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Post by nikeajax on Aug 24, 2014 8:37:03 GMT -8
We're fine in the East Bay, but Napa, American Canyon actually, was hit with a 6.1 EQ this morning: my Mother in law lives there so we get to drive up today... well we're going to try anyway! The Loma Prieta in 1989 was a 7.1, so I'm trying wrap my mind around that--SIGH!
Jaybird
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Post by duckbill on Aug 24, 2014 14:34:05 GMT -8
Wow! My wife told me about the earthquake. No one around this area felt it. At least no one has mentioned noticing it. I hope your mother-in-law is O.K., and her property.
The Richter magnitude scale is exponential. 7.1 is about ten times stronger than a 6.1, but still, 6.1 is plenty strong! Also, I thought Loma Prieta was listed as a 6.9, so 6.1 isn't as far off from that.
Best wishes on your trip up there.
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Post by SeaRat on Aug 24, 2014 15:06:53 GMT -8
Same here, Jaybird; we're thinking about you, your trip and your Mother-in-Law.
John
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Post by nikeajax on Aug 24, 2014 16:07:33 GMT -8
UFF-DA! Books everywhere, broken dishes and glass strewn about, but as of 5:00 PM we're ship shape! We got power at about 3:00 PM. The peer holding up the the front porch has shifted about six-inches, spooky...
I woke up just before I felt our house rock for a good eight to ten seconds: I was thinking to myself shortly after, "HUH, that was a long one, musta been far away, as something that long is always VERY strong.
Never say die,
Jaybird
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Post by diverdon on Aug 25, 2014 5:13:58 GMT -8
Good to hear everyone I OK. We don't get anything like that around here. I'll take snow and ice anyday.
Take care my friend!
Don
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Aug 25, 2014 9:02:14 GMT -8
UFF-DA! Books everywhere, broken dishes and glass strewn about, but as of 5:00 PM we're ship shape! Never say die, Jaybird Ditto delight that you're all OK! I've been twice to Japan and three times to San Francisco, never experiencing even the smallest tremor when I was there, although I was fascinated by the instructions in the San Francisco Telephone Directory in my hotel room telling me what to do in the case of an earthquake. HOWEVER, I had a strange experience once many years ago when I was on a residential course for British teachers of German with accommodation in a Schloss (castle) outside Bonn, the then capital of the Federal Republic before German reunification. Our party arrived quite late from the UK on the first day and after our evening meal we retired to bed. At two o'clock in the morning I woke up and felt my bed shaking. I was immediately convinced the castle was haunted and did what any adult male might do in the circumstances: I pulled the quilt over my head and tried to fall asleep again. The following morning all the Brits were very quiet until one of them spoke up and said: "I had the weirdest dream last night..." When we went out for a walk after breakfast, we saw broken roof tiles strewn down the street and the locals were all agog about there having been an "Erdbeben", an "earthquake" to you. The following day we read the newspapers and discovered that the earthquake's epicentre had been in the Netherlands of all places. The one-minute quake was frightening at the time because it was the first (and still the only) earthquake I've ever experienced. Apparently, they aren't uncommon in Europe, but they're usually imperceptible. David |
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Post by nikeajax on Aug 25, 2014 9:53:10 GMT -8
David, most folks living in the mid-US are under the extremely false impression that they are immune from EQ's, please read this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Madrid_Seismic_ZoneWhen the New Madrid fault fails, it does it in grand fashion: evidently, at one point it caused the Mississippi River to run backward--GASP! I'm very fascinated by EQ's, as well as volcanoes, nature in general, most people think of them as destructive, but in reality, they are what shapes the world. I can't wait to get home, I miss my cat and my bed! Jaybird |
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Post by diverdon on Aug 25, 2014 10:46:06 GMT -8
May you enjoy the company of both very soon!
DD
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Post by duckbill on Aug 25, 2014 11:01:28 GMT -8
Glad everything is O.K., Jaybird. I lost some stuff in the Loma Prieta quake, fairly minor though. What a ride that one was!
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Post by SeaRat on Aug 25, 2014 11:58:38 GMT -8
Since we are talking about earthquakes, we being divers should also talk about tsunami's. In Oregon, we have a potential for a magnatude 9 earthquake, a subduction zone earthquake. The last one occurred in the year 1700, in January, which we know because of an "orphan tsunami" which hit Japan that year (we know the day it occurred). The Oregon Department of Geology has put together an Tsunami Information Clearing House, which we as divers should understand. One thing to consider is that in a tsunami, we don't have a normal wave. What a tsunami wave consists of is a wave front, with a half-mile or mile long (many kilometers long) wavelength. This means that it is really more like a fifteen foot river headed for the coast, rather than a "wave." To get an idea of what this looks like, take a look at this video of the Thailand tsunami: When the "tide" goes out like that, it's time to seek high ground! John |
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Post by nikeajax on Aug 25, 2014 13:23:46 GMT -8
WOW, that was really creepy watching that person disappear in the wave! Evidently "tsunami" means "harbor wave" in Japanese, and I've heard that the waves created from this term originated at an underwater fault off the coast of northern California, and I can't remember the name right now  A lot of tsunamis went back and forth between Japan and the west coast of the US, but most of them were before this area was colonized by Europeans. So, if you ever see the "tide" (it's not actually tidal) go out really fast and far, run, get out of the area, the further the better: the water will water will literally disappear anywhere from 1/4-mile to over one mile! Also, in an EQ, NEVER ever go out side: hide under a table, and NOT in a doorway as they used to do: doors can and have become Guillotines! Jaybird |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2014 13:35:15 GMT -8
My wife told me there were two more on the pacific coast line.....one south of Lima Peru at 5pm yesterday and one in Chile yesterday.....don't know the time of that one........both a 6+.......the whole pacific plate apparently was moving a tad.
I experience one little 30 second shaker in Lima Peru in Jan 2013........did not make me happy....first one and I hope my last one.......prefer facing a Texas Tornado to that. No place to hide in a shaker.
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Post by duckbill on Aug 25, 2014 14:55:47 GMT -8
....prefer facing a Texas Tornado to that. No place to hide in a shaker. You know, it's funny. A long time ago I was working with a guy who had moved here from Florida (I knew there was something wrong with him after that;-). He was really concerned about earthquakes. I was born and raised in prime earthquake country, the San Francisco peninsula, and up to that time had never been through even a relatively strong earthquake. We got earthquakes a couple times a year, but just tremblers that shook you up a little and made your house creak, nothing more. I asked him, what about Florida, though, and all your hurricanes? He said hurricanes are usually not a big deal. Once every great while a really big one comes through, but it's rare. He said that a hurricane had just gone through Florida, and the news in the Bay Area made it out to be a big deal, so he called relatives still in Florida who told him it was just a normal hurrincane, nothing unusual. We concluded that the media is responsible for hyping the stories for reading sensation. When we hear of hurricanes and tornadoes we gasp, "Oh, my! I'm so glad I don't live in THAT part of the country!" When they (you) hear about our earthquakes out here, you probably say the same thing. And though sometimes the big ones do happen on rare occasion, whether hurricane, tornado or earthquake, the vast majority are really no big deal to those who live with them. (Well, unless your house is one a tornado happens to hit, that is!) Just to clarify, though, 6.1 is a lot bigger than our "average" trembler. |
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Post by nikeajax on Aug 25, 2014 16:12:00 GMT -8
DB, I've seen conflicting sources, some say the Loma Prieta was 6.9, whereas others say 7.1. Funny, they don't know the magnitude of the SF EQ of 1906, as the Richter Scale had yet to be invented: some say 7.7, to as high as 8.25. When I first checked, they said that the Napa quake was a 6.1, now they say 6, HMMMMMM!
EQ's feel so much longer than they actually are, like falling off a ladder, time both stands still and rushes by: I've heard people swear that the Loma Prieta EQ was two minutes... that time frame would have been complete and total destruction. Wikipedia says that the 1906 EQ lasted about 42-seconds, that was felt in Oregon!
I agree, it's all relative and what you are used to, and being a California boy, I'll take an EQ!
Jaybird
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A lot of tsunamis went back and forth between Japan and the west coast of the US, but most of them were before this area was colonized by Europeans.
