March 28, 2014

  • Rocking and Rolling

    UPDATE Saturday 8 pm

    It's now 23 hours after last night's 5.1 quake, and there has been considerable damage uncovered in the light of day -- several apartments in a Fullerton complex have been condemned due to cracks in the walls, a thoroughfare street (not a freeway) has been closed because of the potential for rockslides (a slide last night overturned a car, causing slight injuries), and everybody's nerves are a little frayed.  There have been over 300 aftershocks recorded, most of which were not felt by anybody, but one this afternoon was a 4.1.  The experts are saying that this is at the high end of the range of aftershocks expected.  It's time for the news media to talk about something else again!

    Original Post

    We have had a series of earthquakes this evening -- 3.6, 5.1, 3.4, and 3.6 in the last hour and a half.  They were centered in LaHabra, about 20 miles from here, all in roughly the same place.  For those who know the area, it was just north of Disneyland (the rides are now shut down for precautionary reasons).  There is apparently a water main break, and a rock slide in a rural area.  As usual after an earthquake, the fire trucks are on patrol, and there's a lot of chatter on the news -- it will settle down and we'll know more in an hour or so. 

    I felt the second one quite strongly, and heard some stuff rattling downstairs.  The news people are saying that they thought somebody was shaking their truck!  So far, I am safe, and they say that there is only a 5% chance of a stronger shock in the next 24 hours.  Meantime, think of me riding the waves of the quaking earth!

Comments (34)

  • We had an after shock once, I never forgot it...scary! Be safe. What else can happen there?

    • Yeah -- they are a bit scary! My instinctive reaction is alerting -- prepare to duck (duck, cover, hold), then know that it's over (or time to duck & cover). I'm fairly far (10 miles or so) from the nearest known fault, and hopefully it wasn't just a foreshock to a bigger quake! It's still a beautiful place to live!

  • I'd rather think of you as safe and sound, and steady. My mom lived there during the 1933 quake in Long Beach. That was a big one! You're right though........it is a beautiful place to live.

    • Thanks! There have been something like 30 measurable aftershocks overnight, but none that I felt! Yes -- Long Beah was a big one -- somehow 5.0-5.5 seems sort of routine, except that we haven't had any quakes for a long time.

  • stay safe, dear friend ~

    • Thanks, fwren! There were 20 aftershocks overnight, but none that I felt. They will diminish now.

  • Stay safe. earthquakes are no fun at all!!

    • Thank you -- even little ones are pretty unsettling! This is quake country (as is Japan), but we haven't had any for quite a while, so it was a little surprising!

  • Glad you are safe, Janet. Pam and I were in the Northridge one--I was sure I was going to die. Our apartment building reminded me of a movie set.

    frank

    • Thanks, Frank! I was 100+ miles away during Northridge -- but I felt it and knew it was big. I heard many really scary stories afterwards!

  • Yake care,Janet . I think of you
    Michel

  • i was sitting on the toilet when it happened. lol

  • Do take care and be safe.

    • Thanks -- there's not much anybody can actively do to be safe, but I'm in the safest type of structure (wood frame), and there are no known faults underneath me.

  • Though almost second nature to Los Angelenos and their neighbours in OC, I can't imagine it's ever a pleasant thing to endure.

    • It's always a little scary, even when one has experienced many quakes. Last night's caused closure of Carbon Canyon due to the threat of rock slides (isn't that where the redwoods are?). And 24 hours later, they are reporting some significant damage to homes in the Fullerton area, and many water and gas line problems.

  • I lived in Ca. until I was a senior in high school then we moved here to Texas and we had several earth quakes while I was growing up.
    there is no place to run! and no place to hide from an earth quake

    • It's actually dangerous to try to run away -- outside is the worst place to be, as chimneys, bricks, etc. are likely to fall!

  • Very glad you are safe...Wow I can't imagine what a quake must feel like...

  • I was watching that on the news. Hope you don't get any more.
    I have never been in an earthquake.
    I am still praying for those poor people involved in that big mud slide in Washington State. :(

    • We'll have aftershocks for a while, but I haven't felt any of them. And eventually we'll have more -- we're right on the edge of the plate!

  • I live just about 10 miles from there. I am in Korea on vacation so I did feel the shake. Thanks for sharing the information with us.

    • Most of what you missed is the hype on the news -- the quake was over in about 10-20 seconds! Glad you were away, but hopefully things will quiet down pretty soon -- we're still hearing about aftershocks today (mag. 2.5 or so). Have a great time!

  • Wow! There's some unwanted excitement! I hope everything calms down soon.

    • It's calming down, but the experts are talking a lot about preparedness, and about the fact that this quake was on a fault that could be more dangerous than the better known San Andreas fault -- this one runs right through downtown LA, and is capable of a 7.4 quake!

  • I am happy you are safe Janet. A friend and his wife went to San Diego last weekend to attend their son's wedding. They returned yesterday. I asked him today while at lunch, about the earthquake, and he said he didn't feel anything, and that they only heard about it on the news. It seems the damage was patchy in different areas of the southern part of LA. Stay well, and I hope you have good news to share with us about the FNB?

    • San Diego is a little too far away to feel the quake -- but that depends on the direction of the fault, the direction of the slip, the substrate that the waves have to run through. and lots of other conditions. The damage was heaviest within less than 10 miles of the epicenter, mostly in Fullerton and La Habra. It followed the fault line. Farther away, a few things fell off shelves, but not like what happened in Brea (epicenter), and Fullerton and La Habra (adjacent cities). People felt it farther away, but with little or no damage. There is a lot of discussion indicating that this fault may be more dangerous than the San Andreas Fault, because it runs right under downtown Los Angeles! I'll e-mail you on Thursday with FNB results.

  • It is interesting to read your account after hearing about it on the news.

    Love and blessings and prayers,

    Doris

    • The main message of this quake was that in Southern California we do live in earthquake country. We are being told to “be prepared” — a reminder we hear after every quake! It’s a fine line between “calm down, it wasn’t that serious,” and “be prepared, there could be a bigger one any time.”

  • Crazy, I know, but I'd like to ride that wave just once.

    • It can be a pretty wild ride. I'm glad ours was 5.0, and not 8.2 like tonight's quake in Chile -- magnitude expands exponentially, so that was 1000 times as strong as ours!

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