.

Dreading the day it happens.

Posted by: Baroque at November 05, 2011 10:10 PM (B0LGd)

112

Some of the difference in the "feel" of an earthquake can be attributed to the soil conditions under the house/ building you're in when an earthquake hits. For example, in the Loma Prieta quake, the surface shaking was felt more violently in the Marina district in SF than in areas that were closer. See, here: http://tinyurl.com/68b2xw4

The buildings in the Marina district were built on bay fill which is looser soil and more susceptible to liquifaction.

FWIW, I was in LA for the Sylmar (6.6), Landers (7.3) and Northridge (6.7) earthquakes and in Berkeley for Loma Prieta (6.9). I'm currently in downtown Oakland (aka riot central) where there was a yawner (3.2) this afternoon.

Posted by: Mr. Disaster at November 05, 2011 10:13 PM (qg7H/)

113 Samuel Adams@110,

We're as used to them (tornadoes) as one can be here which is really not used to them at all. We have a designed tornado shelter and use them pretty routinely though, fortunately, none have yet gone through our yard. I did almost get blown off the highway by one (an F-1 or -2) a few years ago (an 18-wheeler trailing me did) and hail is practically expected all spring/early summer.

No worries about quakes. Always worried about tornadoes.

Posted by: AnonymousDrivel at November 05, 2011 10:18 PM (eHIJJ)

114

I was raised in San Diego, so I've experienced a few earthquakes. I also live next to OKC (in Mustang) where this quake happened. It was strong enough to notice that it was a quake and it went on longer than I'd expect for this area. I didn't even notice the ones we had last night.

I was teasing my friends at work that they'd better check out Yellowstone before the super volcano takes it out.

Posted by: digitalbrownshirt at November 05, 2011 10:21 PM (C6OjH)

115 The quake stuff is okay, but we need another topic to sex it up in here.

Anybody planning to rush out to see J. Edgar?

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 05, 2011 10:23 PM (JOM6t)

116 @ 111 -- I really want to make it out to Cumberland Falls with my camera before it happens. Though, there'll probably be some impressive new falls to photograph afterward, too.

Posted by: Damn Dirty RINO at November 05, 2011 10:23 PM (+iwM3)

117 New Madrid Earthquakes

"Perhaps the greatest danger of all arises from the sense of complacency, or perhaps total ignorance, about the potential threat of a large earthquake. The frequency of occurrence of earthquakes the size of those that took place in 1811-12 is very low; however, continuing minor to moderate seismic activity in the central Mississippi Valley area is an indication that a large magnitude tremor can someday be expected there again."

Posted by: Baroque at November 05, 2011 10:25 PM (B0LGd)

118 116 @ 111 -- I really want to make it out to Cumberland Falls with my camera before it happens. Though, there'll probably be some impressive new falls to photograph afterward, too.

Posted by: Damn Dirty RINO at November 06, 2011 02:23 AM (+iwM3)

===

For sure. I wonder if such a quake will eradicate the moonbow? There's only a few (known) places in the world where you can see one, as it is.

Posted by: Baroque at November 05, 2011 10:28 PM (B0LGd)

119 I wonder if that new Devon building they're putting up in downtown OKC is built to withstand earthquakes. It would be a shame for the tallest building in the state to fall apart before it's finished.

Posted by: digitalbrownshirt at November 05, 2011 10:28 PM (C6OjH)

120 It would be a shame for the tallest building in the state to fall apart before it's finished.

Posted by: digitalbrownshirt at November 06, 2011 02:28 AM (C6OjH)

Well that's true and all, but you know why Kansas is windy don't you? It's because Oklahoma sucks.

Posted by: Samuel Adams at November 05, 2011 10:32 PM (d+oj5)

121 I live in Lenexa, a western suburb of Kansas City. I didn't feel it, but my wife said that she felt the bed shake. Here I thought she was giving me a hint, but lo and behold, it was an earthquake.

Posted by: Kansas Gman at November 05, 2011 10:32 PM (u4a/I)

122 I live in California so I've felt a few. A 5.6 here would be pretty ho hum but you live where the bedrock is covered by a lot of loose soil which amplifies the shaking. The New Madrid quakes rang church bells in Boston. A similar quake in San Francisco would probably not be felt in L. A. and a 5.6 in the bay area would barely be a tingle 50 miles away. A gigantic tornado that misses you by a couple of miles is less of a problem than a relatively small one that misses you by inches. Same thing with quakes.

Posted by: Ken Hahn at November 05, 2011 10:32 PM (eyl4u)

123 5.6, eh? The fun's just barely getting started.

Let us know when you sit through a 6 or higher.

Posted by: Blacque Jacques Shellacque at November 05, 2011 10:36 PM (9r32i)

124 I'm stationed in northern Japan and my family and I rode out the 9.0 in March. Since then we've had over 1600 aftershocks. 1200 of those have been 5.0 or greater. You speak of frequency and it reminds me of how we classify our aftershocks now. We have rollers and shakers and I've determined by watching he earthquake reports that it is depth that makes the difference. I was in my car for the 9.0 and from my vantage point I could see all the way across the flight line here. It is almost 2 miles across and I could literally watch the "S" waves as they traveled across the Earth's crust. It was amazing to watch.

Posted by: OldSailor88 at November 05, 2011 10:36 PM (u6tth)

125 Posted by: Kansas Gman at November 06, 2011 02:32 AM (u4a/I)

Here in Wichita, I was watching football when this surreal shaking throughout the whole house started occurring. The local news started late due to the K-State OSU game as well as the LSU-Alabama game and during the broadcasts they experienced the shaking. It freaked them out because their lights started moving during the broadcast. Weird and historic. My kids and I have experienced both a tornado and an earthquake.

Posted by: Samuel Adams at November 05, 2011 10:39 PM (d+oj5)

126 Re: perspective on quakes

Thinking back, there have been times when I've known or seen people from the coast react in weird ways to the clouds and alerts we have. We get these nuclear bomb-looking, eerily fast moving thunderheads that can be very scary. But it takes so much less to scare someone unfamiliar with them.

Years ago, f/x, my girlfriend's relatives came in from CA. They were getting jumpy about some puffy little cumulus clouds that I didn't even notice, and they kept their eye on the sky whenever they went outside. And there have been several times where I knew of or heard of someone freaking out during tornado watches and warnings. One time we got a call, someone frantic, wanting to know what to do during a watch.

I can imagine how frightening the tornado sirens must sound. Boiling clouds, pouring rain, hail, gusty winds... and then the sirens start roaring. And, boy, do they roar. You can hear those things in your soul. You can hear them wherever you are. In fact, I've never slept through one. That can be frightening even for a local if there's no access to a TV or a radio updating you on precisely where the tornado is.

So, it comes down to what you're used to, I guess. I'd still rather dodge tornadoes than deal with earthquakes. You can't get away from an earthquake.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 10:41 PM (hnsH9)

127 When they're not fulfilling their primary mission of reaching out to bloodthirsty Muslim killers, NASA makes videos about earthquake related phenomena.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZPNjLj8hR8

Posted by: Baroque at November 05, 2011 10:42 PM (B0LGd)

128 @ 118 -- For sure. I wonder if such a quake will eradicate the moonbow? There's only a few (known) places in the world where you can see one, as it is. That would be a damned shame. I bet that really is a beautiful thing to see. @ 124 -- I don't know how anyone would ever get "accustomed" to that. I just can't even fathom it. But, I bet that was one hell of an amazing thing to see.

Posted by: Damn Dirty RINO at November 05, 2011 10:44 PM (+iwM3)

129 42 Remember to report what you felt to USGS they analyze the "I felt it" reports ^^^That. Even if you're in the affected area and you didn't feel it, still send in a report. ("I didn't feel it" is one of the choices on the report form.) That's a valid data point. I live in Pennsylvania and I felt the Virginia quake a few months ago. I was sitting in my car at work, on a break, and I felt the car start swaying. It was like when you're sitting in a left turn lane and a truck goes by, only it went on for ten seconds or so.

Posted by: rickl at November 05, 2011 10:46 PM (sdi6R)

130 5.6?

Here it CA that just getting a little warmed up.

Try Easter Sunday 2010 - 7.2

Posted by: John P. Squibob at November 05, 2011 10:50 PM (kqqGm)

131

5.6 vs 4.7

10^5.6 /10^4.7 = 10^0.9 = 7.9

So it's about 8 times more powerful.

Posted by: RokShox at November 05, 2011 10:57 PM (pcly4)

132 @ 126 -- One of the coolest experiences I ever had was going on a photo trip with a fellow Pentax shooter who lives in Arkansas, near NE Oklahoma. We went over into OK to a town called Picher -- which I'm sure you know about, but those who may not know, is an old lead and zinc mining town that was a Superfund site due to contamination and subsidence. A few years back, it was hit by an F-4 tornado, which pretty much was the final nail in the coffin for the town. From what I gather, the last holdouts have finally vacated and they've pretty much got everything completely demolished. Here are some of the shots I managed to get while it still existed: http://is.gd/NtO53R

Posted by: Damn Dirty RINO at November 05, 2011 10:59 PM (+iwM3)

133 "Do they normally vary that much (subjectively)? Is a 5.2 that much worse than a 4.7" Yes, a lot. its roughly 5 times worse.

Posted by: Texan Economist at November 05, 2011 11:05 PM (TC/9F)

134 We were in Boone Pickens Stadium and didn't feel a thing. The one in the middle of the night didn't wake us up either. Maybe we'll feel an aftershock.

Posted by: Marybel at November 05, 2011 11:09 PM (Hic+o)

135 Your 2nd earthquake is a 5.2??? Amateur. My first was a 5.7. My second was a 6.9. :->

Posted by: SFGoth at November 05, 2011 11:15 PM (S+jve)

136 Yup, earthquakes do vary, not only on the magnitude, of course, but it also depends how deep the quake is. Shallower quakes tend to had a shuddering kind of feel to the while the deeper ones, the ones centered way underground, generally cause the ground to almost ripple and wave. And when they don't do too much damage or hurt anyone, they can be fun.

Posted by: Sgt. York at November 05, 2011 11:16 PM (EIAxq)

137 24
#15 - During Loma Prieta I lived in Fremont. I remember looking down at the living room floor and it was rippling up and down, weirdest thing I'd ever seen. Had just sat down on the couch to watch the Oakland-SF series baseball game.
Posted by: Theresa
///
I was walking across a parking lot at S.F. St. U. on Oct. 17, 1989. I heard that folks in the upper floors of the dorms were being tossed around like rag dolls. If you ever see asphault undulate, you'll never forget it.

Posted by: SFGoth at November 05, 2011 11:18 PM (S+jve)

138

rd - how close to El Reno?

Posted by: Murph at November 05, 2011 11:21 PM (qStHi)

139 These ground undulations you guys are talking about? What is the distance from wave peak to wave peak, the wavelength? And how fast did the waves come through?

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 11:23 PM (Zbsb0)

140 Murph, I'm about 15 or so miles east of El Reno. The epicenter was about 50 miles east of me.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 05, 2011 11:25 PM (Zbsb0)

141 Did Deepak Chopra cause this one too?

Posted by: gride at November 05, 2011 11:25 PM (QxQym)

142 First earthquake in CA I was walking through a mall and all of a sudden everyone started taking cover. Had no idea what was going on. Kinda weird.

I didn't feel it -- so I felt kind of left out.

Was also weird that I was the only one walking around like nothing was going on while people were cowering in the entry ways...

Second one was a roller coaster ride while in bed. I woke up thinking that, "I don't have a water bed." Rocked the room for a bit. Northridge.

Posted by: mesablue at November 05, 2011 11:29 PM (ev3Dt)

143 IÂ’ll take hurricanes anytime over earthquakes and tornadoes.

We know about hurricanes ahead of time.

The price we pay for that advance knowledge is that we get more of them than you get earthquakes and tornadoes. We've been lucky this year.That luck won't last.

Mike - East coast FLA.

Posted by: Mike in CFL at November 05, 2011 11:31 PM (motsG)

144 Three years since Ike -- I don't want Hurricanes.

Rain, we can use.

Posted by: mesablue at November 05, 2011 11:33 PM (ev3Dt)

145 So Cal born and bred.
-1971 Sylmar (6.6)
-19 Whittier (5.9)
-1994 Northridge (6.7)

Experienced all of these at home or nearby, in NE Los Angeles, so within 15 miles of all three. Home is on a stable hill, so none of these felt that bad to me personally, but after a few you know it was bad somewhere because of the length of the shaking if it goes a while, even if it's mild to you. I like guessing the distance and seeing how accurate I can be. I nearly slept through Sylmar (but I was a kid), Whittier was startling, and my girlfriend at the time was almost killed at Cal State LA (where a girl was killed), and Northridge wasn't bad for me, but my brother was living in Northridge, and they got shook pretty good. Damage can be VERY hit and miss- in one area of Northridge, 85% of the houses had superficial cracks and things tossed about but that's it, then you'd come across one of the 15% that was shifted of it's foundation, and a total. How much fill you lot had could make all the difference (being more like jello and shaking more). Direction also matters- if the quake is a roller to your East or West, your North-South block fence wall may fall (my brother's did in Northridge), but an East-West likely won't. Same for whether or not a china cabinet is likely to spill it's contents, or the store aisles of a grocery are likely to get dumped.

The funny thing in all this is that the scariest earthquake I've ever been in (well, it wasn't that scary, but it woke me with a start) was a piddly 3.1 centered about 5 miles from my house. It's just that it was a very vertical jackhammer type, with what appeared to be no lead up (bu I was sleeping), so the variables are so many that you experience what you experience, and anyone else you talk to who wasn't where you are probably felt something completely different.

As far as the question of should you be afraid?- as an architect, let me say this- look at the videos of the Japan Tsunami- conventional wood framed houses ROLLED away WHOLE when the waters came- that's how strong they are when built to modern code. Wood structures are light and stiff enough to move with the earth when it moves, and modern steel and reinforced concrete are engineered to a significant safety factor- you really have nothing to worry about in a modern building, and limited issues with retrofitted buildings. I tell people about the safest place you can be in an earthquake in California is in a single family home of wood construction- it's even safer than outside where you could get a tree falling on you, or some object of the top of a building, or a power line. Earthquakes are hell in places like Turkey or Haiti, or Iran because they build primarily out of heavy concrete or block, but without the amount of reinforcing steel, and a lack of shear panels to keep the building from racking and collapsing. Here, I'd avoid getting a ground floor apartment in a 3-6 story building (a la Northridge Meadows), but that's about the extent of my concern. Well, that and third world quality control. That kind of devastation won't happen here (excepting maybe a New Madrid worst case scenario).

Tornados- well, just look at the Joplin Mo event, and tell me if you'd rather be there or in L.A. or S.F. during any of the modern quake events? I know what I'd choose.

Posted by: mtwzzyzx at November 05, 2011 11:46 PM (yByQb)

146 Dann Mayans, stop practicing and bring it on.

Posted by: Jean at November 05, 2011 11:49 PM (UIE9v)

147 "Kinda weird to have my first time be so disappointing."
I want a nickle for every girl who's ever said that.

Just one nickle.

Posted by: The Atom Bomb of Loving Kindness at November 05, 2011 11:57 PM (jqHOY)

148 145 - mtwzzyzx

Nice post - This naval architect agrees.

Off topic likely, but it is late - the stiffest boats are made of laminated wood.

Posted by: Mike in CFL at November 06, 2011 12:05 AM (motsG)

149 Yes, lots of variables, I was in ca for one that was stronger then the recent va one. the va one felt much stronger, at a greater distance.

Posted by: Jean at November 06, 2011 12:18 AM (pawS5)

150 4.7 to 5.6 is, what, like a 1000x jump? Posted by: rdbrewer at November 06, 2011 12:55 AM As explained accurately by Wry Mouth in 7, the Richter scale is logarithmic: every increase by 1 is a 10x increase. So this is a 9x increase.

Posted by: Random at November 06, 2011 01:08 AM (YiE0S)

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Posted by: doumaduo at November 06, 2011 01:38 AM (RoIum)

152 The clock in my computer is screwed up. All of the rest of the clocks in the house read the same.

Posted by: Ed Anger - Certified Kos Kid at November 06, 2011 02:04 AM (7+pP9)

153 In SoCal we surf earthquakes.

Posted by: SurferDoc at November 06, 2011 02:24 AM (STdkO)

154 In Soviet Russia, Earth quakes you!

Wait, that doesn't work.
Nevermind.

Posted by: The Atom Bomb of Loving Kindness at November 06, 2011 02:35 AM (jqHOY)

155 When we lived in Alaska we had 'em 2 - 3 times a week. Most were "rattle the dishes" strength. We missed the Good Friday quake by a couple of months. My father flew over it and said it was a real mess.

Posted by: Ed Anger - Certified Kos Kid at November 06, 2011 02:55 AM (7+pP9)

156

Nearly everyone has been getting the scale wrong. The scale measures wave motion so a 1.0 increase means 10x the wave motion. But the energy release is 31x - the log ratio is 1.5 so there is a 1000x energy increase for 100x wave magnitude increase (2.0 points on the scale). So the difference from 4.7 to 5.2 is ~5.5x stronger. 4.7 to 5.6 is ~25x stronger.

Above 5 quakes start feeling scary (I live in CA) but usually little if any damage until it is at least 6. Then all the usual variables - how deep, how far away, type of soil etc.

Posted by: Gary Rosen at November 06, 2011 03:00 AM (9CzKK)

157 The big honking volcano is in Yosemite, under Old Faithful.

Posted by: JEA at November 06, 2011 03:38 AM (bguKZ)

158 31 #15 - During Loma Prieta I lived in Fremont. I remember looking down at the living room floor and it was rippling up and down, weirdest thing I'd ever seen. Had just sat down on the couch to watch the Oakland-SF series baseball game.

Posted by: Theresa--SCOAMF is 1 and done! at November 06, 2011 01:00 AM (Zgfnd)

Wow. I was in Hayward for that one!

Posted by: CDR M at November 06, 2011 01:04 AM

I was in Union City, right between the both of you.

Posted by: franksalterego at November 06, 2011 03:40 AM (9XykO)

159 I saw cars in the parking lot bouncing up and down on their tires during one. Also saw the hallway deform out of shape from square to parallelogram and back again.

Posted by: SurferDoc at November 06, 2011 03:44 AM (STdkO)

160 I was in Union City, right between the both of you.

Posted by: franksalterego at November 06, 2011 07:40 AM (9XykO)

I used to live in Union City at the Dry Creek apartments. No earthquakes then.

Posted by: Vic at November 06, 2011 03:47 AM (YdQQY)

161

I'm in Allen, TX about 175 miles south of the epicenter. I felt an odd sensation as I sat on my couch watching TV. An ELF pulse passed by, lasting just a few seconds. It was subtle but unusual enough that my wife and I wondered what it was.

I've never felt an earthquake but I know what explosives feel like at various yields and ranges. It wasn't sharp like a shockwave, rather it felt like a distant but massive subwoofer fired at 250hz-500hz for a few seconds.

I'll stick to tornadoes, hail, floods, and hurricanes. I can see those things coming. Sudden and violent shaking of the crust under me seems a bit creepy.

Posted by: CR at November 06, 2011 03:59 AM (MnSRY)

162 Vic at November 06, 2011 07:47 AM

I was actually working in a shop in Union City.. I was living in Berkeley at the time.. My commute took me back and forth down the Nimitz.. I'd been on the upper deck of the collapsed portion that morning... Would have been on the lower deck later that afternoon.

Posted by: franksalterego at November 06, 2011 04:03 AM (9XykO)

163 Morning everyone
how ya doing vic

Posted by: chemjeff-husker at November 06, 2011 04:03 AM (hy54G)

164 I'm shocked so many of you morons woke up already. We went to an Italian wedding last night, and the reception: What an affair! The appetizers! The multiple courses! The loud music! The upset stomach last night, and headache this morning! I gained two pounds and lost three octaves off my hearing, but to end on a positive note, Forget earthquake. I'm talking Multiple Boobquakes, my friends. And the difference between an A cup and a 33C doing The Twist? Night and Day, friend. Night and Day.

Posted by: CoolCzech at November 06, 2011 04:07 AM (niZvt)

165 earthquake? The only one I can remember clearly was when I was little, living in the LA area - it was early in the morning and everything just rattled a bit. I was still in bed, I knew it was an earthquake, I was told to go stand in the doorframe or something, but by time I was awake enough to realize what I was supposed to do, it was over.

Posted by: chemjeff at November 06, 2011 04:09 AM (hy54G)

166 That New Madrid quake changed some state boundary lines and made the Mississippi flow backward. That'll be an ugly one.

But it hasn't been all that long. Have they been able to estimate the period between quakes? With core samples or something?

Yeah they have, long interval - they only happen once every 200 years.

Wait, when was that last one again???

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 06, 2011 04:19 AM (/7hoP)

167 Lots of friends felt it in St. Louis.

I slept through it.

Posted by: nickless at November 06, 2011 04:19 AM (MMC8r)

168

the difference between an A cup and a 33C doing The Twist? Night and Day, friend. Night and Day.

Get yer twist on, sister from another mistah.

Posted by: Note from Herman Cain at November 06, 2011 04:22 AM (8dyY+)

169 Bring me Solo.

Posted by: sTevo at November 06, 2011 04:22 AM (VMcEw)

170 http://imgur.com/gallery/Cll15

Posted by: sTevo at November 06, 2011 04:24 AM (VMcEw)

171 Take Three

Posted by: sTevo at November 06, 2011 04:25 AM (VMcEw)

172 Bring me Solo.

Hope or Han?

Posted by: Rick Rombachcaingrichsman at November 06, 2011 04:30 AM (dtfcw)

173 The only earthquake I'm aware of happened in Tuscaloosa. LSU 9-6. I was very surprised to see such loose shit in the kicking game from a Saban-coached Tide team.

Posted by: Rick Rombachcaingrichsman at November 06, 2011 04:33 AM (dtfcw)

174 There isn't one single standard for a frequency in Hz of an earthquake. There are several different physical features to an earthquake that all vibrate at different frequencies depending on material density, position relative to the surface, etc. Almost all earthquake frequencies are sub-sonic being below 20Hz. Which is probably why animals "hear" or "feel" earthquakes before humans do.

Anyway, no - 3 Hz is not worse than 2 Hz.

Posted by: Teafran at November 06, 2011 04:33 AM (U5IXl)

175

Posted by: sTevo at November 06, 2011 08:25 AM (VMcEw)

Oh man, that's kinda mean. Funny, but mean.

Posted by: chemjeff at November 06, 2011 04:33 AM (hy54G)

176

In MO but from CA (bay area). I slept through it. Hell, I slept through most of them in CA. LOL

The ONLY quake that ever got me off of my butt was the Loma Prieta. It was about 15 seconds long and I just sat there, watching a pendant ceiling lamp sway. I got up and walked into the doorwary at about 13 seconds because it didn't seem to be stopping.

I'd rather deal with quakes rather than tornados. Tornados can literally pop up over your head, or you can spend a long time in the basement, waiting for a cell that is coming to drop the nasty. With a quake, it's over in seconds. You are either dead or you are not. If you are not, you win. If you have a mess to clean up, you do it. I've never even had a mess (but then again, I didn't put a lot of stuff up on walls, either).

Even a tiny tornado can kill you. Tiny quakes won't even wake you up. If you have to ask yourself, 'is that a quake?' then it's nothing.

I have to tell you that a 5.6 under my butt will only generate the 'guess what it is on the 'Richter Scale' game.

I find it interesting that people who don't deal with quakes are so paranoid about it, and they're usually people who deal with much more frequent and dangerous weather issues. Tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, ice storms..things that can last for minutes/hours/days and they act like it's nothing. But have the room quiver for a couple of seconds and it's a big deal.

Posted by: JR at November 06, 2011 04:38 AM (3HAIU)

177 Good News: Starbucks is selling a new bracelet to Help Small Business. To show the banks a thing or two - the money will be lent to small businesses, because evil banks won't. Isn't it ironic the very people that helped foist the new regulations that stop banks from lending then Save the Planet by buying a stupid bracelet so Starbucks can pretend its a bank? Hope they don't violate any new regs, or they'll be sporting steel "bracelets" under the Obama Regime.

Posted by: CoolCzech at November 06, 2011 04:39 AM (niZvt)

178 I blame Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain..

Posted by: Your Papers Please at November 06, 2011 04:39 AM (EL+OC)

179

Btw, if you want to feel more prepared for this sort of thing, there are a lot of CA websites that have earthquake preparedness information. The supplies you need are exactly what you do for a tornado, except adding a wrench duct taped to the wall near your gas shut off.

Keep heavy items off of walls. If you have them on walls, make sure that they're bolted, not just some huge heavy frame with a tiny wire. Put big books on the bottom of bookcases to make them bottom heavy, not top heavy. You can strap heavy furniture so that it doesn't tip. Strap your water heater. Bolt your house to the foundation every 18".

And don't sleep under unreinforced masonry. Don't put bookshelves, mirrors or heavy frames over your beds.

Btw, everything that you do can be done for very cheap (except the foundation bolting, that has to be done by someone with professional skill). You can buy the speciality L brackets or kits, or you can use something like plumber's strapping tape and some screws and do it for pennies.

I have to tell you that as a former CA native, the only thing that turns on my spidey sense in this area is my tendency to do things like not park in nasty old parking garages that I know would take a hit. Old habits die hard, and some just don't die.

Posted by: JR at November 06, 2011 04:49 AM (3HAIU)

180 Yep, 5.6. Right up there with the 5.8 that hit DC this Summer. Hmmm, what hath God wrought? On the bright side, after a couple of events in DC this week, at least we can conclude that God just may not be a Democrat ... http://bit.ly/qVdDUt

Posted by: ombdz at November 06, 2011 04:50 AM (2DpoY)

181 I lived in LA for almost 20 years, and there's a big difference between 5.6 and 6, for sure. I was a mile from Northridge in a third floor apartment during that quake, the local seismograph chart I saw had us at a 9.9. Buttkicking. I still swear I felt Loma Prieta from my first floor pad in Encino, too. I was laying pretty still on the couch, and felt a bit of a rumble. A good friend had just gotten off of 880 when it fell, he was pretty rattled, for sure.

Posted by: Scott P at November 06, 2011 04:57 AM (60Nhd)

182 115 The quake stuff is okay, but we need another topic to sex it up in here. So, has anyone had sex during an earthquake?

Posted by: USA at November 06, 2011 05:00 AM (6Cjut)

183 So, has anyone had sex during an earthquake?

Every time.

Posted by: Ron Jeremy at November 06, 2011 05:03 AM (s7mIC)

184 183 Obama Honors Muslim Holiday, the Festival of Sacrifice? Because, ever since they slaughtered 3,000 of us, Liberals quite simply can't kiss enough Muslim butt.

Posted by: CoolCzech at November 06, 2011 05:09 AM (niZvt)

185 Another 4.0 this morning in Oklahoma.

Posted by: DailyDish at November 06, 2011 05:09 AM (ecVZO)

186
182 So, has anyone had sex during an earthquake?

1982, was having early morning coitus on a couch when we went through a 6.4. I thought it was just enthusiasm when the couch began to move around the room.

Posted by: De' Debil Hisself at November 06, 2011 05:09 AM (lpWVn)

187 So I figure Jimmy Carter would have been about a 7.0 earthquake. Obama would then be about a 7.5.

Posted by: polynikes - Texan for Romney at November 06, 2011 05:10 AM (o/UM0)

188 I am about 10 miles south of the epicenter. We had a plate fall out and break. Where is FEMA ? I blame Bush.

Posted by: 2dogs at November 06, 2011 05:14 AM (T6sxD)

189

Didn't feel it in St. Louis, although many did.

I live in a 62-year-old unreinforced brick home, and St. Louis is built over karst--lots of caves and sinkholes. My hosue is uninsurable for earthquakes, and I'm entirely boned if the New Madrid Fault goes in a big way,

Posted by: Palandine at November 06, 2011 05:20 AM (g7D8V)

Posted by: CoolCzech at November 06, 2011 05:22 AM (niZvt)

191 Because, ever since they slaughtered 3,000 of us, Liberals quite simply can't kiss enough Muslim butt.

Posted by: CoolCzech at November 06, 2011 09:09 AM (niZvt)

If the liberals kiss muslim ass long enough and often enough, they are convinced that they will remove our collective guilt as a rational Constitutionally based society.

Posted by: Hrothgar at November 06, 2011 05:23 AM (i3+c5)

192 I felt it all the way out here in far west Texas.
rdbrewer, check out the Ouachita mountains buried under both you and me. It is a very ancient range that pops up from Scotland to the Appalachians and again near Marathon Texas.
Last night the old man rumbled.

Posted by: Pecos at November 06, 2011 05:28 AM (2Gb0y)

193

Keep heavy items off of walls.

Haven't lived in CA for 24 years, but still don't want a picture frame over the bed!

In 1980, there were three 6.0s and tons of little ones during Memorial Day weekend around Mammoth Lakes, CA. That was exciting, esp. during one of them when I just waking up on a couch under a huge plate glass window, watching a hanging crystal decoration swing and hit the glass harder and harder.

Pretty cool to watch a seismograph during an actual earthquake.

Posted by: Mama AJ at November 06, 2011 05:31 AM (XdlcF)

194 The ones I've experienced in Alaska and Japan were a vibrating rumble building to a concrete flexing finale. I suppose you could say jackhammer frequency.

Posted by: TOF at November 06, 2011 05:32 AM (YeVjL)

195

I felt it all the way out here in far west Texas.

Damn. I'll have to check in with my mom.

If I'd felt anything here (NW LA) last night, I would have assumed it was all the LSU fans jumping up and down in excitement.

Posted by: Mama AJ at November 06, 2011 05:34 AM (XdlcF)

196

We felt it, bigtime.....even though we're about 60 miles west of the 5.6-er. There've been four more since then, in the 4 point to 3 point range.

The 5.6 one seemed to last a long time. Our dog was freaking out right before it happened. .....We got notified last week that our homeowners insurance provider was dropping earthquake coverage, the cocksuckers. Now it's going to be even harder to find some.

Posted by: ConservativeMenAreJustHotter at November 06, 2011 05:38 AM (E13CH)

197 Every quake is different -- different faults slipping in different ways, some deeper some shallower.

I was in the 6.4 Coalinga quake in 1983. Huge, rolling waves. Really weird. (And the dairy cows across the street just stood there, didn't react at all. So much for the animals-see-it-coming theory.) Most other quakes I felt living in Central CA were rumblers, shakers. Obviously, the stronger the quake, and the closer to it you are, the more you'll feel it. But in a particular place, the kind of ground you're standing on and the geology between you and the epicenter can affect the way it feels to you, and the kind of damage it does. Some are wavy, some are back and forth, some just rumble a lot. Sometimes, the damage directly above a deep fault is less than it is many miles away, because the shock waves radiate out, not up. Every quake is unique.

Posted by: Cornfed at November 06, 2011 05:42 AM (GM/o0)

198 Seems like the San Andreas out here went on vacation. I like that. Maybe all those jokes about Cali falling off into the ocean were backwards.

Posted by: CAC at November 06, 2011 05:44 AM (JEVge)

199 If the New Madrid, MO fault ever shakes again like it did in the 1800s, it would be catastrophic. None of you midwesterners have buildings up to earthquake code to handle anything over a 7, much less the 8.0's that struck back then. Meanwhile, here in Los Angeles, everything over 300 feet could probably withstand an 8.5

Posted by: CAC at November 06, 2011 05:46 AM (JEVge)

200 139 - rdbrewer wavelength of ground undulations. Whittier quake in 1988 I think, I was about 10 miles, as the crow flys, from the epicenter. My guess on the ground undulations I witnessed were about 50 feet peak to peak. I was on a private drive at the rear of a hospital when the shaking started. I walked out of my warehouse and watched the asphalt rolling like like the Pacific Ocean on a nice calm morning. Not only did the asphalt roll, but every time a wave passed, the palm trees across the drive swayed with each swell, first left on the upswell then right on the back of the wave. Now that I think about it, the waves actually roled toward the epicenter, not away from it. Also, every time a wave came thru, the car alarms with motion sensors went off with each passing wave. Never forget it.

Posted by: Frito at November 06, 2011 05:46 AM (stL6v)

201

Oh, Coalinga was a bad one.

I lived on the Hayward fault for years. The house would shake when a bus drove by and we'd always feel even a little 2.0 centered a mile or two away.

Posted by: Mama AJ at November 06, 2011 05:48 AM (XdlcF)

202 wtf

Posted by: De' Debil Hisself at November 06, 2011 05:49 AM (lpWVn)

203 Strongest quake I've been through since moving out to Cali was the one in Chino Hills back in 08. Only a 5.5 though.

Posted by: CAC at November 06, 2011 05:50 AM (JEVge)

204 Earthquake in Oklahoma? Nah that was just Rick Perry getting out of bed.

Posted by: izoneguy at November 06, 2011 05:56 AM (i6Neb)

205 Over 5 decades in SoCal, I can say yes, they vary with the same richter scale (jerky vs rolling) - and a 5.0 vs a 4.0 is 10x larger.

Posted by: Weatherman at November 06, 2011 05:58 AM (H1Bk6)

206 Nah that was just Rick Perry's poll numbers colliding with the earth Posted by: izoneguy at November 06, 2011 09:56 AM (i6Neb)

Posted by: CAC at November 06, 2011 05:59 AM (JEVge)

207 I just got up a little while ago and got on FB and everyone was talking about an earthquake and I'm like..whah??? I thought it hit here but apparently it was the Tulsa area, but we are in Kansas City, MO. That's quite distance but several of my friends felt it.

Posted by: jewells45..full of tequila and doesn't give a rats ass at November 06, 2011 06:07 AM (Z71Vg)

208 202139 - rdbrewer wavelength of ground undulations.

Yes, I remember whittier as well. Riding the rolling waves in a parking lot. I also remember the buildings on fire in the distance. I think Whittier was around the 5.9 range.

Posted by: Hamilton Burger at November 06, 2011 06:08 AM (O0co8)

209 Ooops.. leftover sock from the other night.

Posted by: jewells45..teapartyterrorist at November 06, 2011 06:08 AM (Z71Vg)

210 If the midwest is rockin'...

Posted by: nickless at November 06, 2011 06:18 AM (MMC8r)

211 OK Leonard Geophysical report on earthquake

Posted by: LC LaWedgie at November 06, 2011 06:35 AM (m8ARs)

212 About 20 miles from the epicenter of a 5.6 and thought the house had been hit by a truck. Backed up and hit it again.

Posted by: nfield4 at November 06, 2011 06:51 AM (Xkn74)

213 What you have are fractures from when the North American plate tried to fracture, which created the Mississippi River. Those fractures can spread out. Or, they could be older. You've got some on the east coast, like around Charleston, which have been there for, some say, a hundred million years.

Or it could be our old friend Globull Warming. Or Fracking. Or something. Anything but a natural process, because we all know that Mankind is at fault for everything.

Posted by: William Teach at November 06, 2011 07:27 AM (Pq9u/)

214 Los Angeles disaster preparation fairs used to have t-shirts which read "Welcome to Southern California, Some Assembly Required" which had known fault lines known to exist.

While it certainly jacks up the number of earthquakes, it also diffuses the energy over distances. East of the Rockies the North American Plate is very solid and therefore any shock wave travels very long distances, over 1000 miles. Even the worst in CA only travel about 300 miles

Last big one I went through was the Oct 99 quake with the epicenter in the desert near Joshua Tree which was a 7.2. The shaking went one for a good minute. Felt aftershocks for a few weeks

Never felt two earthquakes that were exactly the same

Posted by: kbdabear at November 06, 2011 07:36 AM (Y+DPZ)

215 Probably the most unsettling sound of a quake is when you hear the walls and ceiling squeaking and groaning, like they're coming alive.

After a long one, it unsettles your inner ear so you swear you can still feel the swaying

Posted by: kbdabear at November 06, 2011 07:39 AM (Y+DPZ)

216 CA resident. I was in the Sylmar quake in 1970, on my 5th floor dorm room at LA County nursing school. I'd shut off my alarm for a couple minutes more sleep, and the next thing I knew I was standing in the middle of my room and the whole building was vibrating. That one was a 6.2. I was in the Loma Prieta quake, too, and a number of others here in CA. You get so anything under a 5.5 doesn't scare you. Anything over and it's: "Gee, how about that! Wonder where the epicenter was! I hope the TV didn't fall over!"

Posted by: Lee at November 06, 2011 07:45 AM (FsSFV)

217 my kitchen cupboard doors were tap tap tap tapping for several minutes after the first rattling shocks.

Posted by: Pitt at November 06, 2011 07:48 AM (f7ylG)

218 90 Cool, I have officially lived through an F-4 tornado and now a 5.6 earthquake. I must say however, that the tornado took my house whereas this earthquake only shook it.
Posted by: Samuel Adams at November 06, 2011 01:52 AM

Even a big quake will leave something of your house, and usually you can at least salvage most of your things. A big tornado is far worse if you're in the path, there's nothing left and whatever you had is a few miles northeast of you. I saw The Valley after Northridge and I saw the damage done in Joplin and Tuscaloosa, the latter was far worse.

In California, wildfires are FAR worse and far more frequent than damaging quakes

What I've seen that takes homes and property and leaves little behind is flooding, which a lot of America has had way too much of this year

Posted by: kbdabear at November 06, 2011 08:03 AM (Y+DPZ)

219 When I first moved out to CA I went through a 5.5 a few weeks after and barely realized it. My co-workers showed me a crack in the wall where daylight could be seen and they told me the 1987 Whittier quake did that one

The floors of the building had a lot of bounce to them and a few of my co-workers were very obese. Led to a few embarrassing moments when I stood up in my cubicle and asked if we just had an earthqake

Posted by: kbdabear at November 06, 2011 08:11 AM (Y+DPZ)

220 Yes. Growing up over the Hayward fault in northern CA, they can roll, jolt, rumble, shake or just make the light fixtures sway a bit. I once watched an entire football field turn into green jello. The phrase "Earthquake Weather" also becomes part of your vocabulary.

Posted by: Gromulin at November 06, 2011 08:17 AM (7Zrx4)

221 History of earthquakes in Oklahoma: http://goo.gl/Qa69H

Posted by: OxyCon at November 06, 2011 08:22 AM (gOAdG)

222 Thanks for the linx, Oxycon, LaWedgie.

Posted by: rdbrewer at November 06, 2011 09:23 AM (7EnKU)

223 About 40 miles southeast of Wichita, I didn't even notice the 4.7, but the 5.6 woke me up with my windows rattling. I knew immediately what it was, and just had to smile - reminded me of my 15 years in California.

Posted by: Kansasssssssss at November 06, 2011 09:58 AM (l0QEq)

224 Yes it is an exponential scale, so each number is 10X the previous number. I wonder if this is a sign for a bigger event...that is possible.

Posted by: Joe at November 06, 2011 10:01 AM (AxdeT)

225

"Haven't lived in CA for 24 years, but still don't want a picture frame over the bed!"

LOL, seven years myself and I just can't do it myself, either. Even the posters in the kid's rooms are put up with putty not in frames.

No frame, no decorative shelf. I currently have nothing, but if I did, maybe a dried flower wreath.

Posted by: JR at November 06, 2011 10:18 AM (3HAIU)

226 (I know I'm a bit late to the party here, but.....) we felt it BIG TIME in Tulsa. First one I've ever felt (except for my honeymoon, of course. Ha.) Not an experience I care to repeat!!

Posted by: Beckster at November 06, 2011 10:29 AM (9Vi+X)

227

When comparing Richter scale numbers, just think "10 to the difference".

E.g., 5.0 vs. a 3.0 = 10^(5-3) = 10^2 = 100 times larger.

Same goes when people talk about decibels, but you have to divide the decibel values by 10 first (i.e., convert to bel). So 110 decibels is 10 times louder than 100 decibels.

Posted by: RokShox at November 06, 2011 10:35 AM (pcly4)

228 Any earthquake veterans out there?

Yep. Did the big one in1964. All the others are just a ride.

Posted by: jc at November 06, 2011 11:39 AM (ufJKx)

229

Lots of things affect how you perceive an EQ especially the distance (horizontal and vertical) and the underground conditions between you and the epicenter (other faults can redirect the energy).

The best book on EQ for the non specialist is by John J. Nance called On Shaky Ground http://www.amazon.com/Shaky-Ground-John-J-Nance/dp/0688066488 It's based upon the 1994 Alaska EQ. The first part deals with the effects of this EQ (before, during and after). The rest of the book deals with EQ's in the United States and the last part deals with how you can mitigate the damage.

Posted by: airedale at November 06, 2011 01:55 PM (XnZZF)

230 Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

Posted by: steevy at November 06, 2011 04:13 PM (fyOgS)

231 Some enviroweenies on Facebook are claiming that oil drilling and "fracking" is causing all of these earthquakes. For what it's worth.

Posted by: Damn Sockpuppet at November 07, 2011 01:06 AM (dIHHd)

232

www.genset-china.com

Posted by: christine at November 07, 2011 10:33 PM (ow0gJ)

233 www.parts-machining.com

Posted by: bsdbsn at November 07, 2011 10:52 PM (ow0gJ)

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