Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Breaking News: California Quake, LA to San Diego shook,11:42AM Epicenter near Chino Hills...5.4-5.6 Stay Tuned

10 comments:

Bradda said...

My cats lost it! I don't like it when the ground moves...

enigma4ever said...

I am so sorry Bradda....
So did your cats KNOW ahead of time?

( when I lived in Cali- my Bassatt and my cat and my rabbit ALL knew beforehand...they would all warn me....)

D.K. Raed said...

It was even mildly felt in vegas. 5.4 is definitely a good jolt. We felt them all the time in Palm Springs & San Diego ... a rumbling crack & moving up/down/sideways. Everything in the house/office cracks & pops & sways. About the time you start to worry, it is over (except for aftershocks).

I heard one mom in Chino say she looked out her window just then where her kids had been playing in the street, and they were squatted down, almost trying to hold on to the earth. So it was definitely a jolt & a swaying motion.

San Onofre Nuclear Facility is near, but they say they can withstand a 7.5. I bet they're performing safety checks now. I find it interesting the news is just showing a lot of business & traffic as usual shots of the air pollution in L.A. (which is not the epicenter).

enigma4ever said...

DK::
Hey..kind of strange- have we actually seen a USGS person speak ? or update ? odd... 5.4 and up is a quake- and 7 miles is that shallow or deep- I have heard TWO very different things on two different channels...

I am sure that alot is getting checked....roads,bridges etc...

enigma4ever said...

DK:::
I forgot to ask- 27 afterschocks within 2 hours- is that alot ?

D.K. Raed said...

I think 7-miles is quite shallow, which would account for feeling strong at the epicenter, but not so much further out. At least that's what I heard, but then another channel said the opposite ... that a shallow quake would be more widely felt. So ... yeah, a USGS person should be on the TV explaining (where ARE they?).

Now 27-aftershocks ... sounds like a lot, but there can be hundreds of aftershocks. If you're on or near the epicenter, you'll feel them above magnitude 3. If they are aftershocks, they very quickly dissipate to below the level a person can feel them. But, as always, the big concern is if the original quake was a precursor of a larger event. I remember little aftershocks for 3-days after Northbridge and Landers.

Many quakes are during non-working hours which means less damage. This one was during working hours, but the area around Chino Hills is far less developed than, say, L.A., so may not have much damage. There is a fault line there, well known but I forget the name, than runs mostly East/West. The area around it is still pretty natural. The back-road hwy from inland areas of Riverside/San Bernardino follows this fault line to get over to coastal Orange County. That's where I think the epicenter was. It follows canyons & ravines that also run in a generally NE to SW pattern (similar to san diego). That's about all I know of the terrain.

Bradda said...

Strange enough they did freak just before it happened. The neighbors dog was going apeshit just before also. Weird. Like the elephants all ran inland just before the tsunami.

enigma4ever said...

Bradda::
I mention it because if you know WHAT they do- if it happens again it gives you time to get to a doorway etc...poor things really hard on them.... ( the Chinese used to keep frogs as pets to monitor for quakes....our best indicator animals at our house were always the rabbits..)

DK::::
thanks for all of the great info...really helpful...

Ingrid said...

dang..did not find out about until now..our computer/phone lines were down for the day...I better check over with Robster..
(RJ to you)

Ingrid

enigma4ever said...

Ingrid::
I did check his blog earlier ( nothing)...I will check again....hope he is okay...I checked on Skippy, and Dusty (still have not heard from Dusty..hmmm)...and Bradda...