Earthquake!

[Rugbypup]

This is a new nature phenomenon to me. Having grown up in the dank, gray of the UK, I've never experienced an earthquake before, since moving to NZ, I've experienced four in nine months.

None of them big thank God, nothing over a distant 5 pointer.

But still, they terrify me. NZ, like LA in the USA, is waiting for the big one, an estimated minimum of 8.2 and it's overdue. Worst still, I'm in an active tsunami zone. Good bye house hold insurance, lol.

I manage to keep calm every time I get scared and have prepare an emergency survival kit as recommended, but they still freak me out. I'm terrified of being in one at night, every time the wind moves the building I'm in, my heart skips a beat. All we know for sure, is that it WILL happen and sooner rather than later, geologically speaking. The last one was in 1855, it destroyed the whole city and shift the land mass up enough to double the city area. Scary shit!

Anyways, I wanted to ask, does anyone here have an earthquake story to share? I find them fascinating, if not the stuff of nightmares.

Pup, x.

YouTube - Wellington Aftershock, New Zealand. Are you Prepared?

This was a mockumentary broadcast last year, I didn't sleep for a week.

 

[Rugbypup]

No one here been in an earthquake then?

 

[Deno]

Not of any significance, last one here was a rumble for 10 or 12 seconds and two booms. I think it was like 1.3 at the epicenter which was 20 miles away.

 

[SpeedoGuy]

No one here been in an earthquake then?

I grew up along the US west coast: California and Oregon. Its an active part of the Pacific's "Ring of Fire." In fact, I've lived on plate faultlines or in the shadows of volcanos my whole life.

I've experienced several earthquakes, both near and far. I can recall several noteworthy northern California shakers in the 1970s and the 1989 Loma_Prieta quake. All of them had to capacity to frighten badly.

My worst experience: Being caught 10 levels up in a building during a magnitude 5.8 quake in San Jose. The building was constructed to earthquake standards but the quake lasted for nearly a minute, intensifying through most of it. It was such a heart-stopping experience to feel mother nature decide to rattle our cages. The building shuddered and warped and as I looked down a long hallway I literally watched the floor writhe like a hula dancer. I could hear trapped people screaming inside elevators that were swinging and banging inside the elevator shafts nearby. The building continued swaying and creaking on its flexible supports for minutes after quake ended. I was soaked with sweat at the end of it.

Another one that scared me: It was in the early 1970s on a family camping trip at a beach in far northern California. I must have been 10 or so. The tsunami sirens activated in the middle of the night with a blare loud enough to wake the dead. I can remember my confusion and fear in the darkness of my little tent as my brother and I awakened and looked at each other. Despite the late hour, in seconds my father scooped us both into his arms and shoved us into the car, had the motor running, and whisked the family to higher ground. I can remember the fear I felt as we went over a little estuary bridge to evactuate the beach area. I imagined a mighty wave in the darkness poised to wash us into eternity.

There actually was no major tsunami from that event (a moderate quake in the Aleutian Islands) but the speed with which my father had acted left a lasting impression as to the danger posed by tsunamis.

As such, I've been saavy to earthquake, tsunami, and volcanic safety ever since I was a boy. I've always been interested in the geosciences and, in fact, experiences with mother nature's temper tantrums led me to my occupation.

 

[sdbg]

In 1990, I was sitting on a stool in a beach bar in Mission Beach with a friend sharing a pitcher of beer. All of a sudden, it felt like someone was shaking the stool. When I saw the neon CORONA sign against the wall moving back and forth, I knew that we had just had an earthquake. I was too buzzed to do anything but laugh.

In the early '90s, I got up in the middle of the night and felt shaking while sitting on the toilet. I didn't have THAT much to drink the night before - what's up? a few hours later, I awoke to my waterbed moving like someone was rocking it. When I got up and saw the news on the TV, the news reported on the Yucca Flats quake and aftershocks out in the desert.

There was another one while I was working the dinner shift at a restaurant. The dining room was on the second floor with the parking garage underneath. We saw all of the hanging lights and plants sway back and forth, and we could feel the entire building moving. It was like the sensation of being on a boat when the wake from another passing boat will gently rock you.

None of these events scared me as it's fairly common to have tremors in CA, and I wasn't too worried being in a wooden building with not that much weight above me. A few years ago, there was a tremor while I was at work. The building is a big concrete and steel structure with concrete mezzanine above my office. This time, I darted out the door when the shaking began. After the 9/11 collapse of the trade center buildings due to the failure of the supports that held the concrete floors in place, I wasn't willing to stay at my desk to see if the supports would hold for the quake. Everything was fine, and we went right back to work.

Ultimately, if we live in a seismically active area, earthquakes, tremors, and tsunamis are part of everyday life, and we have to be prepared when they happen.

 

[B_Nick8]

I've told this story before, but yes, I've been in one. In LA.

I'd flown there to tell my long time bf it was over. He'd known what was coming and we were both rather sad about it but knew it was the right thing to do. So, at the very peak of some intense 'good bye' sex, it hit. I was paralyzed. He screamed "Get into a doorway and brace yourself!" Well, I did. After what seemed like 10 minutes, the room stopped rocking and I heard him behind me, laughing hysterically. I turned my head to see him braced in the bedroom doorway, still with a full hardon. I looked back down at mine. When he got a grip he said "You had to pick the door to the balcony, you moron!" and I looked out over the pool to see about 20 of his neighbors laughing just as hard.

Now earthquakes scare me, too.

 

[sdbg]

"You had to pick the door to the balcony, you moron!" and I looked out over the pool to see about 20 of his neighbors laughing just as hard.

Hilarious!

 

[mitchymo]

No one here been in an earthquake then?

You obviously left the UK before global warming started shaking things up a bit :tongue:

I remember just one quake until the age of 22, since then i have felt 3 personally all between 4 and 5 on the scale which is small comparetively but for the uk is quite an event.....i live 9 floors up and even these small quakes scare the heck outta me....i'm glad we sit in the middle of a plate

There has been two others on the same scale out of range which makes 5 moderate shakes in 8yrs compared to 1 in 22yrs.....(from exp.)

 

[2322]

I've experienced three here in New York. Ours are very small but the soil type we have causes the shocks to travel further. The only one that didn't feel like a heavy truck driving by happened in 1984 when I was in boarding school. The quake woke me early in the morning by shaking my bed so violently that I thought a dead uncle had returned from the grave. I even asked him, "Stop shaking the bed Uncle Mad!"

I realized it wasn't stopping so ran out into the dorm's hallway and everyone was standing around wondering what was going on and then someone shouted the boiler was blowing up so we all ran out of the dorm in our underwear. The quake stopped right after that. The students from California just laughed at us.

 

[mitchymo]

I've experienced three here in New York. Ours are very small but the soil type we have causes the shocks to travel further. The only one that didn't feel like a heavy truck driving by happened in 1984 when I was in boarding school. The quake woke me early in the morning by shaking my bed so violently that I thought a dead uncle had returned from the grave. I even asked him, "Stop shaking the bed Uncle Mad!"

I realized it wasn't stopping so ran out into the dorm's hallway and everyone was standing around wondering what was going on and then someone shouted the boiler was blowing up so we all ran out of the dorm in our underwear. The quake stopped right after that. The students from California just laughed at us.

Hahaha, funny....but in fairness its easy for those who have plenty of experience of quakes to think others are over-reacting, a quake is scary when you dont have them often even if its just a small one.....however, were they laughing because of your reactions or the sight of you all running out in your underwear!

 

[2322]

Hahaha, funny....but in fairness its easy for those who have plenty of experience of quakes to think others are over-reacting, a quake is scary when you dont have them often even if its just a small one.....however, were they laughing because of your reactions or the sight of you all running out in your underwear!

I'm pretty sure it's the both. We were an ignoble bunch of teenagers. Our only defense was that the building wasn't designed for earthquakes and so we took the precaution to exit but that didn't quite wash.

Earthquakes are a weird sensation. I didn't like it.

 

[justmeincal]

I lived just a few miles from the epicenter of the 89 Loma Prieta quake. Scared us to death! The aftershocks lasted for days. We slept in our clothes every night, ready to run out of the house.

We were without power for 3 days. I HATE earthquakes.

 

[DiscoBoy]

Lucky neighbours .

I've told this story before, but yes, I've been in one. In LA.

I'd flown there to tell my long time bf it was over. He'd known what was coming and we were both rather sad about it but knew it was the right thing to do. So, at the very peak of some intense 'good bye' sex, it hit. I was paralyzed. He screamed "Get into a doorway and brace yourself!" Well, I did. After what seemed like 10 minutes, the room stopped rocking and I heard him behind me, laughing hysterically. I turned my head to see him braced in the bedroom doorway, still with a full hardon. I looked back down at mine. When he got a grip he said "You had to pick the door to the balcony, you moron!" and I looked out over the pool to see about 20 of his neighbors laughing just as hard.

Now earthquakes scare me, too.

 

[B_Hickboy]

We have two or three of them a year around here. They rarely go above 4.0, so other than slight cracks that develop in foundations there really isn't any damage. We've had at least one huge one here, but I was too young to remember it. 1886 Charleston earthquake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Herrmann]

It may have been '64 or '65 and we lived just outside of Ft. Lewis, WA. I was in first grade(?), and was in the bathroom. The place started shaking, throwing little me to the floor. Of course, I was the last one out of the school; which didn't make the staff too happy.... And I think this was the big, giant one that hit Alaska simultaneously with the Pacifc Northwest.
So now I live waaaay inland in Indiana - we're all wondering when the next tornado will hit as opposed to wondering when Mt. Ranier will blow.

 

[B_Nick4444]

have spent a lot of time on the fudging Left Coast, but always seem to miss them ... I saw a tornado start to form in Colorado though, but that's the extent of that story ... sorry

 

[D_Chaumbrelayne_Copprehead]

I felt them in Oregon, when I lived near the west coast of the US. We didn't have any bad ones, but you could feel them rumbling from time to time.

I actually felt one in Georgia once; having been through quakes on the west coast, I knew exactly what it was. It happened one Sunday, and some people I was with thought it was a BIG-ass truck going by until it just kept going too long! LOL!

Most earthquakes are pretty benign. People live their lives in places with lots of earthquakes and don't get too ... uh ... rattled.

I've never been inconvenienced by a quake, but I've had my life severely interrupted by a hurricane and flooding. I'll take a whole lot of minor quakes over one hurricane that stops over the water next to your city for a day or so.

 

[BiItalianBro]

I have felt a few in California but they were minor...it was funny how people started betting on, "oh that's just a 3"..."nah it was a 3.5". The one that kind of freaked me out was in Agana,Guam a few years ago. I was jet lagged and ragged...freaking 2am local time and about 2pm my body time...I tried to get a couple hours shut eye before the busy day ahead, and my bed (and room) start bouncing like they were on a wave. I have also been in a few tremors in Japan but once again, no big deal.

My most recent was last June when I was home in Kentucky...and was literally knocked on my feet at 530am by a 6 plus....it was followed a few hours later by a 5something. That one was centered in the central USA (southern Indiana) and felt as far north as Canada and as far south as Atlanta, GA.

 

[nudeyorker]

I grew up in LA...the first bad one that I remember was in 1968, that one demolished most of our house. There was anther one in 1971 that for us was not as bad. I managed to be in San Francisco during the bad one in 1989 and again in LA in 1994. They are really scary because from the time I was very little people have been talking about "The Big One" and each time I kept thinking that this was it!

 

[D_CountdeGrandePinja]

Was born in Bklyn, NY - moved to southern California for three years - felt alot of rumbling - glasses shakin', sounded like a subway car coming into station.

No warning with them - at least with hurricanes, we get a warning.

All things being = I still prefer Ca. over Fla.