M 6.4 Ferndale, CA

[nikeajax]

Huh! Something woke me up this morning, I guess it startled my cats too, because one of them was being super vocal at around 2:30: I didn't know what it was until after 11:00 AM. It was a strong earthquake measuring magnitude 6.4 about 200-miles north of the Bay Area, this is around where Charlie is too:

earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc73821036/executive

To try and put things into context, the 1989 Loma Prieta EQ was a 6.9:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Loma_Prieta_earthquake

and the 1906 San Francisco EQ was an estimated 7.9:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_San_Francisco_earthquake

Anyways

JB

[SeaRat]

Jaybird,

Not to downplay this quake, but you cannot compare the numbers on the Richter Scale, as it is a logarithmic scale.





As you can see, the amount of energy released is not a flat line. I hope no one died in this one.

John

[nikeajax]

Dec 20, 2022 12:02:13 GMT -8 SeaRat said:

Not to downplay this quake, but you cannot compare the numbers on the Richter Scale, as it is a logarithmic scale.

John

John, as someone who has gone through literally hundreds of earthquakes, I have to argue that yes you can. If you wish to get technical, that's why it is a scale, so that you can compare them. I can usually judge/gauge, with fair accuracy too, their magnitude when I experience them, not unlike guessing/estimating the speed of a car/vehicle that goes past me.

That said, the only reason why I mentioned the two EQ's was so that people unfamiliar with them might understand better: it's not as if I was saying that the 6.4 in Ferndale was the same as the 9.5 Chilean in 1960: one was kinda bad, whereas the other was total devastation where reinforced structures fail completely.


JB

[SeaRat]

This quake is deadly:

(NEXSTAR) – Two people were killed and a dozen were injured after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake shook parts of Northern California early Tuesday.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the fatalities and injuries Tuesday afternoon in a statement sent to Nexstar’s KRON. The two people who died in Tuesday’s earthquake were identified as a 72-year-old and an 83-year-old who did not get timely medical care, law enforcement officials revealed during a news conference. The number of people who have officially been reported as injured has been raised from 11 to 12 as well.

The earthquake occurred at 2:34 a.m. near Ferndale, a small community about 210 miles northwest of San Francisco and close to the Pacific coast.

“Due to a large earthquake, widespread damages to roads and homes are reported throughout Humboldt County,” tweeted the county’s Office of Emergency Services.

Fernbridge, a bridge crossing over the Eel River that connects Ferndale with Highway 101, was closed and being inspected for seismic damage, Caltrans said.

Caroline Titus, a resident of Ferndale, tweeted video in her darkened home of toppled furniture and smashed dishes.

“Our home is a 140-year-old Victorian. The north/south shaking is very evident in what fell,” she tweeted.

“That was a big one,” she said in another tweet.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office said on Twitter that no tsunami was expected.

he earthquake came just days after a small magnitude 3.6 earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay Area, waking up thousands of people before 4 a.m. Saturday and causing minor damage.

Tuesday’s 6.4-magnitude quake also came exactly one year after another strong earthquake shook the same area. On Dec. 20, 2021, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake centered offshore of far Northern California was felt in Humboldt County. The 2021 quake did not cause any injuries or major damage, Reuters reported.

That earthquake was centered in El Cerrito, about a 16-mile drive to downtown San Francisco.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

John

[nikeajax]

YIKES! 8:34 AM just had a temblor, I'm guessing a Mag-4... Give me a while to collect USGS data... I was just reading Phil and John's HW DH thread, when WHUMP!

JB

[nikeajax]

earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc73822566/map

OK, it was a 3.1, BUT, it was 1/4-mile from us due east, so that made it feel extra sharp...

JB

[nikeajax]

Looking here:

earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/?currentFeatureId=nc73822556&extent=5.61599,-154.77539&extent=61.05829,-35.24414

You can see that it was just about the same time as Hydesville/Ferndale was having one--GULP!

JB

[cnotthoff]

Nice to hear you're all worried about me. 6.4 shook us pretty good, but did no major damage at our house. Our son lives closer to the epicenter and lost most of his dishes. No injuries, just stuff to cleanup.
I had to dive yesterday morning. Things were very quiet and dark as I headed to Eureka to catch a morning tide. Power came back on last evening.

Good Dives,
Charlie

[nikeajax]

Charlie, thank you for checking in with us!!!!!!!!!!!!

JB

[vance]

Yes, thankful you're ok, Charlie!

[cnotthoff]

It was all too much for me. I bailed at went to Monterey.
Seriously, it's Christmas with the family time. No diving planned this week.

Good Dives,
Charlie

[nikeajax]

Charlie, I can totally relate: after the 1989 Loma Prieta EQ, we were having who knows how many strong aftershocks. The initial quake was bad enough, but I was developing post-traumatic-stress and flinching at everything...

JB

[cnotthoff]

Jay,

Really I'm fine. Trip to Monterey was planned months ago. The only PTSD I have is because the power was out, so our heated toilet seat was cold.

Good Dives,
Charlie

[nikeajax]

John, I've been geekin' out on EQ stuff, and thought I'd share this with you



Enjoy!

JB

[cnotthoff]

Since there seems to be a lot of interest in the science of earthquakes, I thought I'd link this interview with my friend Lori Dengler.

lostcoastoutpost.com/2022/dec/31/econews-report-californias-third-shakiest-earthqua/