So, Al - Did you feel that Quake?

[audreyh1]

So, TromboneAl - Did you feel that Quake?

A pretty good one today in your "back yard".

Hope no damage on your property.

Wow - looks like this one was right on top of the Mendocino Triple Junction!

I studied up on the Mendocino Triple Junction in 2008 when I spent a month in Humboldt County. Never did make it out to Cape Mendocino - I really wanted to, but we ran out of time on our day trip to the redwoods south of Eureka.

[The Mendocino Triple Junction is right at Cape Mendocino south of Eureka. It is where San Andreas Fault (where the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate slide past each other) ends at the Mendocino Fault. North of this fault line, the Gorda Plate is sliding under the North American Plate creating the Cascade Volcanos.

Mendocino Triple Junction Offshore Northern California]

Audrey

 

[W2R]

Also if any of our northern California members are reading please chime in! I wonder how bad this quake felt, or didn't feel, to those of you in that area and hope all is well.

 

[bbbamI]

How strong was the quake?

 

[audreyh1]

Magnitude 6.5 and it lasted 10 seconds!!!!! 27 miles southeast of Eureka.

Reports are minor structural damage, stuff falling off shelves, snapped power lines, cracks in plumbing/gas lines. But no fire or reports of building collapses or casualties. 6.5 earthquake near Eureka, Calif., snaps power lines and topples televisions [Updated] | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times

TromboneAl may have power out, so we might not hear from him right away.

Audrey

 

[bbbamI]

Thanks Audrey.

Damn.

 

[W2R]

Glad to hear no building collapses or casualties. If I were T-Al I would be more worried about safety should there be aftershocks, than about posting on the forum at the moment.

 

[mb]

I'm in Silicon Valley.

I didn't feel it although it was reported that it was felt this far south.

We had a 4.1 in the hills east of here on Thursday that I felt.

IMHO there are two kinds of quakes.

(1) The "Oh cool! An earthquake!" type. These are sort of fun if there is no damage.
(2) The "Oh s***, an earthquake! Where do I hide!" type. These are the bad kind.

The Thursday quake was the former.

mb

 

[TromboneAl]

Hi guys -- yes, we felt it, and the power went out for about six hours. No damage here, but at stores 30 minutes away, things fell off shelves, glass broke, etc. There was chaos and a few ambulances required at the mall, says the news.

Lena was outside, cooling off from a hot flash, and felt dizzy. She was actually 10 feet from the edge of a cliff, so it's good it wasn't bigger. I was inside reading a book, and felt a good-size shaking that stopped and started for about 30 seconds. It was only a fun-sized earthquake for me -- it didn't pass that threshold into scary. I should have gotten under the table, but I didn't.

It's just as well that I hadn't put the TV on top of the entertainment center (too heavy).

I went outside, found Lena, looked for tsunamis, and talked with the neighbors. After every quake the question is "Was this a small quake close by, or a big one far away?" Since the power went out, we figured it was the latter.

We haven't felt any aftershocks.

 

[KB]

Glad to hear that you and Lena are OK and there is no damage to your home. After going through the Oakland fires, you've lived through enough natural disasters for a lifetime already.

 

[W2R]

Glad to hear you and Lena are OK, and didn't sustain damage to your home, Al! I would never have thought that a 6.5 quake would be in the "fun" category, though.

 

[MikeD]

Did not feel anything here in Northern Virginia this time. But I felt one here once. The whole house kinda shook for about 15 seconds. I thought it was from a loud jet from Dulles airport but the clinking handles on the dresser told me different. Heard on the news that night there was a small quake.

Mike D.

 

[Nords]

Whew, that could've been a lot worse. I hope that gives you at least another 20 years of tectonic stress relief.

We used to get a few quakes a year in Monterey. Even if you didn't feel them you'd have to straighten pictures on the wall. Occasionally it'd happen at night, wake you up, and make you think it was the other person shaking the bed.

The Hawaii quake sounded/felt like a helicopter landing on the roof. Don't care to repeat that experience.

 

[TromboneAl]

Glad to hear you and Lena are OK, and didn't sustain damage to your home, Al! I would never have thought that a 6.5 quake would be in the "fun" category, though.

Note that the epicenter was about 50 miles away, and the news media have exaggerated things.

It does make one realize, however, that with a little bad luck (e.g. being on a crumbling cliff or on the beach during a tsunami), even a small earthquake could be personally disastrous.

And in case you haven't seen this:

 

[kyounge1956]

Glad to hear you and Lena are OK, and didn't sustain damage to your home, Al! I would never have thought that a 6.5 quake would be in the "fun" category, though.

When the 2001 Nisqually quake hit, I was working on a land survey crew for the local public utility department. We were at a construction site, and I was standing with my back to the contractor's big pickup truck. It took me a few moments to realize that it was an earthquake and not somebody starting the truck. It was not particularly scary in that big open area where there was nothing to fall off of or to fall onto you, but I would not want to have been in what is now my office, on the 45th floor of a high-rise office tower! Even a high wind can be a little unnerving up there, because the building can be felt swaying back and forth. It must have been a pretty wild ride during the quake. A friend of mine was on the fifth floor of an old wood frame building at the time, and much closer to the epicenter than I was. For her, Nisqually (6.8) definitely fell into the "scary quake" category.