Nothing on the Earthquakes?

[rokdog49]

I was a bit surprised nothing has been posted on this as of yet so I decided to.
People are genuinely scared out there. I don't blame them.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by rokdog49

I was a bit surprised nothing has been posted on this as of yet so I decided to.
People are genuinely scared out there. I don't blame them.

After checking in with relatives and friends, I'd say some people are genuinely scared. Cousins who've spent 6+ decades there said it's reality they know. A younger friend who is an earth science researcher at CalTech said it's risk he understood when he moved to California, and reminded that it's lower risk than many things that don't scare us but maybe should.

[Blueser100]

We felt both big ones but in our location 130 miles south of them, it was a long slow rolling motion. If you have the QuakeFeed app you can see thousands of aftershocks in the same area. It’s a small desert community there but there is a lot of damage and disruption. No injuries thank goodness. Even so, the quakes were felt all over southern Ca and even Vegas.

[Joseph Hanna]

The 7.1 Friday really unsettled me and I’ve been through a ton of earthquakes. I think most will tell you there’s basically two types of quakes. One is a violent shaking and bouncing. The Northridge quake was that and disturbingly loud as well. The second type is the rolling, swaying type.

Friday rolled and swayed for what seemed like an eternity. It wasn’t more than 45 seconds but in an earthquake that’s bordering on an eternity. Your brain can’t reconcile what’s goin’ on. I stood up, went to take a step but where I thought my foot should go seemed to move. It didn’t of course it was just my brain trying to figure out what was happening. It’s an experience impossible to properly describe to someone who hasn’t been through it. It’s like the entire earth is moving. No place to hide and you’re along for the ride like it or not.

I remember after the Northridge quake people actually pulling up stakes and moving out of California for fear of facing another. I remember a newscaster, on air, saying i’ve had enough and I’m outta here. This quake wasn’t as bad as Northridge but it brought back big quakes to SoCal and memories. It definitely gets into your head.

[chistrummer]

Talked to friends and relatives in so cal and they said the 7.1 was really something. Apparently large aftershock are expected throughout the week.

[Blueser100]

Originally Posted by Joseph Hanna

The 7.1 Friday really unsettled me and I’ve been through a ton of earthquakes. I think most will tell you there’s basically two types of quakes. One is a violent shaking and bouncing. The Northridge quake was that and disturbingly loud as well. The second type is the rolling, swaying type.

Friday rolled and swayed for what seemed like an eternity. It wasn’t more than 45 seconds but in an earthquake that’s bordering on an eternity. Your brain can’t reconcile what’s goin’ on. I stood up, went to take a step but where I thought my foot should go seemed to move. It didn’t of course it was just my brain trying to figure out what was happening. It’s an experience impossible to properly describe to someone who hasn’t been through it. It’s like the entire earth is moving. No place to hide and you’re along for the ride like it or not.

I remember after the Northridge quake people actually pulling up stakes and moving out of California for fear of facing another. I remember a newscaster, on air, saying i’ve had enough and I’m outta here. This quake wasn’t as bad as Northridge but it brought back big quakes to SoCal and memories. It definitely gets into your head.

It seems like newscasters dive under desks when they feel like their safety is at stake. The famous one was Kent Shocknek, from Channel 4 KNBC, who dove under his desk when the shaking got bad and lights were swinging. It's memorable because we hadn't seen any reporter do that, and unfortunately, he was made fun of for a long time. I think it was the 1987 Loma Prieta quake because I was in Orange County then and saw it on TV.

I am quite a ways east of you and much closer to the San Andreas than Topanga.

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by Blueser100

It seems like newscasters dive under desks when they feel like their safety is at stake. The famous one was Kent Shocknek, from Channel 4 KNBC, who dove under his desk when the shaking got bad and lights were swinging. It's memorable because we hadn't seen any reporter do that, and unfortunately, he was made fun of for a long time. I think it was the 1987 Loma Prieta quake because I was in Orange County then and saw it on TV.

I am quite a ways east of you and much closer to the San Andreas than Topanga.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiB7ny52-xw

I was in Studio City for this one and the epicenter was Sherman Oaks and it was a shallow quake. It was brief but violent. Made a ridiculous noise.

[Dirk Hofman]

Good that it was in a relatively unpopulated area. Personally I’ve been in 4 quakes over 7.0, 3 in Humboldt County (also sparsely populated) and one in Seattle. They can be scary for sure but I’ll take em over tornados and hurricanes, which seem to happen with some greater frequency, though certainly easier to predict and avoid.

[Pura Vida]

What Dirk said. We were at our house in Costa Rica, so we missed the latest activity, but the 6.4 and 7.1 were felt all the up to our neighborhood in Sacramento (400 miles north). There was some activity in CR too... a 4.7 that I slept through, 6.2 to our south (didn't feel that one either), and a 5.5 that struck this weekend (right after we flew home).

The biggest one I felt was a 7.3, again in Costa Rica. The epicenter was 150+ miles NW of us and offshore, but it shook our condo for 15-20 seconds. My wife thought someone was shaking the bed until she realized she had fallen asleep in our son's room, and he was fast asleep. I was in our LR reading, when the balcony windows began rattling.

[Silly Moustache]

Hi, I heard that the centre was at/in Ridgcrest? We stayed there one night, after driving from Sacramento in October 2005.

I have friends in San Francisco - that I haven't heard from. Would they have been affected ?

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by Dirk Hofman

Good that it was in a relatively unpopulated area. Personally I’ve been in 4 quakes over 7.0, 3 in Humboldt County (also sparsely populated) and one in Seattle. They can be scary for sure but I’ll take em over tornados and hurricanes, which seem to happen with some greater frequency, though certainly easier to predict and avoid.

I've been following news on preparedness, building codes, and first responder capacity or capabilities. It's been hard to forget after the freak up to 15.33 inches of rain in 24 hours that happened here 11 months ago.

In 2006-2008 I was on a city council committee and sided with some leaders who didn't grow up around here on the importance of being proactive and planning. Our council president grew up in the south, and our mayor in India. Well, 11 months ago we had crazy flooding still not repaired or resolved and a month later we had an active shooter 5 blocks from home. Was I ever glad I supported all we did to improve our city's readiness.

You want that readiness because even our exceptionally well run city with a good FEMA claim is not going to have recovery without much of it on our dime. Every community needs to be very proactive well ahead of time if the residents expect a reasonable outcome after a disaster.

Also, be good neighbors. Some people got strange and vigilante in a hurry and others worked together. The disasters are too much for one person to think they can handle it. I have to think that would apply whether a tornado, fires, floods or an earthquake.

[jalbert]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

I have friends in San Francisco - that I haven't heard from. Would they have been affected ?

Probably not: M 7.1 - 18km W of Searles Valley, CA

[Earl49]

FWIW I was in downtown SF during the 1989 Loma Prieta 6.9 earthquake (aka the World Series quake). We had 15 seconds of violent shaking followed by about 90 seconds of slow rolling motion. The degree of damage depended heavily on where you were. Buildings located on bedrock had mostly superficial damage, while buildings and freeways sitting on mud and landfill experienced liquefaction (the soil turns to Jello) and therefore serious damage and/or total destruction.

I never had earthquake insurance on my home in Northern California, but got it immediately when we moved to Alaska. The recent 7.1 that hit Anchorage last November did relatively little damage in Anchorage itself. But outlying suburbs and the next county that had not enforced the same strict building codes saw significant problems and are still dealing with it.

[Blueser100]

I'd be curious to know people's decisions about/experiences with getting earthquake insurance. I get quotes every now and then from my insurer but the deductible is 20%. Not a small amount of money for property in CA. There is the California Earthquake Authority but my private insurer is trying to steer me away from them...anyone have insights here?

[Cypress Knee]

Originally Posted by Blueser100

I'd be curious to know people's decisions about/experiences with getting earthquake insurance. I get quotes every now and then from my insurer but the deductible is 20%. Not a small amount of money for property in CA. There is the California Earthquake Authority but my private insurer is trying to steer me away from them...anyone have insights here?

We use USAA. Their coverage is for the expected replacement cost of the dwelling, not the current market value.

CK