What's it like to experience an earthquake?

[bobthedrummer]

I live in Wisconsin where we have many tornados.
I was wondering what DUers may have experienced during an earthquake?
Are there warning signs?
I know that pets and animals seem aware of approaching tornados, they act very strangely beforehand-does that happen with earthquakes too?

Anyone here have an earthquake story to tell?

[DrWeird]

1. I was in one once.

It was only a 5.0, but on really muddy ground, which is much worse than solid ground, for an earthquake.

You know when you're driving along and you go over a small hill too fast and your stomach flips and your head feels light?

It was kind of like that. And then everything started shaking horizontally.

No warnings. And the whole animal thing is just an old wives tale.

[geniph]

2. At first, they sound like a big truck backing into the building

then the rumble grows and the floor starts to ripple. In a car, they feel really weird, like you're throwing a rod or losing a tire or something. Small ones when you're sleeping are akin to having a big dog suddenly jump on the bed. The really big ones sound like the end of the world - they make an amazing amount of noise, huge trees whip around like matchsticks, and the visible rippling of sidewalks and roadways is a sight to behold.

I've been through two big quakes and innumerable small ones. Most are over very quickly. The instinct to run outside - even when you're safer inside - is almost overwhelming.

When Mt. St. Helens blew in 1980, I thought that was an earthquake, because where I was that day was very near the mountain. It sounded and felt like a quake.

[nini]

3. I was in my car once waiting for school to start..

and I thought someone was jumping on my back bumper.. turned around and no one there! Then I noticed the lamp poles starting to sway. But it stopped fairly quickly.

They can feel anything from a soft rolling motion to quick violent shaking. The rolly ones are much easier on the nerves.

No warning signs unless your animals start acting weird, but you don't realize what it is until it happends.

I've only gotten out of bed once in the last 30 years of an earthquake. that was the Northridge quake and I thought it was the 'big one' we're waiting for.

[NoPasaran]

4. Why?

Did the earth move for you too?

[Coventina]

5. It sort of feels like the ground is rolling like water.

At least, the one I was in felt like that.
Very disturbing.

[MsUnderstood]

6. it is like being shook awake by a giant. . .

At least that is what my last earthquake felt like (I was sleeping).

[Hoosier Democrat]

7. We had one here in INDIANA

About 15 years ago, we had a small earthquake here in Northern Indiana. It only lasted about 20 seconds, with a slight shaking and some pictures on the wall rattling a little. Still, it was kinda freaky since we don't generally think of Idiana as an earthquake zone.

[GOPisEvil]

8. I actually slept through a 4.9 in an LA highrise hotel.

Never felt a thing. I had to watch the news the following morning to learn I'd been in an earthquake.

[Bertha Venation]

9. Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! I'm a Southern California native!

I'll give you two stories.

The first big one I remember, the Sylmar earthquake, was on my mother's 30th birthday: Feb. 9, 1971. The epicenter was about 70 miles from our house, but it was a big one (can't remember the scale at the moment). It killed over 60 people.

It hit at the crack of dawn, as most of the big ones in my memory seem to have done. I was 7 (almost 8) years old, I shared a room with my younger sister. The shaking woke me, and I saw the big swag lamp swaying and hitting the walls. My younger sister woke up and said, "Kim, quit shaking my bed." Then my mother appeared in the doorway and stayed there to calm us until it was over.

The Northridge quake was bigger, scarier, and oh. my. god. fuck. whenisitgoingtobeover?!! God damn, that earthquake scared me more than any other. It was before dawn. I woke & felt a little shake, sat up in bed and turned on the light -- and oh, my god, here it comes. The four corners of my bedroom moved independently of each other. I thought the front wall of the house was going to fall off.

And the aftershocks were terrifying. They were big, and they came for days. Around 60 people died in that one, too.

The BIG earthquakes I can remember being in, off the top of my head:

Sylmar '71
Whittier Narrows '87
Landers/Big Bear '92
Northridge '93
Hector Mine '00

The years are right -- I think. I'm sure someone will correct me; I haven't time to look 'em up.

Ask me anything, Bob!

Oh: warning sounds, sometimes: if you're familiar with your house, you can hear it shift. In one earthquake, the outside steel & stone staircase affixed to the apartment made a squeaking, vibrating noise, and I looked at my roommate and said "earthquake's coming;" she laughed, then it started shaking.

[bobthedrummer]

14. "The four corners of my bedroom moved independently of each other"

Holy shit!

[Bertha Venation]

29. Heheh. Yeah.

Holy shit. Honey, you don't need to experience one. You've got the lingo down pat.

[jeter]

73. I have experienced three

One was no biggy. I was laying in bed and like the poster above said it felt like my dog jumped up on it. But my dog was not there. It wasn't until I saw on the news that we had an earthquake did I realize.

The second one I was on a bus and didn't really feel it too badly. Although others did. I guess I just thought we hit something.

The third, I was pissed drunk and I thought a truck hit my apartment building. At first everything all at once started making sounds and the vibrations last several seconds. It took me a few minutes to realize that it was an EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was kind of cool though.

[catzies]

15. Northridge was 1994. I'm positive.

Where were you for that one?

(And I know, you were in bed, we all were, it was 4:30 in the morning!) :silly:

[GOPisEvil]

17. Northridge was 1994. I visited CA for the first time (as an adult) in '94.

[Bertha Venation]

19. yep, you're both right. my bad

Landers/Big Bear was 93, Northridge 94. Bad Californian! Bad!

[pmbryant]

45. Hate to tell you, but...

Landers/Big Bear was 1992. :evilgrin:

I have a story about that one I posted below.

I missed the Northridge quake, because I was 250 miles north of LA near Bishop. Oddly, the Northridge quake knocked out power where I was, and the lack of air conditioning woke me up right after it happened at 4:30 in the morning.

The highway I used to drive up to where I was collapsed in that quake, so I had to take the long way home a few days later.

Peter

[Bertha Venation]

47. Damn! What am I thinking of then? . . . I SUCK!

Maybe I'm thinking of the Kobe earthquake, which was exactly one year -- before or after? the Northridge quake.

Glad you missed Northridge. I'll bet you got in on some of the aftershocks.

[lolly]

64. Kobe story, sort of

Kobe was exactly 1 year after Northridge--I remember b/c I was in the audience at Cal State Northridge when Clinton came to speak for the ceremony re-opening their library. Kept my 2 girls out of school to see him. There were 1000's of people there--and the crowd got within feet of him. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time to get a handshake, but I did get some pix!

Anyway, the Kobe quake overshadowed the ceremony a bit--we had a moment of silence for the victims. It was much worse than Northridge's--several hundred people died, if I remember correctly.

Also, one of my students was from Kobe--she took a week off to go home to be with her family.

[Art_from_Ark]

76. The death toll from Kobe was over 6000

Japanese TV showed live pictures of fires all over the city. It was surreal.

[Bertha Venation]

20. Lakewood. You? eom

[catzies]

33. Ventura. When the transformers blew out and the power was gone

We were all standing outside (4:30 AM) and all of a sudden BAM! the stars showed up. It was as if God turned the lights on. I marveled at that for half a second until my boyfriend brought me back to reality with a jolt. "Man, if that was centered in San Francisco," he said "It's probably gone."

[Bertha Venation]

49. I'm obviously a dunce, this thread has proven that -- now I can't follow

your timeline. Am I right: the quake scared you of of the house -- normal, common -- and then after you'd been out there for a while, the power went out?

Or were you just partying really, really late?

Your boyfriend's comment.... god, what a horrible thought: to experience that kind if earthquake in Ventura and wonder if it was centered in San Francisco?! Jesus.

[alwynsw]

82. You're not a dunce. You just have CRS.

It's a common affliction in the alwynsw household.

[Snow]

27. My sister wasn't in bed, she was out in the Mojave somewhere

working on a movie (the life of an AD) - they felt it out there, and they could see the flares on the horizon from the fires. It was pretty daggone scary from that particular scenic overlook.

[alwynsw]

80. The four corners of my bedroom moved independently of each other.

Been there, but it wasn't an earthquake. Mrs. alwynsw was kinda feisty last night.

I did get to experience the nasty one in CA in '89. Just my luck I was in Walnut Creek when it hit.

The area where I grew up in western Kentucky gets a ton of activity - a couple hundred a year - but they're generally not too bad. I'm just waiting for the big one. The last REALLY big one here was in 1812. It made the Mississippi run backwards for 12 hours and knocked stuff off shelves as far away as Manhattan. John James Audubon said that it knocked him off his horse in a spot that was over 100 miles from the epicenter.

My wife, who got a BS in Earth sciences with a concentration in geology is not reassuring me at all. She says we're due for a 200 year quake. She just loves drawing napkin maps of the New Madrid, St. Meinrad, and Cincinattian faults to illustrate how we live right in the bullseye. I hope it's not like that one and if it is, I hope we're retired to Belize by then.

[ronnykmarshall]

10. Like a train running down the street.

In the 1989 quake in SF, the ground started to shift back and forth and then it was like train was rolling by in the next room.

I'll never forget the sounds.

[radwriter0555]

16. Ronny, I had driven over that bridge on the way back to LA some 10 hours

before that quake.

It took me two DAYS of watching the news to realize what had actually HAPPENED to the Nimitz Bridge.. It just didn't occur to me that the entire level had collapsed.

That one was truly horrible.

[ronnykmarshall]

18. Which one?

Are you talking about the Bay Bridge (one section collapsed) or that Cypress (that was on the Nimitz freeway)?

[radwriter0555]

24. The Cypress on the Nimitz

that most of the focus was on.

I had forgotten though, that the bay bridge got nailed too... that you couldn't even drive over it for so long afterwards.

I may head up to SF in March. I need some CHOWDUH.

[absyntheNsugar]

31. yes watching that video of the car going over the edge

still gives me the willies

[abrupt]

34. Cypress on the Nimitz

my husband took a bunch of photo`s , the day after. He use to drive to work on the cypress. We live about 20miles from Oakland. lost power and parrots freaked out.when the power came back on , we saw the bay bridge on TV. I was shocked.

[bobthedrummer]

35. Welcome to DU, abrupt!

:hi:
BTW, we lived briefly in Oakland and Sacramento when I was 3-5. But I never experienced an earthquake.

[Fenris]

11. I was in two

That happened to occur on two consecutive nights in 1997 (I think). We were living in Moorpark, which is right near Simi Valley. I really heard it before I felt it, because all of the bedrooms in the house had these massive floor to ceiling sliding mirror doors. Started shaking and it sounded like someone imitating the sound of lightning. Then I looked up and saw all of the WWII plane models I had strung up on the ceiling swinging back and forth. I wasn't scared really, just interested. My parents freaked out, and so did my grandparents, although my sister slept right through it. Same thing happened the next night. They were maybe a 5.0 or a 6.0.

[radwriter0555]

12. I start yelling "YEEEE HAH!" I happen to like them actually.. the

adrenaline rush is OUT OF THIS WORLD.

Everything around you starts moving... there are sounds of things quietly shifted, and in the BIG one, there was a rumbling ROAR...
Most times the noise is the quiet tinkling of glassware vibrating, touching off an on each other...

Walls creak, doors move.. windows shake in their panes.

The dogs start BARKING LOUDLY.....

It's WONDERFUL.

[wryter2000]

39. I like them, too

As long as no one gets hurt, bring them on! We had one in our front yard once. No lie. The Hayward fault runs right under out front yard. It was a teeny thing -- 2.0 or so, but it shook us. Fun!

[MuseRider]

13. I am in Kansas

and we are tornado prone as well. I was in Guanaja, Honduras at dinner one night. We heard a sound, like a very low flying jet. We all looked at each other because at that time no flying was allowed after dark. Then the floor lifted up and set back down and the sound continued on the way of the ripple. It was very peculiar. I think I will take tornados any day.

[bobthedrummer]

21. You get some warning with a tornado

like those green and purple skies with lightning and hail-it's a fable that you can't get a thunderstorm with them.

I would think that it would be really unnerving to be in an earthquake compared to a twister.

[Bertha Venation]

50. tornado vs earthquake

I've been in several huge quakes and countless medium and little ones.

I've been three miles (as the crow flies) from the path of an F5 tornado that killed seven people and leveled a town.

During that tornado we sat in the basement and wondered if we'd find our roof and our cats. All we had was hail damage: a broken window, some punched siding panels, and a car that looked like someone had taken a ball peen hammer to it.

Big earthquakes scare me, and Northridge terrified me, but I'll take any earthquake over a tornado, any day of the week.

[cmf]

22. I've only been in one big one

Puget Sound area Feb 2001, magnitude 6.8. It sounded like someone was running down the stairs, then everything started shaking. I got to a safe place and the shaking changed to rolling. I can't remember the exact duration - it was about a minute or so. My cat didn't freak out much. She freaked out during it, but 30 minutes later she was fast asleep. I don't recall her acting strange beforehand.

I have to say that being in an earthquake is one of the most surreal experiences. It's a very strange feeling to have the ground turn to jello right under your feet.

[geniph]

36. My cats were PETRIFIED after the Nisqually quake

I went home early to check on them, and every cupboard and drawer that could open was opened. Books and stuff from shelves was everywhere, and my cats were nowhere to be found. Finally spotted one peering anxiously at me from the top of the stairs, found another hiding under a bed, and the third was in the cubbyhole under the stairs behind the computer (probably the safest place in the house). I opened the door onto the screened-in deck, and all three ran outside and refused to come back in for hours. I suspect they'd been terrified by the flying books and knickknacks.

I was just thankful there were no broken windows or anything, or I might never have seen them again.

[T Wolf]

23. Thanks to all for the stories.

My daughter moved to San Diego in August and we have been wondering what it will be like for her. It is reassuring to read that usually, it is not a terrifying (or dangerous) thing.

[onebigbadwulf]

25. I don't usually realize I was in one until it's over

I either sleep through them and wake up after, or think it was some vibration coming from construction.


I dont see what the big deal is.

[lebkuchen]

26. Everything shakes and breaks, swings and rolls

In a 6.5, it is very difficult to stand up, with the floor rolling and weaving, swag lamps swing against the walls, breaking bulbs, swimming pool water creates waves that splash ten feet away from the pool's edge, bookshelves and TVs fall over, dams nearly break, and the roaring noise is so loud that your family can't hear you scream, "Let's get out of here!"

Then, you evacuate, and the Red Cross is very helpful.

[absyntheNsugar]

28. No warning

Suddenly its a blissful California day, next moment the entire house is shaking violently, all of your pictures are falling down, and if you stand up, you can't maintain your balance and you fall down. We're advised to make it to a doorframe but that it itself is near impossible.

Then, all of a sudden, the quake is over. You check the gas lines to make sure they didn't break, make sure the water still pumps. If it does, fill the tub in case it doesn't stay that way.

[maveric]

30. I've slept through several.

They always seem to hit San Diego at night.

I do remember one that was during daylight hours. It was summer 1986 and my agoraphobic Dad had just flown for the first time and it was his first visit to CA. We heard somthing like a loud gunshot and then the mobile home we lived in started back and forth lengthwise for about 20 seconds. I thought my dad was gonna shit!

[Art_from_Ark]

77. Loud gunshot-like sound

Sometimes there is a loud gunshot-like sound that immediately precedes some of the earthquakes here in the Tokyo area.

On a slightly different note, a recent Japanese TV program claimed that a very strange-looking "cloud", which is aligned vertically rather than horzintally, may be an earthquake precursor. The theory claims that it is formed by gases escaping from a fault that is ready to move.

[Snow]

32. I've been in both earthquakes & tornados....

Tornados happen a lot more frequently, and are really scary and destructive. Even a bad thunderstorm is a major pain in the rear. I'm glad to be out of tornado alley & living in southern cal. I've been here nigh 2 years and had only one quake that I noticed - felt like a heavy truck passing outside the building.

[Mountainman]

38. I'm with you

I'm from Dayton Ohio and I remember the tornado that hit Xenia, Ohio. It was bad and we were not permitted to go there for days. Only medical and emergency people were permitted. When we finally saw the destruction it was shock and aw. About the only thing left standing was an old stone building in the center of town.


I've been in a few earth quakes but nothing compared to that tornado.

[wryter2000]

40. Me, too

And I'll take an earthquake over a bad fire anyday. We were in both Loma Prieta and the East Bay hills fire. That fire was scary!

[alwynsw]

83. I remember Xenia well. April 3, 1974, I think

I was visiting in Brandenburg, KY that same day. It was the other town that was obliterated during that terrible day. Still hard to believe it: over 300 tornados in one day, stretching from LA to OH. I still shudder to think of it.

[Arugula Latte]

37. I was in the '89 Bay Area quake (Loma Prieta)

I was driving in Berkeley when my car tipped suddenly to the left. It felt like I had two flat tires on that side. Then I saw streetlamps swaying toward the middle of the street. I stopped, and the woman behind me, who had a minivan full of kids, started honking at me because she didn't realize we'd had a quake! I drove over hills to get to the East side of the Berkeley hills because I didn't want to drive through a tunnel and looked down on several fires springing up. I saw a few cars crushed by bricks.

Usually, though, a quake feels like either a swaying motion or a quick, rattly shake (like a truck passing). Usually you can hear your house creak a bit. It's very disquieting, to say the least.

[myccrider]

41. my "funniest" earthquake story

I've lived is SoCal for almost 50 years (since I was 5) and have experienced many earthquakes.

The "funniest" story (in quotes because people died in other places, so not really funny) was in 1971, the Sylmar quake, I was living in Orange County over 50 miles from the epicenter with my baby son and a roommate. Her boyfriend was a merchant marine and was in port for a few days. We lived in a second story apartment in an older building. The quake hit just before dawn.

I was practically thrown from my bed by the first jolt. Being an 'old hand' I knew instantly what was happening and jumped up, grabbed my purse and my baby and ran/staggered for the stairs. (It was NOT safer to stay inside in the older buildings, especially on the second floor!) I had to run by my roomies door on the way out and I was yelling for them to get out as I passed. Just then her door swung open with the force of the shaking. She had a waterbed. There they both were, stark naked, flopping around like fresh caught fish on the waves kicked up by the quake. They couldn't get off of the bed!

Have you ever been terrified out of your mind and laughing hysterically at the same time? That's what I was doing all the way down the stairs!

They DID get out almost immediately after that and no one in our area was seriously hurt.

(For a nanosecond I HAD thought about stopping to help them, but then I thought "What about the baby?" and kept going. Sandy said she would have done the same thing, so she forgave me for deserting her. She was also laughing hysterically when they finally got out!)

[Kickin_Donkey]

42. Having lived in either California or Tokyo ...

I've experienced dozens of earthquakes.

There are different types. Some quakes are just a quick thud. Others are a low rattle for, say, 10-15 seconds. Some shake more violently and make outdoor lamp posts sway.

Most of the time, you think a big truck is rumbling by – but then you realize it's a quake.

Couple of stories: In the 1975 Oroville quake, my brother and I were horsing around the house, and he pushed me into a wall. To our amazement, the wall kept shaking long after I'd hit it – it was an earthquake. Years later, while I was sitting in a Sociology of Religion class at my university, the instructor was talking about "God" – and then the whole room started shaking – quite apropos.

There are far more quakes in Tokyo; you might feel a temblor every couple of months. In the San Franciscco Bay Area, you feel them far less – maybe once every few or even several years.

Earthquakes are a surreal thing the first few times you experience them. Just imagine EVERTHING shaking - and it's not a movie effect. I've never been scared by one. I've always thought they were cool and even fun.

Then again, I've never been in the Big One.

[pmbryant]

43. Lived in LA from 1990 thru 1996 and experienced several "big" ones

The most dramatic one, and the one where my experience may have been somewhat unique, was the Big Bear quake in June 1992. It was around a magnitude 6.5 or so, I believe. (In other words, about as big as the 1994 Northridge quake and the quake that killed so many people in Iran a couple months ago.)

Here's a link I just found via goodle about the two large quakes that day: The Landers and Big Bear Earthquakes of June 28, 1992

Here's my story (somewhat long, I'm afraid):

I was living in Pasadena, and had organized a group of about eight people to go on a full day hike up the tallest mountain in Southern California, San Gorgonio, in the Big Bear Mountains. This was roughly a two-hour drive east of where I lived, so I got up very early, just before 5 AM. Shortly after I woke up, an earthquake hit. A pretty big one, but the motion was very smooth. Smooth back-and-forth rocking for 30 seconds to a minute. A nice ride. Since it was so smooth, nothing in my apartment was knocked off the shelves. But it had obviously been a big quake.

Shortly the radio indicated that this was a very big quake that had hit a long way off, 100 miles east in the Mojave Desert. It later became known as the Landers quake, and was magnitude 7.4. (7.4 is huge, but the area it was in was sparsely populated, and the only person killed was an infant who had a chimney collapse on him/her I believe.)

Our hiking group met at 6 am for the two-hour drive. Since we were heading in the direction of the place where the earthquake hit, and not yet knowing the extent of the damage, we debated whether we should bother going. Being young and foolish, we decided to hit the road and see what the conditions were like on the way. The Big Bear mountains are actually 20-30 miles west of where the Landers quake was centered, so we didn't feel too threatened by aftershocks.

Everything was fine for the vast majority of the drive until we started up into the mountains. There, some cops were stopping people, but just advising caution, to look for fallen rocks on the road, nothing more. So we proceeded to the trailhead, which was at a campground in a narrow mountain valley (Mill Valley, I think it was called).

So around 8am, we parked and were getting ready to start our hike up the 11,500-ft tall mountain. I was putting on my hiking boots when another quake hit. Another big one. Very big. (We didn't know it at the time, but this one was the 6.5 "Big Bear" quake, centered just a few miles away under the very mountain range we were in.) Not as big as the earlier quake, but we were a lot closer to it! This was was very rough and violent. Fortunately, we were outdoors and many hundreds of feet away from the steep valley sides, and so safe from anything collapsing on us.

It is a very good thing we had not started our hike up because the violent quake jolted huge boulders on the cliffs on both sides of the valley loose, starting big landslides all around us, kicking up huge amounts of dust that soon had completely obliterated our view of anything more than a few feet in front of us. It interfered with our breathing as well. I do not even recall how long the earthquake lasted because by the time the landslides kicked into gear, they became much more prominent and dramatic than the earthquake itself.

Before our view was obliterated, we saw large trees just at the base of the steep cliffs snapped like matchsticks by falling boulders.

After a while (10-20 minutes?), the dust in the air finally started to settle out. We obviously decided not to hike up into the mountains that day after all! But we did stay in the valley, hiking partways up the streambed for a few hours, experiencing dozens upon dozens of minor aftershocks that repeatedly caused mini-landslides. (Nothing anywhere near the size of the 8am quake, though.)

A month later we finally did our group hike up to the top of San Gorgonio, the roof of Southern California. The view was spectacular! And I've yet to experience so many earthquakes on the same day ever since.

Peter

[Shanty Oilish]

44. Small and great...

A small one, you think the maid's pushing a real big utility cart down the hall outside.
A big one, you get dizzy fast and see the locals diving for cover. :shrug:

[Xithras]

46. Native Californian...been through many!

The two most memorable for me, of course, were the '89 Loma Prieta and the '99 Hector Mine quake, and both were quite different experiences.

In 1989 I was near Gilroy when the Loma Prieta quake struck, and to be honest it was like standing on the deck of a ship in a storm. There weren't any sharp "jolts" that I felt, but the ground seemed to be trying to go in every direction at once....up...down...left...right...front...up, left, and forward simultanously. I should mention that I wasn't on the ground when I experienced this...I was about 10 feet up a walnut tree. It was an experience I'd rather not repeat.

In '99 I was making a midnight run to Vegas (to suprise my wife, who was there on business) when I stopped at the AM/PM in Barstow to get gas. So I'm standing there between my car and the gas pump, in the middle of the night, when I start to hear this dull rumbling sound coming from the desert. It's a hard sound to describe, but imagine the sound that a large wave makes as it crashes against the shore...now drag that sound out over 5 or 6 seconds and increase the intensity...that's what I was hearing.

I didn't figure out that it was an earthquake until it was too late (I thought it was a jet or something). This time, there was no rolling motion, the ground LURCHED under my feet and SLAMMED me into the gas pump behind me (hard enough to leave a nasty bruise). To make matters worse, my car ALSO lurched...towards me! With the ground heaving under me, it was all I could do to crawl away from the gas pumps into an open area in the parking lot. After a few seconds the jolts subsided into a long, low rolling motion that dragged on for quite some time. I sat there in the parking lot and watched the empty highway roll like the ocean as the shockwaves slowly made their way across the desert...it was really kind of surreal.

Aside from being stopped at a few bridges while the CHP inspected them for damage, the rest of the trip to Vegas was thankfully uneventful :)

[pmbryant]

48. That Hector Mine quake was a 7.1!

Just looked it up. How close were you to the epicenter?

[Xithras]

53. I think it's around 30 miles

Not sure exactly where it was epicentered, but I know that it was closer to Twentynine Palms than Barstow. Barstow was violent enough though, so I'm glad I wasn't any closer.

Driving to Vegas afterward was kind of interesting...there were numerous cracks and offsets in the highway pavement. I'd be zooming along in the darkness at 70+mph and BAM, I'd hit a 4" wide crack in the road (I know this because I stopped at the first one to figure out what I'd just hit).

The worst of the damage, from what I understand, was to the southeast of where I was.

Oh, there was one bright spot to the earthquake...the power went out at the AM/PM so the pumps stopped working and the registers died. I got a free tank of gas out of the deal :)

[AlFrankenFan]

51. Since I get car sick

the first time I experienced one I threw up right after it finished :puke:

[SoCalDem]

52. Shake..shake.. thud..boom

"Whoa... Did you feel that".. That's what it's like..

It's over before you know it..:(.. I rather enjoy them.. A reminder of the fact that mother earth is still bigger than we are..

I have been in two LARGE ones..

But tornadoes are the WORST..

I have been through hurricanes, a flood, numerous quakes.. Tornadoes are the top of the BAD chart..

With most "disaster" stuff, there is ample warning.Earthquakes don't count here, because they last such a short time and geographical luck plays into it as much as anything..

Tornadoes are capricious.. They hop and skip.. They can predict all they want, and still miss by miles.. They come in the night and take your roof away..:(

(We lost our back door and part of a roof... they probably landed miles away )

[SmileyBoy]

54. There's absolutely NO earthquakes in North Dakota or Minnesota.

The reason is that the land (tectonically) is old and dead.

And I have NEVER been in an earthquake.

[dpbrown]

56. That's incorrect, though I don't doubt you've never felt one

Largest Earthquake in Minnesota


Western Minnesota
1975 07 09 14:54:21.3 UTC
Magnitude 5.0
Intensity VI



The earthquake caused minor damage to walls and foundations of basements in Stevens County around Morris. Also felt in Iowa, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eq_depot/usa/1975_07_09.html

[MrsMatt]

60. Hey I remember that one!

I was in grade school, and we lived close enough that the dishes rattled.

On edit:
I appear to be dating myself all over this thread. For the record, I was a CHILD bride, and when I say "grade school" I really mean "in utero".

Just remember that.

[dpbrown]

70. LOL...your secret is safe with me!

Are you coming to Northrop tomorrow?

It looks like quite a few DUers might be there.

See you!

:hi:

DPB

[dpbrown]

57. More Minnesota Earthquakes

Earthquake History of Minnesota


The first record of an earthquake in Minnesota was in 1860. Although the exact date is unknown, the shock was fairly strong in the central part of the State. Very little information is available about this earthquake.

On September 3, 1917, another earthquake shook the central part of Minnesota. Intensity VI (Modified Mercalli scale) effects were noted at Staples. The shock was also felt at Brainerd, about 30 miles east of Staples.

Several tremors located outside of Minnesota have been felt within the State's borders.

On November 15, 1877, two earthquakes 45 minutes apart occurred in eastern Nebraska. The shocks caused damage at North Platte and Columbus, Nebraska and at Sioux City, Iowa. The felt zone encompassed an elliptical area roughly 600 by 300 miles, including the southwestern part of Minnesota.

A strong earthquake centered in Illinois occurred on May 26, 1909, affecting an area of approximately 500,000 square miles, includings parts of Minnesota. Intensity VII effects were noted over a considerable area from Bloomington, Illinois to Platteville, Wisconsin. Many chimneys fell at Aurora, Illinois. Although details ae lacking, this shock was probably felt at intensity IV or V in southeastern Minnesota.

A strong earthquake on February 28, 1925, centered in the St. Lawrence River region near La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada, was felt widely in the Northeastern United States. The shock was lightly felt at Minneapolis.

Ten years later, on November 1, 1935, another strong earthquake occurred near Timiskaming, Canada and was felt over an area of the United States estimated at one million square miles. This tremor was also lightly felt at Minneapolis.

A recent earthquake to affect Minnesota occurred on November 9, 1968. Centered in south-central Illinois, the earthquake was felt over approximately 580,000 square miles of the Central United States. Minor damage was reported at Chicago, Illinois; Evansville, Indiana; and St. Louis, Missouri, as well as from a number of cities and towns in the epicentral area. Intensity I-IV effects were noted in Minnesota at Austin, Glencoe, Mankato, Minneapolis, Rochester, and St. Paul.

 

Abridged from Earthquake Information Bulletin, Volume 6, Number 1, January - February 1974, by Carl A. von Hake.

http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/states/minnesota/minnesota_history.html

[Flaxbee]

55. Earthquake weather...

I'm a Socal. native as well, and I swear that sometimes the air/weather presages a big one. My friends and I, all in grad school at UCLA in January 1994, were lounging between classes and, two days before the quake, the other California native and I looked at each other and said "It's earthquake weather" simultaneously. It was very strange even at the time, and then two days later the Northridge quake ripped through Southern California.

It was an exceptionally warm January, about 80 degrees or so which is odd even for LA in the winter, and the air was very still and quiet but somehow full. It was more the quality of the air, rather than the heat, that made me feel something was going to happen.

Probably just a stupid coincidence, but it DID feel like "earthquake weather". I think I'd feel it again if the circumstances were right.

[lolly]

66. UCLA's Royce Hall

Was sitting in a hallway waiting for my next class--had a smallish-medium earthquake.

Royce Hall had all the language classes. After the earthquake there were a few seconds of silence, and then you could hear all the teachers in all the classrooms teaching the classes how to say "earthquake" (tremblement de terre, terremoto, etc) in all the different languages.

[truebrit71]

68. The experts say that is nonsense..but i agree with you...

I lived in So Cal for fourteen years and I know EXACTLY what earthquake weather is...

[dawn]

58. I was about 1 mile from the epicenter of the Northridge quake in Calif.

The impact was so strong that it slammed my bedroom door shut, my refridgerator tipped over, plates cascaded out of my cupboards. It felt like a bomb had hit my apartment. It was a solid, up-and-down type shake, not a rolling one. It was the scariest experience, and of course it had to happen at 4 am.

Right down my street, you could see fire and water geysers shooting up about 200 feet in the air. That was because the gas and water main lines broke. It was surreal.

My power, water, and phone lines were dead for three days. I put my cats in my car and drove to my parents' house (about an hour east) until things were back to normal.

My apartment was OK, but the building next to mine had to be demolished.

[MrsMatt]

59. MrMatt and I moved to Santa Ana CA

from Minnesota in 1987 - MrMatt was attending grad school and I was a blushing bride. We experienced the Whittier quake at a distance. Our apartment complex was set up like a motel - all the apartments were surrounding a courtyard with a pool. Access was via a balcony that serviced all apartments with centrally located stairs. The neighbors were enthusiastic users of the pool, and were boisterous in their progress to the pool, which would shake the apartment as they ran by. The day of the Whittier quake, I felt this shaking and assumed that it was the neighbors running on the balcony ( I guess I didn't mention that they were rather large). However, the shaking was stronger than usual and lasted longer than usual. I got up from my chair to find my handsome husband standing in the doorway between the hall and the bathroom (he figured out it was a quake LONG before I did, but did he bother to tell me?).

Other temblors were pretty minor - MrMatt says that I slept through most of them.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

61. Japan and Oregon

1) The first one: I lived in an apartment that shook a bit every time a bus passed by. One evening, I was watching TV, and my apartment began shaking as if a bus was passing,but it didn't stop. My first thought was, "Long bus?" but then I realized, as the shaking intensified, that it was an earthquake. I experienced several after that, but no really big ones. When I was in Japan in 2002, I was standing at the bathroom sink brushing my teeth, when suddenly I found myself swaying back and forth. Yup. Earthquake.

2) Two noticeable ones in Oregon:

March 1993, known as The Spring Break Quake. I had to catch a 7:00AM flight, so I was up and driving out of town at 5:30AM. As I crossed the bridge over a little creek, the car started wagging back and forth, and I swore I could see ripples in the bridge. My first thought was that I'd lost my steering, but then I saw that the car ahead of me was weaving, too. I wondered if the bridge had somehow iced over, even though it was supposed to be too warm. I regained control just as I left the bridge, so I figured it was just some freaky ice.

Continuing along the route, I came to a roadblock, where the highway patrol told me that I'd have to take a detour, because the bridge was out. Well, 5:30AM, I wasn't thinking clearly, so I just shrugged and took the detour. It wasn't until I got to the next town that I saw all the shattered windows. That's the first time I thought of earthquakes.

The whole time I was gone, I worried about my stuff in the apartment, haunted by visions of my kerosene lamp spilling onto the carpet, but when I came back, the only "damage" I found was a few items that had fallen onto the carpet and therefore not broken.

A couple of years ago: I was sitting in a coffee shop near Portland State University when I began to feel shaking. I looked around, but no one else was reacting, so I thought it must be my imagination. Then the cups on the counter started rattling, and everyone looked up as the ground continued to shake for what seemed like an awfully long time. I took out my Walkman and turned on the radio to hear a report of a big earthquake in Seattle.

[alittlelark]

62. 89 quake in the Bay Area

Tara (cat) tears out the back door. I tell my sister (on the phone) that Tara just Schized out. We laugh. Moments later I grab a chair. The CD drawers fly open and the CD's start hitting the wall like a game of 52 pick-up. The 55 gallon aquarium jumps up, just a few millimeters and lands somewhat askew / w 3 fish flying out w/ the water. A few glasses fall and break. Bookcase falls over. Pond in front of patio has giant water spike fly up.
I yell to my sister that we're having an earthquake. She turns on the TV and some commentator is talking about the world series being cut off for some reason, then announcing an earthquake.
Didn't have to go to work. Co-workers at Charly Browns that were there for the quake made great tips. Lockheed Martin (across the street) and Moffet AFB employees streamed into the reastaurant, drinking ALMOST all the liquor we had!!
I went outside, looking for cat. I see a neighbor I almost never see - she is an older E Indian woman who lives with a couple whom I almost never see (I assume the mother of one). She is smoking an ornate pipe and chuckling. She walked over to me and handed me the pipe. You can guess what was in it and what I did!!
Quite an experience - cat came back a few hours later.

[Lisa]

63. well, a minor one can feel like someone's kicking your chair ...

Or that there's a big truck driving by -- or furniture being moved, or anything that causes the floor to vibrate a bit. If you're outside, you probably won't notice -- I was walking by a building on Ash Wednesday , when one hit an area an hour's drive away -- my only clue was that the windows in the building started squeaking!

I've experienced small quakes in 2 different areas (West Coast, and Southern Ontario) -- but no biggies, yet!

[truebrit71]

65. The little ones don't bother you..they feel like you're momentarily drunk.

the BIG ones suck...I had the misfortune to be less than 5 miles from the epicentre of the Northridge quake, and I thought I was going to die...I KNEW that 'quake was out to get me...Understand that some are just rollers, kinda like swaying to and fro, but the nasty ones JOLT you..UP AND DOWN..with a malevolent violence that you KNOW are meant to hurt and destroy...

We had no drinking water for days and days and days, no cable, no gas, no electricity, I heard about the devastation from my parents that called me on my cell from England, they knew EXACTLY where we were in relation to Northridge and were FREAKED!!!

I would not wish that experience on my worst enemy...when the TV throws itself at you at 2 o'clock in the morning and you have to clamber back onto your bed TWICE to cover your wife and child because the house sounds like it's coming down around your ears you wake up FAST!!!!

With hurricanes and tornandoes you have some warning...earthquakes hit whenever Mother Earth needs to stretch...

I left So.Cal six months after the Northridge quake....I won't go back....

[burrowowl]

67. Gee the ground is moving

and I am not drunk. Oooow! Damn! Earthquake.

[CanuckAmok]

69. I was on the phone during one in Vancouver...

On the phone with someone on a film set about 30 miles away from my office.

She said "whoa...did you feel that?!", and as she said "...that?!", the earthquake hit where I was, with a loud "BOOM!". I happened to be looking out my window, and the street had a 'wave' run through it, kind of like the way a sheet bellows as you spread it across the mattress as you make your bed. One of the telephone poles quivered for a few seconds afterward, then stopped. About 40 car alarms went off. End of earthquake. That was the one that hit Seattle fairly hard--'98 or '99?

[dpbrown]

71. Taipei, Republic of China

Several were a little like standing on a board that was slowly swaying back and forth.

But one we were only about one mile sideways and six miles up from the epicenter.

That one was like sitting on top of a jackhammer that went on and on for 15 seconds.

Fire alarms, car alarms all started, then the electricity went out and we started hearing crashing as pieces of buildings fell nearby.

I was in another gentle one in New Zealand, that hardly bothered anyone. I was sitting in a wooden table chair that suddenly started moving like its pieces were loose. Back and forth. Then I looked up and saw a picture hanging on the wall swaying back and forth and I knew it was an earthquake.

The other two Americans (who had drunk quite a bit of wine already) didn't believe me when I told them we had just gone through an earthquake, until I asked the person at the next table and had it verified by a "native Kiwi."

Dan Brown
Saint Paul, Minnesota

[Lindsey]

72. 1994 - Northridge, Ca @ 4:31 a.m.

I was only 5 miles from the epicenter. I've experienced a lot in my life - the good, the bad, and the ugly. I've been in tornados and hurricanes growing up in Corpus Christi, Tx. - but NOTHING, AND I MEAN NOTHING had the impact that the Northridge Quake had. I honest to God felt that there was no doubt the world (or at least my world) was ending and that I was definitely going to die. My bed was literally bouncing up and down on the floor as my t.v. flew across the room and my bookshelves crashed to the floor. My closet doors opened and crap started flying out of them too. My roommate and I had a lot of glass mirrors up in the living room and it honest to God sounded like a shooting gallery (our fish aquarium was destroyed and all of the fish met their deaths). The aftershocks were horrifying. We spent the next six weeks sleeping on couches by the front door so we could get out to the courtyard of our condo complex because we didn't want the upstairs condos to come crashing down on us if another really bad one hit. I moved six weeks afterwards because of the trauma and also because a good part of our building was condemed (even though our particular condo wasn't). If I had to pick the scariest moment of my 46 years, no question it would be that morning. I've even thought about the concept that if, when we die, we have that life review and I think:OMG - I'll have to do the Northridge Quake again!

[Bertha Venation]

79. Bless your heart, Lindsey.

I was in Lakewood for the Northridge quake, and I thought I was scared. :hug:

[Missy Vixen]

74. Earthquakes, by Julie

Hi Bob,

One of my first memories is of an earthquake. I was five. We had one hell of a quake in Western Washington in 1965; I still remember looking out of the picture window in my parents' living room and watching the road rippling (!) up and down. My mother picked me up and threw me under the dining room table; I think she thought the house would collapse.

There were several other minor quakes in my childhood and young adulthood. One of the weirder ones was about nine years ago; we'd just moved into our townhouse. Our tuxedo girl cat, Holly, suddenly stood up on her hind legs with both paws extended as I heard a roaring I'll never forget. It was a minor earthquake, but featured many aftershocks. Poor Holly the cat (and her brother Merlin,) spent about three days hiding underneath our bed.

The worst quake I can remember was a couple of years ago, and the anniversary's coming up on the 28th. It was a 6.8, if I recall correctly. I was at the eye doctor's. The building was violently shaking (and rolling; most office buildings here are required to be built on rollers.) Interestingly enough, the patients stayed inside the building as everyone who lives in an earthquake zone is instructed to do; the doctors ran outside! One of the weirder elements was looking down the hallway at white-faced and obviously frightened doctors, patients and nurses. I walked into the hallway when the shaking stopped and said, "Group hug!" Everyone joined in.

There were several visiting salespeople in my husband's office who had never been in an earthquake before. One of my husband's co-workers was slightly injured when he dived under someone's desk to escape injury. Another co-worker got in her car, checked out of the hotel she was staying in, and drove to the airport -- she told us later that she would get on any plane, going anywhere, to get out of the area. Unfortunately, Sea-Tac was heavily damaged and she wasn't able to fly out for several more days.

Driving home that day was something else. Power was out all over the place. Offices emptied out all over the area; this created hellish traffic. My husband finally managed to get through the "circuits are busy" signal to tell me not to go inside till he got home (we've got natural gas, he was worried I wouldn't be able to crank the wrench hard enough to shut off the gas if we had to do so.) The cats took up residence under our bed (again,) for several days. Luckily, nothing was broken at our house, but there was a LOT of damage around the area. One person died of a heart attack.

The worst part of the earthquake, though, was afterwards. I couldn't sleep. Everytime poor DH would roll over in bed, I'd get completely panicky -- was it happening again? A local psychologist put some coping ideas on her website for people like me who were having a tough time. I'm sure that the Californians probably roll with laughter at that, but it's true.

In the meantime, the only thing that worries me these days is when we drive through the valley we live above and see cows and horses lying down. They were lying down the day of the earthquake, too.

Julie

[NNadir]

75. I recall the Landers quake back in the early 1990's. We were in bed...

when the earth started shaking and rolling. I'm sure my wife thought it was me, until the walls starting cracking. :-)

Actually it was pretty scary. My wife suggested we hide under the covers. I was over before we could come up with a more practical approach.

[Melsky]

78. I've been in quite a few

most notable, the big one in 89. I lived in San Francisco.

My boyfriend and I were smoking a pipe together and watching a sitcom about a perky little girl robot, as was the custom at the time. All of the sudden, it started to shake. So we went under a doorframe, one of the safer places to be in a quake.

After a few seconds, we realized it was a bigger quake than usual. Even after it stopped shaking, I kept on shaking, so it felt even longer.

Our power went out, and after a few minutes we went out to the front of our building, where people were listening to their car radios.

Everyone was saying "The cyber structure is down, the cyber structure is down!"

I was confused. At the time, I did not know much about computers, so it was surprising to hear that:

1. There was a cyber structure.
2. The cyber structure could be damaged in an earthquake.

Later, I figured out that they were talking about the Cypress Structure, the freeway ramp that collapsed in Oakland.

[Catshrink]

81. "I feel the earth move under my feet"

I remember the Alaska earthquake in the 60's. (Yeah, I was alive back then, what of it?) We lived in Seattle then and I remember the house shaking. Mom grabbed us kids and we all huddled in a doorway. She told us it was an earthquake and after it was all over, she had to explain what an earthquake is.