OT: A whole lotta shakin' going on, or My First Quake :)

Redwolf · Post by **Redwolf** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 12:19 pm

TelegramSam wrote:Hrm, I was told that the most destructive earthquake in the US is that one that wiped out Charleston, SC in 1886...

That's quite possible. The New Madrid quake was centered in a relatively unpopulated area, but was felt as far east as Washington DC. "Most damaging" and "largest" aren't always the same thing...if a big quake is centered in an unpopulated area, it might not do much damage (depending on what's in its way...quakes create "ripples" like dropping a stone into water), or it might do a lot...it kinda depends on what's in its path and what kind of ground it's sitting on.

For example, the Loma Prieta quake was centered a few miles south of Santa Cruz, but caused extensive damage as far away as San Francisco (about 70 miles). That was a much smaller quake than the New Madrid, which I believe was a 9.

Redwolf

TelegramSam · Post by **TelegramSam** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 12:26 pm

well a lot of how destructive quakes are depends on the bedrock, as well.

Unfortunatly, obvservation stations for seismic activity weren't around in 1886 and I don't think the richter scale was either so it's hard to tell exactly how "big" that quake was. It did do a hell of a lot of structural damage, cause sinkholes and killed about 60 people, if memory serves me. I do know it was reported as being felt as far away as cuba and chicago...

MikeClem · Post by **MikeClem** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 7:10 pm

Pretty wild, eh? Felt like my house was doin' the Riverdance thing across the front yard. I guess it's pretty routine for you guys on the west coast, but it's really unusual around here.

Mike

raindog1970 · Post by **raindog1970** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 7:29 pm

Oh yeah, I got the hell scared out of me at 4:00 this morning!

It takes a lot to wake me up, but this morning's quake shook my bed hard enough to make me think somebody was in my bedroom doing it.
I sleep with ear plugs in because of my noisy and inconsiderate neighbors, so I didn't hear the rattling windows that went along with it, but it was still a very rude awakening!

Daniel_Bingamon · Post by **Daniel_Bingamon** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 7:29 pm

Was that quake you felt part of the New Madrid system.
One time the New Madrid Fault was so severe that it made the Mississippi River run backwards for three whole days!
Aftershocks caused chimneys to fall for the next three years thereafter.

New Madrid is due for a big one, hopefully it will just simmer and keep letting off pressure little by little like it normally does.

Post by **Dale** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 7:54 pm

CHIFF & FIPPLE HQ HIT BY QUAKE

Ok, so I'm exaggerating. We are in Birmingham, Alabama which is north central Alabama. Several people I spoke today felt the quake and some, like me and my family, sorta slept through it. On the other hand, get this, at 4:00 a.m. or so my dog, Kate R. McCutcheon (that's my dog's name), started barkig wildly and wouldn't stop, even when I went outside and chastised her and snapped at her jugular with my own bared teeth. So, I was awake thereafter--as rare for me to be awake at that hour it is for Kate R. McCutcheon to bark like that. So, it must have been that, you know, animal thing.

No damage to the house. In fact, a wall that was already cracked is no longer cracked. Go figure.

Dale

The Weekenders · Post by **The Weekenders** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 8:13 pm

Lodging a protest to Heavenly Father:

Dear Dad:

I don't think its fair to make people who already live with humid putrefyingly hot bug-filled summers, possible hurricanes and everything else unhealthy about the Deep South endure earthquakes as well.

You see, I thought we had a deal. In California, we get all the good weather and others' envy but infrequently get completely whupped by the shakers or massive wildfires. Southern chiffsters have to live with annual reminders of THEIR life-threatening natural occurrences.

Why are you pickin' on my friends?

Signed,
The Weekender, who sleeps thru 4.9s.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 8:56 pm

Being from Oklahoma, earthquakes weren't an experience I had until we moved to the Philippines, when I was twelve years old. One night, in the middle of the night, when I was a teenager living in Mindanao, we had a 7.5 quake. I was awake when it hit. There were waves in the fish tank. I headed outside, a-slipping and a-sliding as I went. Our Christmas tree fell over, busting the glass balls. Our next-door neighbors had a small store, and we heard the stack of pop bottle cases come crashing down. We had a dog with six pups, who ran around barking at the ground. Another neighbor's kitchen was split down the middle, right through the divider of their kitchen sink. I stayed up the rest of the night.

A missionary friend of mine was tending an elderly man in the hospital. As the quake hit, he was helping him use the bed pan. He jumped under the hospital bed, when the quake hit, while the sick man cried out, "You get back here and finish the job!"

Daniel_Bingamon · Post by **Daniel_Bingamon** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 9:07 pm

DaleWisely wrote:CHIFF & FIPPLE HQ HIT BY QUAKE

So does that make it a Chiffquake?

Redwolf · Post by **Redwolf** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 9:14 pm

The Giant Dipper roller coaster, at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, passes over its entry building at one point, which causes the whole building to rattle. My daughter refers to that as a "mirth quake"

Redwolf

brianormond · Post by **brianormond** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 11:35 pm

West coast life is replete with little teacup shakers, floor oscillators and
big economy size ground waves. To wit: -A rumbling feeling like garbage trucks nearby shook a Seattle video store, and I ran out along with other customers as the floor began to sway. The punked-out cashier remained inside, yawned, and said he grew up in L.A..

Redwolf · Post by **Redwolf** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 2:21 am

When we first moved back here from the East Coast, we were worried about our daughter, who'd never had an earthquake drill in her life, so we used to test her: "If an earthquake were to start right now, what would you do?" She learned her lesson well...the first fair-sized shaker we had, she ducked right into the nearest interior doorway and calmly rode it out. Now she plays the "guess the Richter" game with the rest of us: "I think it was a 4 centered near here." "Nah, I think it started out as a 6 in Hollister."

Our German exchange student was seriously freaked out by the 5 we had when she was here...we had joked about scheduling a little earthquake for her so she could get the full California experience, but she didn't take us seriously! (heck, I knew that, within the span of nine months, there'd have to be at least one!). Her eyes were so big, they looked like saucers! (but, to give her credit, she didn't panic, and did exactly as we told her to do). Poor girl...I think she was heartily sick of us crazy Californians by the time she went home!

Redwolf

sturob · Post by **sturob** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 4:39 am

That New Madrid quake that's always discussed probably wasn't as damaging as the SoCarolina one because of the lack of construction at the time . . . from the stuff I've read about it, the geological evidence suggests the quake was sufficient to cause the Mississippi River to flow northward for at least several hours. Now that's a quake.

That USGS page has a lot of interesting information. Quakes make more of a rumble over on this side of the Rockies, it would seem: they make some statement to the effect that while small quakes might only be felt in California for a 60ish mile radius, an equivalent quake here would be felt for a 300ish mile radius. Hmm.

I don't think the Alabama quake was part of the New Madrid fault line . . . just more intratectonic plate wobbling. Maybe we're getting new Great Smokeys or something.

Stuart

TelegramSam · Post by **TelegramSam** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 8:16 am

sturob wrote: That USGS page has a lot of interesting information. Quakes make more of a rumble over on this side of the Rockies, it would seem: they make some statement to the effect that while small quakes might only be felt in California for a 60ish mile radius, an equivalent quake here would be felt for a 300ish mile radius. Hmm.

told ya: it's all about the bedrock!

atarango · Post by **atarango** » Thu May 01, 2003 11:51 am

I have to say the brick buildings tripped me out when I left for school in New England, originally being from Southern California...

I remember my first big quake- It was a 6.1 and My town was the epicenter- I was 7 years old and on the schoolbus when it began to bounce, and I mean bounce.. we just sat there terrified. The bus driver even had no idea of what was happening...

anyway my little wooden frame house was okay except lots of books and dishes fell down, and my fish died when his bowl came crashing off the desk he was on- but the old part of my town- which had hundred year old houses originally built by the quaker settlers just fell in. All the old beautiful houses had partially collapsed rooms- a local mall just pancaked on itself and the streets were buckled everywhere- it was really scary as a little kid....

talking about rude awakenings- when the northridge quake hit when i was a teenager the shaking was so hard i was practically bounced out of bed while still asleep.... not a good way to wake up
-Angela

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OT: A whole lotta shakin' going on, or My First Quake :)

CHIFF & FIPPLE HQ STRUCK BY QUAKE

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