EARTHQUAKE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

USGS ^ | 7/29/08

[Alia]

lol! Thank you; I just did. Oh well... earthquakes beget earthquakes began earthquakes. In other news, the stars are out tonight. :>

[bd476]

T Minus Four wrote: "Wrong, each whole number (one point) is ten times stronger than the previous. A 5.0 in ten times stronger than a 4.0"

T Minus Four, that is not true although your comment is based upon a common misconception.

Magnitude is the logarithmic measurement of the amplitude of waves on a seismogram.

When comparing Magnitudes, you are comparing the measurement of amplitude of waves between the two earthquakes. Comparison of Magnitude is not a comparison of strength or energy of the two earthquakes.

It would be correct to say that a 5.0 Magnitude earthquake is ten times bigger than a 4.0 earthquake again, keeping in mind that it is the measured amplitude of waves which are being compared.

A 5.0 earthquake is actually 31.6 times stronger than a 4.0 earthquake. An earthquake's energy is the damaging factor.

[pollywog]

Should of come here when it first happened... but I hit the phone to check on the kiddos.. and low and behold the cell phone was DEAD!!! Now we know they can't be trusted in a crisis!sigh.... Polly

WOW...

[Alia]

Thank you. Makes sense to me.

[Buddygirl]

LOL

[bd476]

ken21 wrote: "that’s the 1st time that i’ve felt an earthquake while sitting in a car. in long beach, at a red light, and the front end of my car went up, down. i looked up to see the aluminum street lamps moving 3-4 like jello."

That sounds like a very unsettling experience.

Years ago, I was sitting at a traffic light when a moderate sized quake hit. At first I thought someone had hit my car from behind. Then after looking in the rear-view mirror and seeing no other car, my attention was drawn forward and up and I noticed the traffic signal and street signs swinging.

[T Minus Four]

T Minus Four, that is not true although your comment is based upon a common misconception.

OK, I accept and confess that I really don't know a dang thing about earthquakes, I'm just a garden-variety Googler :-)

I'm going to go pick on someone's spelling now so I can feel superior.

[Alia]

Sitting on the Golden Gate Bridge in car, long commutes lines, waiting to pay the bridge toll going into SF. The GG Bridge swings, and if stopped in car on bridge; one can really notice it. You can almost see the thought bubbles over the drivers'/passengers' heads... "earthquake?" .

Not funny; but funny. Everyone revs after paying the toll. Fast rev. Get away fast rev.

[bd476]

ROFLOL!

[Alia]

I’ve been meaning to thank you VERY much for posting the gifs at the start of the thread. That 3rd: active time: gif is the coolest!

[bd476]

Alia wrote: "Sitting on the Golden Gate Bridge in car, long commutes lines, waiting to pay the bridge toll going into SF. The GG Bridge swings, and if stopped in car on bridge; one can really notice it. You can almost see the thought bubbles over the drivers'/passengers' heads... "earthquake?" .

Not funny; but funny. Everyone revs after paying the toll. Fast rev. Get away fast rev."

No, would not want to be there. Not today, not tomorrow. Not even during a 3.0 earthquake. No way.

[ken21]

that’s right!

i’ve been through too many socal earthquakes to review all of them here.

but the landers quake was interesting—water in our swimming pool splashed out 20 feet or so.

the norwalk quake found me outside vons pavilions eating a bagel and drinking coffee while waiting for a fellow employee to to to work.

i walked away from the building, lest something would fall on me.

it was like walking on water; the asphalt came in waves. literally.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

AT&T says the phones were ,...technically not dead ,...the system was just overloaded from everyone calling....

Course as a user you can't tell the difference....

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

That Landers quake splashed water out of pools in Albuquerque NM....now that is real power....

[bd476]

You're welcome. Dr. Kate Hutton today said that thus far, the most reliable prediction of "the big one" is: seismologists will know the instant the San Andreas fault breaks and then they will have a minute or two to warn everyone before the seismic waves hit the big cities.

[ZGuy]

Here's my little secret (and I'm surprised no one noticed):

There were several people who posted that there had been an earthquake but they were all at least a minute after mine, yet mine had gifs and a lot of text. The secret is that I typed the post up beforehand and put in all the gifs I liked, and when the earthquake hit, all I had to do was click the "post" button!

[ken21]

that’s funny!

if i remember correctly, it was felt in the skyscrapers in denver too.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks SV...that almost seems too simple,...

[bd476]

You're welcome, Tajgivran. It's good to hear that your Mother is okay. Poor dog. ;-)

It's kind of unnerving thinking that cellphones would not work. After the Northridge earthquake there was no power and as I recall my phone line was out. I couldn't find my flashlight which I had on my nightstand. An entire wall of books was on the floor blocking my exit outside. My 20-inch television had gone airborne and then landed right next to my bed. I nearly tripped on it.

Then my neighbor started screaming "Gas leak! Everybody get out!" Outside a fallen street light blocked the fire department's access to our street. Nine buildings on my block came down. Not fun memories.

This is yet another wake-up call for continual earthquake preparation for all of California.

[444Flyer]

Alrighty, I'm watching the news late this afternoon and lo and behold, a story about a dentist's office. They interviewed a dental hygienist who said she was in the middle of cleaning someone's teeth when the quake struck. She said she could hear the other women who were working in the office screaming. This doesn't comfort me! LOL!