California quake
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sauronsfinger
- Posts: 3508
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California quake
Anybody out there feel this one? Any damage?
There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.... John Rogers
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nerdanel
- This is Rome
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This was of interest to us legal types up north because today is the first day of this year's California bar exam, and apparently the earthquake was distracting to SoCal bar takers. But word has it that it was only 10-20 minutes of fairly mild distraction; hopefully won't be the difference between passing and failing for too many people.
Needless to say, I did NOT feel it in SF.
Griffy - you and Faramond work 100 miles away from each other? Wow!
Needless to say, I did NOT feel it in SF.
Griffy - you and Faramond work 100 miles away from each other? Wow!
I won't just survive
Oh, you will see me thrive
Can't write my story
I'm beyond the archetype
I won't just conform
No matter how you shake my core
'Cause my roots, they run deep, oh
When, when the fire's at my feet again
And the vultures all start circling
They're whispering, "You're out of time,"
But still I rise
This is no mistake, no accident
When you think the final nail is in, think again
Don't be surprised, I will still rise
Oh, you will see me thrive
Can't write my story
I'm beyond the archetype
I won't just conform
No matter how you shake my core
'Cause my roots, they run deep, oh
When, when the fire's at my feet again
And the vultures all start circling
They're whispering, "You're out of time,"
But still I rise
This is no mistake, no accident
When you think the final nail is in, think again
Don't be surprised, I will still rise
Earthquakes are a weird thing. As soon as it starts, you know what's going on, but it could go one of two ways... really big one, or not much at all.
I was on the third story of a three story building about 6 miles from the epicenter. It started, and it didn't seem like it was going anywhere, and then it picked up and kept going for what was probably 15 seconds, but felt like 30.
There's nothing quite like the dichotomy of knowing the building you're in was built to move like it's moving... but also still feeling like the floor could fall out from under you or the ceiling could collapse on you at any second...
Normally we don't think of our buildings moving... but the only that happened were some drawers opening, some light fixtures popping open, and lots of dust falling from the ceiling...
I was on the third story of a three story building about 6 miles from the epicenter. It started, and it didn't seem like it was going anywhere, and then it picked up and kept going for what was probably 15 seconds, but felt like 30.
There's nothing quite like the dichotomy of knowing the building you're in was built to move like it's moving... but also still feeling like the floor could fall out from under you or the ceiling could collapse on you at any second...
Normally we don't think of our buildings moving... but the only that happened were some drawers opening, some light fixtures popping open, and lots of dust falling from the ceiling...
Last edited by halplm on Tue Jul 29, 2008 11:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
For the TROUBLED may you find PEACE
For the DESPAIRING may you find HOPE
For the LONELY may you find LOVE
For the SKEPTICAL may you find FAITH
-Frances C. Arrillaga 1941-1995
For the DESPAIRING may you find HOPE
For the LONELY may you find LOVE
For the SKEPTICAL may you find FAITH
-Frances C. Arrillaga 1941-1995
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Voronwë the Faithful
- At the intersection of here and now
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nel, I assumed that Griffy meant that Faramond felt the earthquake 100 miles away from the epicenter, not that they are 100 miles away from each other. I could be wrong, however.Griffy - you and Faramond work 100 miles away from each other? Wow!
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
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Primula Baggins
- Living in hope
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Hal, I've been in that kind of a situation in a fairly large earthquake, in an interior room on the third floor of a building "designed to move." I hadn't realized that the room I was on would not only sway but flex—I could hear it creaking. Yikes.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
exactly, Prim. You expect to move with the building, that the room itself would be fixed around you. But it's not like that... and i was in a fairly large room, which made it even more odd.
For the TROUBLED may you find PEACE
For the DESPAIRING may you find HOPE
For the LONELY may you find LOVE
For the SKEPTICAL may you find FAITH
-Frances C. Arrillaga 1941-1995
For the DESPAIRING may you find HOPE
For the LONELY may you find LOVE
For the SKEPTICAL may you find FAITH
-Frances C. Arrillaga 1941-1995
That was such a sloppy post by me! 
I had something written out, got distracted, and forgot to move the distance comment to the beginning to indicate that he felt the earthquake from 100+ miles away, while I didn't at all and I was practically same distance or maybe even marginally closer.
We actually work only about three miles apart as the crow flies, if that much. I can see his building from the parking structure across the street and he can probably see the very rooftop of mine from the floor he works on, except he's on the wrong side of the building for that!
While in South Africa there was once a small earthquake about midday, caused by a disused mineshaft collapsing about 20 miles away. We all sat bouncing in our fancy Aeron chairs on the second floor and looked at each other in surprise.
I had something written out, got distracted, and forgot to move the distance comment to the beginning to indicate that he felt the earthquake from 100+ miles away, while I didn't at all and I was practically same distance or maybe even marginally closer.We actually work only about three miles apart as the crow flies, if that much. I can see his building from the parking structure across the street and he can probably see the very rooftop of mine from the floor he works on, except he's on the wrong side of the building for that!
While in South Africa there was once a small earthquake about midday, caused by a disused mineshaft collapsing about 20 miles away. We all sat bouncing in our fancy Aeron chairs on the second floor and looked at each other in surprise.
I hate earthquakes! Most of the ones I've experienced where of the ooomph-bang! type, but the really unsettling ones are when you sit in your kitchen and suddenly the floor bobs gently, like a boat on a wave.
My co-worker was on the phone with our contractor in the area when they got hit, so he got the second-hand experience.
My co-worker was on the phone with our contractor in the area when they got hit, so he got the second-hand experience.
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
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superwizard
- Ingólemo
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I felt it even though I was over 100 miles away from the epicenter. I was on the computer going over a few slides with my mentor and I look at him and I say: Either this is an earthquake or I'm really sleepy! He looks at me and goes: nah its the table-its rickety. I got a kick when I found out that it was an earthquake! Roughly half my friends felt it here...
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Voronwë the Faithful
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Indulge me to tell my favorite earthquake story.
It was on Halloween last year, when we had a 5.4 quake (the same size as the one today) near here. It was the strongest quake that I have felt (I moved here a few weeks after the Loma Prieta quake). Beth was teaching class, and we were doing a rhythm called Kaki Lambe. Kaki Lambe is a traditional rhythm of the Baga people of western Guinea, and it is traditionally played for a very powerful spirit, who is consulted once a year to inform the various families what was in store for them the coming year. Beth was talking about the history of the rhythm and how the first two times that the national dance company of Guinea tried to present Kaki Lambe the dancer who represented the spirit died soon after. She also talked about how a distorted version of the rhythm had become popular in the U.S. and that it made the Baga people very sad when the heard it played that way, because it was such an important part of their culture. After she showed the different parts, one of the students who had learned that distorted version (and perhaps wasn't being attention to what she was saying) said something like "can it be played like this" and went to play the distorted version of the rhythm. But literally the exact second that he played the first note, the whole room started shaking. Kaki Lambe had made his point.
And that is my favorite earthquake story.
It was on Halloween last year, when we had a 5.4 quake (the same size as the one today) near here. It was the strongest quake that I have felt (I moved here a few weeks after the Loma Prieta quake). Beth was teaching class, and we were doing a rhythm called Kaki Lambe. Kaki Lambe is a traditional rhythm of the Baga people of western Guinea, and it is traditionally played for a very powerful spirit, who is consulted once a year to inform the various families what was in store for them the coming year. Beth was talking about the history of the rhythm and how the first two times that the national dance company of Guinea tried to present Kaki Lambe the dancer who represented the spirit died soon after. She also talked about how a distorted version of the rhythm had become popular in the U.S. and that it made the Baga people very sad when the heard it played that way, because it was such an important part of their culture. After she showed the different parts, one of the students who had learned that distorted version (and perhaps wasn't being attention to what she was saying) said something like "can it be played like this" and went to play the distorted version of the rhythm. But literally the exact second that he played the first note, the whole room started shaking. Kaki Lambe had made his point.
And that is my favorite earthquake story.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
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Primula Baggins
- Living in hope
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Be careful what you're messing with, my friend!
Though I know you are nothing but respectful.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
Wow, V! I guess it shouldn't be played like that, eh?
A coworker once told me how an earthquake started when she was in church, just when the choir was singing "I am standing on a solid rock."
A coworker once told me how an earthquake started when she was in church, just when the choir was singing "I am standing on a solid rock."
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
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ArathornJax
- Aldrig nogen sinde Kvitte
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- Location: Northern Utah Misty Mountains
I have been in several.
Outside of the regular 1.0 to 3.5's, my first larger ones were the 5.5 and the 5.8 quakes we had near Livermore in 1980. No need to share those stories.
I was in Loma Prieta and had just gotten off of work when it hit. I was in my car just getting ready to go home when it hit. I thought a co-worker was jumping on my bumper until I looked and no one was there. Then I saw the five story building I worked in. The whole sides of the building were glass and I could see the glass flexing and the building rolling (it was built in 1987). We were lucky that was so short of a quake for the size it was.
After that, about six months, we were living in Walnut Creek (my wife and I) and we had friends that were Catholic and his sister was in town and she was exploring whether she wanted to become a postulant (?); sorry, I'm not Catholic so I'm a little unsure here. Anyway, their apartment was on the fourth floor of this complex. A series of strong quakes hit in a cluster and we all got up from the dinner table and stood in the doorways. What was funny is our friend's sister latched on to me and wouldn't let go, even after the quakes stopped (they were her first). Our friend came over and dug her fingernails out of my shoulder so I could walk away. Don't remember the meal, but I do remember her fingernails.
Outside of the regular 1.0 to 3.5's, my first larger ones were the 5.5 and the 5.8 quakes we had near Livermore in 1980. No need to share those stories.
I was in Loma Prieta and had just gotten off of work when it hit. I was in my car just getting ready to go home when it hit. I thought a co-worker was jumping on my bumper until I looked and no one was there. Then I saw the five story building I worked in. The whole sides of the building were glass and I could see the glass flexing and the building rolling (it was built in 1987). We were lucky that was so short of a quake for the size it was.
After that, about six months, we were living in Walnut Creek (my wife and I) and we had friends that were Catholic and his sister was in town and she was exploring whether she wanted to become a postulant (?); sorry, I'm not Catholic so I'm a little unsure here. Anyway, their apartment was on the fourth floor of this complex. A series of strong quakes hit in a cluster and we all got up from the dinner table and stood in the doorways. What was funny is our friend's sister latched on to me and wouldn't let go, even after the quakes stopped (they were her first). Our friend came over and dug her fingernails out of my shoulder so I could walk away. Don't remember the meal, but I do remember her fingernails.
1. " . . . (we are ) too engrossed in thinking of everything as a preparation or training or making one fit -- for what? At any minute it is what we are and are doing, not what we plan to be and do that counts."
J.R.R. Tolkien in his 6 October 1940 letter to his son Michael Tolkien.
2. We have many ways using technology to be in touch, yet the larger question is are we really connected or are we simply more in touch? There is a difference.
J.R.R. Tolkien in his 6 October 1940 letter to his son Michael Tolkien.
2. We have many ways using technology to be in touch, yet the larger question is are we really connected or are we simply more in touch? There is a difference.
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WampusCat
- Creature of the night
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Great story, V.
And Frelga, your coworker's story reminds me of a fellow parishioner whose contractions started during "Come, Labor On."
It's odd that experiencing something as scary and destructive as an earthquake seems so appealing to me. But then, I always wanted to experience a hurricane until I did. Never again!
And Frelga, your coworker's story reminds me of a fellow parishioner whose contractions started during "Come, Labor On."
It's odd that experiencing something as scary and destructive as an earthquake seems so appealing to me. But then, I always wanted to experience a hurricane until I did. Never again!