I hate earthquakes

[alessandro]

Originally Posted by Saint Vitus

Or maybe not:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...really-big-one

Originally Posted by fa63

Yeah, the Pacific Northwest has a subduction zone off the coast which is capable of creating a far larger earthquake (in magnitude) then the strike-slip ones in CA.

But maybe MattTuck meant he should pack up and move to the East Coast. You want to stay away from Charleston and its vicinity; FL is very safe when it comes to earthquakes (but sucks for pretty much everything else); where we are in Atlanta is pretty good too, plus we have hills and mountains and don't get hurricanes (but we get the rare tornado).

Originally Posted by Saint Vitus

Yeah no doubt, I mostly posted that link for my neighbors in the NW as well as the fact that it was something I'd read very recently so it was fresh on the mind. I'm in San Diego, our fault zones seem to be fairly mild (like the weather...) in comparison to SF or even LA.

That New Yorker piece is mind-blowing, because of the potential for destruction and loss of life far greater than anything we've seen in recent history, because the existence of this subduction zone was unknown 45 years ago (and its ability to cause earthquakes was unknown 30 years ago), and because of the way that article builds to a crescendo.

Kenneth Murphy, who directs FEMA's Region X, the division responsible for Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska, says, "Our operating assumption is that everything west of Interstate 5 will be toast."

[froze]

I use to live in So California and went through a lot of quakes, got to the point it was just something that happened and never worried about them. I even went through the Northridge Eq, nothing got destroyed from the actual shock except for some glassware, it was a power outage and restart surge during a major aftershock that killed everything electronic in the house; which was ok, it gave me an excuse to buy a new stereo and other stuff with my wife's ok!

As crazy as this sounds but I would rather deal with eq's then hearing tornado sirens going off and TV warnings because those put fear into a person before the tornado hits. With a EQ you don't get a warning thus no fear, it's just WHAM then it's done and time to clean up.

[SeanScott]

I was visiting SF with the family for the week and stayed on the 20th floor.
That little quake scared us pretty good.

On a side note I was very impressed with the skills of the local cyclists. That is a crazy town to ride in! There are so many hazards to be aware of from all directions.

[jbf]

I remember my life in LA, and there were plenty of quakes. Always early in the morning, don't know why. Moved to NYC/CT - no earth quakes for 18 years. It's hard to remember how scary they are.

[jkbrwn]

Just hit by my first earthquake since moving to Los Angeles in February. 4.8 magnitude about 8 miles from home. That was WILD. Real shaking came and went in less than 10 seconds. Could feel some vibrations for maybe another 10 seconds.

Dang. Didn’t love that.

[dgauthier]

Yes, earthquakes. Just what we need right now. As if life's not full enough with coronavirus and wildfires...

[barnabyjones]

Originally Posted by jkbrwn

Just hit by my first earthquake since moving to Los Angeles in February. 4.8 magnitude about 8 miles from home. That was WILD. Real shaking came and went in less than 10 seconds. Could feel some vibrations for maybe another 10 seconds.

Dang. Didn’t love that.

The Northridge quake caused billions in damage and resulted in almost every freeway bridge and overpass being reinforced. Some parts of the valley looked as if they had been hit by a bomb. Tens of thousands of people were temporarily homeless. That was a 6.7. The Big One is predicted to be an 8 plus. Can I take your place in the UK?

[colker]

Originally Posted by Elefantino

Had a 4.0 quake a little less than an hour ago, epicenter just up the street. Literally. We're on the top floor of a condo so we got a pretty good jolt.

Nothing broken, but the CSI did fall over. No damage, thankfully.

Have been through too many earthquakes to count, including Loma Prieta, Mexico City, Oroville, Livermore ...

Having been through enough of them, give me hurricanes any day.

Tell me about it. Half my life is in Mexico.
Last time i got a call from the wife telling me not to worry and she was safe . I had no idea a massive quake hit DF w/ buildings collapsing all over. She was on the road close to town and suddenly lamp posts and massive structures began to move right there on the highway. She turned the car around and headed back to the country.

[PTinz]

Hate ‘em too.....lived in Japan in 2011 for that March 11, 9.0.....and in The Anchorage area in 2018, when the 6.0 one struck on 1 NOV-that one was 5 miles from the house and a mile deep, and it was immediately full strength, not a build up like others i have experienced. Been there, done that, no more thank you very much!

[tmf]

I had just moved to the SF Bay area in late September '89 for my first job out of college. On Oct. 17, I was mountain biking in the east bay hills behind Berkeley when the Loma Prieta earthquake hit at 5:04pm (the one that hit during the across the Giants/A's world series). I didn't feel a thing from the earthquake - everything just felt like a normal mtb ride. I'm guessing I was probably bombing downhill and didn't notice the extra shaking/vibration. This was a 6.9/7.2 magnitude.

I remember seeing a column of smoke from the SF Marina and a smaller fire around the UC campus in Berkeley. I thought to myself "wow, someone must have started a fire in San Francisco then came and started one in Berkeley". Not a serious thought - just a fleeting one. After riding, I stopped at a pizza place in Berkeley for a couple of slices. Saw a guy in line listening to a radio pressed to his ear, but figured he was just keeping up with the ballgame. It was so weird looking back at this - everyone was completely normal and that radio was my only clue something was going on but I didn't pick up on it. In my car heading home it was about 7:30-8:00, I was picking up some very concerned strange talk on the radio. Someone said something about the Bay bridge collapsing, etc. The exact second I realized what happened, the street I was driving on went total pitch black - the power was out and all the street lights in that area were out. Total Twilight Zone moment!!

I figured I was one of the last people in the country to know about the earthquake (about 3 hours had passed), and I was right there.

[d_douglas]

It’s a bit weird, but I am Fascinated by both earthquakes and tsunamis and yes, I live in the PNW. The impact of these events is so varied...

[verticaldoug]

I think the water is far more frightening. Whether is is heavy rains from a hurricane when it hits the mountains like Irene did in Vermont in 2011, Harvey in Houston and Katrina in New Orleans, or the effing Tsunami like the 2004 Indian Ocean and 2011 Tohoku Tsunami both caused by offshore earthquakes, these are by far the most destructive.

The fact the tsunami can get you from an earthquake 100's of miles away, you may have no time to prepare. This seems the worse to me.

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by bikeridah

Having grown up in the SF Bay area, I've been through a few myself and would trade a 5-8 second quake over a 3-month winter here in the NE any day of the week.

Well, thanks to global warming, 3 month winters in New England don't warrant mounting snow tires any more. I still do, out of habit, but can't remember the last time I drove in real snow. Maybe the snowmageddon of 2015.

[Sawas]

Yeah, the one here in SoCal in the middle of the night was crazy. Starting to remind me of the quake decade we had in the 90s.

[Elefantino]

The OP is happily ensconced away from earthquake country.