Earthquake

[eternal light]

It appears the shaking has stopped. I held on to the bed and stayed put until things seemed calm again; so far so good.

Los Angeles rocked by 5.8 magnitude quake

33 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — A 5.8 magnitude earthquake rattled Los Angeles on Tuesday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, the United States Geological Survey said.

The quake struck at 11.42 am (1842 GMT) and was centred 33 miles (50 kilometers) east of Los Angeles at a depth of 7.6 miles, the survey said.

The tremor was felt across Los Angeles, with the office block housing AFP's bureau on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood swaying and shuddering after the quake.

Geologists say an earthquake capable of causing widespread destruction is 99 percent certain of hitting California within the next 30 years.

A 6.7 earthquake in Los Angeles in 1994 left 60 people dead and did an estimated 10 billion dollars damage while a 6.9 quake in San Francisco in 1989 claimed the lives of 67 people.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jmZjKf...c4MOZRGuIJcCZxQ

[ally]

Scary stuff kido. I hope everyone in the area is OK

[TheZeppyWanderer]

very sorry to hear this news - let us hope the damage to property is minimal, and the casualties extremely few and far between.

[katydidgood]

I felt it tooooo!! all the way over here in the desert east of bakersfield...wow Hope you are all ok down that way. It was just a little shake here.

[eternal light]

I'm still feeling a little wobbly. It's been one of those shaken not stirred days.

[3hrsoflunacy]

Down here in Irvine, it was felt. It was, perhaps, the strongest shaking I have felt since '94.

[Medhb]

Prayers to the West Coast!

From LA to SD to Vegas!

[Memphis]

I'm still feeling a little wobbly. It's been one of those shaken not stirred days.

I was thinking of you and everyone...watch out for the aftershocks

be careful youre my favorite rose over there

I'm waiting for the ride here in Memphis we're due for the bump soon and it's supposed to be very nasty

[MadScreamingGallery]

My prayers and best wishes to everyone in So Cal who was affected by the earthquake.

[Virginia]

I hope everyone will be ok!

[SunChild]

I hope everyone's ok!

[eternal light]

I was thinking of you and everyone...watch out for the aftershocks

be careful youre my favorite rose over there

I'm waiting for the ride here in Memphis we're due for the bump soon and it's supposed to be very nasty

Thank you, Memphis and everyone for your good wishes. Everyone who I talked to today felt the earthquake shake. It blew everyone's minds. My phone service stopped as soon as the quake hit. I inspected for gas leaks and did not notice any.

So far there have been no major aftershocks that I have experienced or heard about; crossing my fingers.

[Zoso4Vida]

Thank you, Memphis and everyone for your good wishes. Everyone who I talked to today felt the earthquake shake. It blew everyone's minds. My phone service stopped as soon as the quake hit. I inspected for gas leaks and did not notice any.

So far there have been no major aftershocks that I have experienced or heard about; crossing my fingers.

Ditto on the best wishes. I was in the city of Orange, in Orange County and I was on the 10th floor of a building. It did NOT feel good at all, as we swayed sideways and rattled.

All's okay around me, except for my uncle who's a machinist and cut off his entire left thumb. He was sawing some metal, got distracted with the rattling and he sawed through his left thumb. I was told that they have reattached it.... damn shame.

[eternal light]

Ditto on the best wishes. I was in the city of Orange, in Orange County and I was on the 10th floor of a building. It did NOT feel good at all, as we swayed sideways and rattled.

All's okay around me, except for my uncle who's a machinist and cut off his entire left thumb. He was sawing some metal, got distracted with the rattling and he sawed through his left thumb. I was told that they have reattached it.... damn shame.

Oh dear. I hope he recuperates well. It's fortunate that they were able to reattach the thumb. That's the worst I've heard so far, but at least he sounds like he'll be alright. It's disappointing though. Probably wasn't the high point of his day.

[Rock Action]

Hope everyone's OK.

But after dealing with a 7.1 back in 1989, let me assure you it's not terribly serious. Panic caused more problems than anything else.

[Hotplant]

Scary stuff huh? I had to leave just as the news story broke on CNN. I was worried for all our Cali friends here on the board and people I know there.

Buckle up kids....it could be a bumpy night!

I was at a Dr. appointment and my docs hubby called her and asked if her mom was ok. She was all calm like and just said," oh, a 5.4, I'm sure she's fine."

She grew up there and was in the big one in Frisco.

I just thought it was kind of funny...the California attitude on earthquakes.

But, seriously I pray the big one does not happen.

EL...you crack me up.

[Sugarplum]

I wish everyone who was affected by the earthquake a smooth recovery. I was at work, and could see from a distance the news on the TV.. but I couldn't quite make out the headlines. It looked to me like some sort of earthquake footage.. so I was hoping it wasn't anything too serious.

And Zoso4Vida.. I am very sorry to hear about your uncle. I hope he recovers well Everyone take care.

[Del Zeppnile]

Thanks to all for the well wishes, it's really kind of embarassing to me how badly Southern California residents seem overeact to these small earthquakes. This one ended up being a magnitude 5.4 which is only about 1% of the energy of the Northridge quake we had a few years back. That one was a magnitude 6.7.

Yeah, this one was a fun ride, but really nothing happened.

So just to give some perspective here are some comparisons:

1989 Loma Prieta Quake (South of San Francisco) magnitude 6.9

1994 Northridge Quake (Just North of Los Angeles) magnitude 6.7

1971 Sylmar Quake (San Ferndando Valley of Los Angeles0 magnitude 6.6

Anchorage Alaska Quake - magnitude 8.4 Lasting nearly five minutes, it was the most powerful recorded earthquake in U.S. and North American history, and the third most powerful ever measured by seismograph; it had a moment magnitude of 9.2 and registered 8.4 on the Richter scale.(wikipedia)

Yeah folks, the "Big One" is still due to hit California somewhere on the San Andreas Fault line sometime within the next 10 -20 years. If it is a big as they predict (7.0 -8.0) which would then be in the range of the Great San Francisco Quake of 1906 which was magnitude 7.8 and resulted in 3000 deaths. A quake that large to hit a populated area of Southern California now would result in many hundreds of billions of dollars in damage and catastrophic deaths.

It's coming so stay tuned.

San Francisco 1906

[Speed Racer]

Thanks to all for the well wishes, it's really kind of embarassing to me how badly Southern California residents seem overeact to these small earthquakes. This one ended up being a magnitude 5.4 which is only about 1% of the energy of the Northridge quake we had a few years back. That one was a magnitude 6.7.

Yeah, this one was a fun ride, but really nothing happened.

So just to give some perspective here are some comparisons:

1989 Loma Prieta Quake (South of San Francisco) magnitude 6.9

1994 Northridge Quake (Just North of Los Angeles) magnitude 6.7

1971 Sylmar Quake (San Ferndando Valley of Los Angeles0 magnitude 6.6

Anchorage Alaska Quake - magnitude 8.4 Lasting nearly five minutes, it was the most powerful recorded earthquake in U.S. and North American history, and the third most powerful ever measured by seismograph; it had a moment magnitude of 9.2 and registered 8.4 on the Richter scale.(wikipedia)

Yeah folks, the "Big One" is still due to hit California somewhere on the San Andreas Fault line sometime within the next 10 -20 years. If it is a big as they predict (7.0 -8.0) which would then be in the range of the Great San Francisco Quake of 1906 which was magnitude 7.8 and resulted in 3000 deaths. A quake that large to hit a populated area of Southern California now would result in many hundreds of billions of dollars in damage and catastrophic deaths.

It's coming so stay tuned.

San Francisco 1906

Horrible.

Happy your alright Del He careful ok?

[eternal light]

Phone service is still out. I kept waking up in the middle of the night last night. Slept fitfully.

[Zoso4Vida]

Hi Eternal Light and Sugar Plum

Thanks for being so sweet. I went to visit my uncle late last night, and he was still quite upset by the whole thing. He kinda referenced what Del was saying, that this was not much of a major quake and since he's lived here in California pretty much all of his life, he's seen worse. Nonetheless, he had never been cutting sheet metal when an earthquake had occurred. He won't gain complete mobility in his thumb, but it's better than having lost it completely.

Oddly, I learned of another injury that occurred during the earthquake.... a friend of mine has parents who live in the city of Chino. Her father, who is in his early 70's, was on a ladder in the living room trying to change the battery on their smoke detector. They have vaulted ceilings and it was a pretty high ladder. Well, he was rattled off the ladder, fell and broke his arm.

All the news channels this morning where going on incessantly about being prepared for the "big one." My co-workers are all paranoid today in the office. Man, the truth is, we'll never know when it may strike. It could be tomorrow, it could be in 100 years.

In the meantime, I'll continue to live each day like it's my last, crack open a beer in the evenings and groove to Zeppelin!!!!

[eternal light]

It's very disorienting; I couldn't sleep last night. At least the phone is back on. That's no fun having a broken arm, though. I heard about someone who was working on a crane at a construction site; he couldn't get off that thing fast enough. That would totally freak me out; of all places to be during an earthquake.