Not just for those on the Left coast

[Xairbusdriver]

Many of us live in earthquake zones, even if not in California. They have occurred in many places around the country and you may visit countries that are also prone to have them. So, take this little quiz and get instant feedback on your knowledge of what to do and when. Enjoy the quiz and end up better prepared for the next quake.

<Quake Quiz>

[Gregg]

 I'd better hope I'm never in a serious earthquake!  

I did feel one once. I was in Golden, Colorado on the third floor of a steel frame / masonry veneer building. My co-workers said I had the "best seat in the house" when I came back into the office from down the hall, if you get my drift. The quake was centered near Laramie, Wyoming. It felt as if someone had shoved me forward, then I recoiled and the motion stopped. It was over in about 3 seconds. I actually turned around and looked at the wall behind me in amazement, because that's the direction the initial force had come from. Of course, there was just ceramic tile on the wall, less than two feet away. There wasn't room for anything to be there!

[RHPConsult]

At 5:04p on October 17, 1989 (you really don't forget such things) a 7.1 quake gave us quite a jolt in the SF/Monterey Bay area.

I had just told my secretary that we would close the office early so to reach our homes for the beginning of the Giants/Oakland A's world series game, which was to start at 5:30 (you really don't forget such things)!

You can take all the quizzes you like, but w/zero nanoseconds of notice you look for something to hide under. I had a large L-shaped desk that worked just fine, thank you. My office was on the corner of the 2d floor of a newish redwood building across the street from the shore of San Francisco Bay.  That building creaked, and shook and crackled, but no glass broke – not even my large corner windows – but lotsa stuff came off the walls, shelves, and bookcases. The biggest mess was our storage room. Here it was, after the lights came back on the next day. See the water cooler? Somehow its 5 gallon (full) water bottle ended up on the floor at least 8 feet from the cooler, upright, without a single drop of water on the floor. Go figure . . .

[attachment=849:__89_Qua...e_Office.jpg]

You really don't forget such things!

A new 250 million dollar Hyatt hotel down the street ultimately required 75 more millions to put it in shape after the quake. Another smaller hotel was torn down and never replaced. No one was killed in our county. The most deaths were at the stacked, multi-lane freeeway supports in Oakland, which liquified and collapsed. You saw it on the news for days.

Update: the guy whose amazing rescue from his car (about 18 inches thick) smashed under tons of concrete and rebar passed away just a few months ago from natural causes.

My 3¢ worth.

"Technical" PS: Kris, the pic was 178 kb. If the mess hadn't been 3 feet deep in papers, file folders, and supplies, I might have gotten it in here under 100 kb.  

[kimmer]

QUOTE(RHPConsult @ Feb 12 2008, 10:54 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

At 5:04p on October 17, 1989 (you really don't forget such things) a 7.1 quake gave us quite a jolt in the SF/Monterey Bay area.

Yup, you don't forget. I remember thinking, "I need to get to a safe spot", but the house was moving so hard I couldn't walk to anywhere safe. So I dropped my cup of coffee and covered myself with the cushion from the chair. We weren't as close as you, but had minor damage -- the scariest of which was the little fissure that showed up in our front yard. It was horizontal to the house and covered several lots in our old neighborhood. Some day, given another good jolt, those houses may roll back into that creek. Glad we don't live there anymore.

QUOTE

Update: the guy whose amazing rescue from his car (about 18 inches thick) smashed under tons of concrete and rebar passed away just a few months ago from natural causes.

Oh wow. Thanks for the update. Still remember the rescue. Okay, I remember it all -- quite vividly.

BTW, I flunked the stoooopid test. It's a good thing I moved.

[krissel]

Here in NJ we really don't have any big shakers but I do remember two little quivers. One woke me up in the early AM when I heard my paint brushes rattling in a coffee can in the next room. Felt the bed vibrating a bit, but aside from the surprise that was OK.

Second one was when I was at my parents' house. We heard and felt a booming sound and thought the furnace had blown up. Checking down the basement showed nothing and we didn't know what it was til the next day.

Glad we don't get the big ones.  

[Gregg]

Speaking of "booming sounds"... We had that once in the winter in Central Illinois, I guess it's Normal. Turns out it was the clouds, sort of. Rapidly vanishing cloud cover created a sharp temperature drop, and ice on the roof cracked, turning the attic into a drum! It sounded like someone was trying to break into the house.

[dolphin]

QUOTE

GREGG Feb 11 2008, 08:29 PM

My co-workers said I had the "best seat in the house" when I came back into the office from down the hall, if you get my drift. The quake was centered near Laramie, Wyoming. It felt as if someone had shoved me forward, then I recoiled and the motion stopped. It was over in about 3 seconds. I actually turned around and looked at the wall behind me in amazement, because that's the direction the initial force had come from. Of course, there was just ceramic tile on the wall, less than two feet away. There wasn't room for anything to be there!

YOU only thought there was nothing behind you...


Never felt one myself...thank goodness!  NOW a typhoon...that's another story!

[Gregg]

QUOTE(dolphin @ Feb 13 2008, 03:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

YOU only thought there was nothing behind you...

Never felt one myself...thank goodness!  NOW a typhoon...that's another story!

Well, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction....