Never a dull moment
I love living in California. I was born here and have lived my whole life in the Bay Area. But during October, what I consider to be earthquake & fire season, it can be unnerving. Certainly you've heard about the fires in Southern California.... well tonight we had a 5.6 magnitude earthquake on the Calaveras fault and I'm close to the epicenter.
We had just returned from dinner and I was taking my coat off when I heard a strange sound. I looked around as the sound got stronger when I realized it was the windows rattling. I called out to Roger and he met me in the hallway--by now the house had been shaking for about 10 seconds and it was still moving. I stood in a doorway and we both looked at each other with wide eyes. I was acutely aware of our emergency supplies in the closet right next to me.
As the shaking slowed, I was reminded of the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. Back then I couldn't tell if the earth was still shaking or if it was me and I had the same feeling this time--I had to ask, "is the house still moving?" Roger said it was.
All in all it was about 20 seconds of shaking. People on the news are saying it was a really strong quake, but I'd call it moderate. There was rattling and shaking and one picture fell, but other than that we haven't seen much damage (knock on wood).
Since 8:04:54PM there have been 4 aftershocks, none of which we've felt.
Here's the map from the USGS. The big red square indicates the location and magnitude of the quake.
The quake was felt along the Northern California coast, from Sebastopol to Carmel Valley.
Verizon was out for a while but we didn't lose landline service or electricity. Not bad compared to 1989.
We had just returned from dinner and I was taking my coat off when I heard a strange sound. I looked around as the sound got stronger when I realized it was the windows rattling. I called out to Roger and he met me in the hallway--by now the house had been shaking for about 10 seconds and it was still moving. I stood in a doorway and we both looked at each other with wide eyes. I was acutely aware of our emergency supplies in the closet right next to me.
As the shaking slowed, I was reminded of the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. Back then I couldn't tell if the earth was still shaking or if it was me and I had the same feeling this time--I had to ask, "is the house still moving?" Roger said it was.
All in all it was about 20 seconds of shaking. People on the news are saying it was a really strong quake, but I'd call it moderate. There was rattling and shaking and one picture fell, but other than that we haven't seen much damage (knock on wood).
Since 8:04:54PM there have been 4 aftershocks, none of which we've felt.
Here's the map from the USGS. The big red square indicates the location and magnitude of the quake.
The quake was felt along the Northern California coast, from Sebastopol to Carmel Valley.
Verizon was out for a while but we didn't lose landline service or electricity. Not bad compared to 1989.
8 Comments:
I was wondering how much you felt over there. I don't think it shook for 25 seconds here, but I definitely felt it and I also had that "is it still going on?" feeling a bit afterwards. I don't know if it was the slight aftershocks or just coming down from the adrenaline, or what.
By
Abigail, at 10/30/2007 10:13 PM
Scary...but glad you're okay.
By
Elemmaciltur, at 10/31/2007 4:11 AM
I was there for the earthquake! I was in the Bay Area for work, and was sitting at my gate waiting for my plane to start loading when it hit. And Southwest still took off on time. Fun times! I was telling K that it was California's way of telling me to get the hell out. lol
By
Ilona, at 10/31/2007 9:57 AM
I wondered about the same thing here ... whether my legs were shaking or the earth was! We managed to leave the apartment and get to an open area. Did you notice anything special from the animals before the earthquake? The bats were unusually noisy during the last few nights ... I don't know if they had sensed something.
Take care.
By
Agnes, at 10/31/2007 1:51 PM
We were at church choir rehearsal and we sang two more bars before realizing it was an earthquake. We hustled into the doors of the sanctuary and waited in the door frames. I was leaning on the wall and could feel it moving for the 25 seconds. A good reminder why we keep those earthquake supplies!
By
spinnity, at 10/31/2007 2:19 PM
Maybe it's just because I'm farther from the epicenter, but this one seemed weird -- it wasn't so much the usual rolling sensation, but felt more "shakey." If that makes any sense...anyway, glad everything's ok!
By
Sarah, at 11/01/2007 2:43 PM
glad you're alright! i think i would freak if i ever felt an earthquake...
By
sarah lou, at 11/02/2007 6:04 AM
Every location has something to deal with naturally. Tornado, earthquake, wind, hurricane, blizzard. In Southern California we get earthquakes too. We had one tornado (teeny tiny) years ago and it sounded like a freight train coming over my house. For this, I appreciate and embrace the earthquake. I live in a one story house, you don't know it is coming so no anxiety, very very quick. I am very glad you are fine.
By
loopykd, at 11/04/2007 10:29 AM
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