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5.2 Earthquake Shakes Up SF Bay Area
Joe Kaz wrote in (along with a number of other concerned folks): "There was a 5.2 Earthquake in Gilroy, CA, 70 miles south of San Francisco. The epicenter was 4.7 miles below surface. It lasted for about 10 seconds, and it did seem like a long time. Everything shook for a while, and it was a little scary. No reports of damage yet. Hope everyone is ok." I've got a report from my sisters father-in-law in gilroy (the epicenter) and he barely noticed it. Nate Oostendorp noted that "My stereo shook a little" in Walnut Creek. The SF Gate story on the quake notes that there are some phones out in some small parts of San Jose. The usgs has an event monitoring page if you are interested.
Didn't feel a thing. No apparent damage. No injuries. Carry on.
-- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
Until an earthquake's magnitude rises above 6.5, it's really not so bad.
Buildings that cannot withstand a 5.2 earthquake should be investigated.
I have been pwned because my
No worries, seen worse. Be a good Californian and go back to bed.
Heh. Course I live in Oregon now so I bet if they had a 5.2 out here everyone would be out on the street talking about how scared they were.
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If you felt the quake, or if you were in the area and didn't feel it, be sure to record your observations here so that the data can be displayed and analyzed.
It's amazing to see 700 responses be recorded in about 20 some minutes, and more data just helps the cause of the USGS. It was minor up here near the bay, but hey, it was my first :) You can access the current map as well.
http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/ca/STORE/X401
Go there if you are in the area of the quake. Report what you felt. Don't make shit up, don't troll the USGS.
I felt some moderate shaking. Biggest quake I've ever been in, but I just moved to Palo Alto from New York. Neat, but scary.
Using your sig line to advertise for friends is lame.
The quake hit in the 3rd period, while the Avs and Sharks were tied 1-1 (both goals having come in the 2nd, within 30 seconds of one another). It may have jolted the announcers, but it sure didn't faze goaltenders Evgeni Nabokov or Patrick Roy, who never let anything through in that period. The game was finally decided in OT, on a goal by Avs forward Peter "The Great" Forsberg, winning the game 2-1 and sending the series back to Pepsi Center in Denver for Game 7.
GO AVS!
Be who you are...and be it in style!
I am in Foster City, 75 km away from the Epicenter. Yup, I felt it. First thing I did was to shout "Sweetieeee, wake up!" to my husband who has *just* gone to sleep. But it only lasted for 10 secs or so, so it was not too bad.
In Greece I've seen worse that this quake.
And in fact, I was feeling like it would be a quake today. In Greece, (older) people have three things to undedify earthquakes that are going to happen in the next few hours:
1. If the climate is unsusally dryly hot and it feels weird to your.. ears (there is an unusual sound of silence, a low pitch sound that masks the other small sounds). It is a different sort of heat. It is like humid heat, but very dry at the same time. I can't explain it better in words, sorry.
2. If for some weird reason, while you just sit somewhere fine and daddy, your ear just "blocks", like it does when water gets inside when you are in the bath or something.
3. If the dogs just bark all day, and no matter what you do to them, they just don't stop barking.
At least these are the ways older people in Greece get a clue about nature's surprises.
When the BIG one comes, all the land east of the San Andreas (or mebbe Hayward) Fault will slide off into the Atlantic. Betcha wish ya were in sunny ... uh ... cool and windy (and often foggy during the summer) Santa Cruz, eh? :-)
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
How on earth do all you Californians deal with it?
When I grew up in the Midwest, it was Severe Thunderstorms, Snow Storms, Floods, and Tornados.
If I lived on the East Coast, I'd worry about Hurricanes.
I live on the West Coast and it's Earthquakes.
Pick your poison.
-Bill
SlashSig Karma: Excellent (mostly affected by moderatio
This was the perfect earthquake for an earthquake virgin like me. It was just strong enough to know that it wasn't my imagination but not so strong that anyone got hurt or any property got damaged. I'm in Redwood City, CA and it was a thrilling experience.
--Asa
First off I live in one of the super windy portions of the San Francisco. Wind funnels down market and the various hills so that I experience regular wind blasts.
This was just like a normal wind blast, in that my huge windows pushed in and the pressure changed in the room. Then instead of slowly going back out like normal the windows shot out REALLY changing the air pressure in the room. It was at this point that I realized it wasn't just a normal blast of wind. Then the TV shook, the shelves moved and the windows came back at me.
Basically it felt to me like a roller coaster... gentle turn (rolling sensation), jolt (hard turn), roll, roll, and a sigh as it was over. Stuff shook but nothing too special and nothing was broke. I also happen to live in a new building designed to handle big earthquakes.
The cool thing was looking out my windows and watching the city light up as everyone turned on their lights and went to their own windows.
--- I do not moderate.
Many years back, we had a 7.4 earthquake followed by a 6.5 aftershock, and many other aftershocks of decreasing intensity. The death count? One person who had a heart attack because of it.
Everyone will like to say that they're more devastating when they are in heavily populated areas. That's completely untrue. They're more devestating when they are in areas where buildings are made extremely cheaply. I had a very large TV jump off of a table and about 5 feet across the room. I had a set of shelves with quite a load on them shake so hard that they damaged the wally they were up against. And in all of that, not a single bit of structural damage. Not a single bridge needed the slightest of repairs (and we've got plenty of those).
Then, a year later, a 6.4 earthquake hits Los Angeles, dozens of people die, several bridges collapse, and buildings collapse. It's simple folks. If you live somewhere that every contractor is cutting corners, even a small quake will destroy everything in sight.
I'd been through a hurricane when I was living back east. I'd rather have 8.0 earthquakes every week, than a hurricane once a decade. Hell, earthquakes really don't do any significant damage. If you were driving, you wouldn't even know that there was an earthquake.
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5.2 Earthquake Barely Nudges San Francisco
Are we going to start reporting heavy rainfall in Hawaii next?
It's rare that you're presented with a knob whose only two positions are Make History and Flee Your Glorious Destiny.
here's mine, northridge earthquake, I dont remember exactly the date, but I wsa playing Wing Commander I or II, I dont remember which, and I had *just* blown up some huge ass ship, a carrier I think -> My speakers are blasting the sound of the ship exploding, and at that percise moment the earthquake begins, and as the ground begins to rumble Im thinking, "holy shit thats a great sound effect", then I realize whats going on and dash to the doorframe where your supposed to be in an earthquake. I think I ended up loosing the level to, got attacked while my ship was unmanned :)
Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley
I've often said, as an east coaster, that I'd like to feel an earthquake. Well now that I have, I have two reactions.
IOW, I was scared more than was appropriate for the size of this thing. Thank GOD that they make the building able to survive this kind of thing. As I think about it, the fact that an 8 story building was gently rocking back and forth (probably about 1/2 inch in both directions), and didn't fall is pretty amazing.
Want to simulate it? Have someone go up to your wheeled chair and wiggle it back and forth at a rate of about 3-4Hz. Now, imagine that the desk that you're leaning on, and the floor that you have your feet on is also moving.
Key to financial independence: Spend less than you earn. Save and invest the difference. Do it for a long time.
So, just as daylight savings time supposedly reminds us to change our smoke detector batteries (because otherwise that annoying 'low battery' beeping always start at 4am), tiny earthquakes remind us about our earthquake kits and preparation. Includes...
And unless you live in Scottsdale, AZ, don't feel smug about the safety of your own location- St. Louis has had an 8.0, and New York State has seen 6.0's.
Dunno about everyone else, I'd say that was pretty big. Here in Seattle, I felt it in a major way even while driving 60mph (thought I had a flat tire, and when I got out and checked, I thought I was just really dizzy, that is until I heard on the news what happend). There were several buildings/walls that collapsed or were irreparably damaged. Didn't you even here about the damage to the capitol building in Olympia?
:)
So it wasn't huge, but it's one I'll remember for a while... certainly bigger than this whimpy one today
LA a couple years ago, about 4AM, a long roller, centered around Joshua Tree if I recall correctly.... I had just fallen asleep in the arms of a hottie I had met the night before.... The quake woke us up and kept going, and we wound up huddling naked under the doorway scared but aroused. When the shaking finally stopped, the phone rang.
It was my girlfriend, who called to see if I was OK.
I've never been so fucking busted.
It's funny that you should say that it's romantic for the sun to set over large bodies of water. Here on the east side of Cleveland, the coast takes a northeast bent along lake erie. Therefore, in the evening, the sun sets over the lake for us. What takes the romance out of the sun gently falling into the slow rolling waves of lake erie is the fact that the lake is so polluted with heavy metals. State health advisories are constantly posted asking that the very old, very young, and pregnant should not eat lake erie fish. Our fish have the proud distinction of being riddled with tumors. It's really sad. When you take a boat trip out to the lake erie islands, and look down into the deeper parts of the lake, it looks so clear and beautiful, it's a shame that if you dive in for a swim, it's going to do you more harm than good.
On a more ontopic note, Cleveland had two 5 point earthquakes in my lifetime (the last one happened three years ago I think?) I must admit, neither were much to get excited about. My computer monitor shook like hell, but I just thought it was because the washer was acting up.
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A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I'm probably not the first person to say it, but...
"The epicenter was 4.7 miles below surface."
BUZZ! Wrong! The epicenter is by definition on the surface. The focus is what was 4.7 miles below the surface.
Now then, why is this particular earthquake generating news (just another Californian earthquake), but the one in New York state a few weeks ago didn't?
I submitted this story three weeks ago but it was rejected.
graspee
when you not only refer to the geologists they interview on the news after earthquakes by their first names only, but you have your favorite.
cheers