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lpiasente
Fri Mar 06, 2009, 10:02 AM
Just had an earth tremmer hit. Got a bit of a scare it shook the whole house and furnniture including the fish tanks. Never felt that before. I would hate to be in an earth quake

Proteus
Fri Mar 06, 2009, 10:21 PM
Just had an earth tremmer hit. Got a bit of a scare it shook the whole house and furnniture including the fish tanks. Never felt that before. I would hate to be in an earth quake

According to the news it was a 4.6 Richter quake with the epicenter at Korumburra felt over a 200km area.

As for your comment regarding hating to be in an earthquake, I can only agree wholeheartedly. After being in Northridge, California when the deadly quake hit in 2004 it is probably the most terrifying thing I have ever encountered before.

We (the minister of war and finance and myself) were driving from LAX to Vancouver (2 day drive) and thought at 4am it was a good chance to get out of LA before traffic builds up, and at 4.31am when the quake hit we were 2 miles from the epicenter driving at 65 mph on the I5. Our car was thrown across 5 lanes of traffic (thankfully there were no other cars on the road) and once we came to a stop on the road shoulder the shaking lasted for several minutes with the road looking like liquid as it rolled around with the ground movement.

All you could see in the distance is darkness and hundreds of power station and sub stations arcing due to damage caused by the quake.

One sad aspect of the whole event, apart from the large loss of life was the motorcycle policeman who was killed only 1/2 a mile behind where we were. Obviously one of the 1st responders he was meant to be crossing an overpass bridge over the I5 (where we would have been under if we were travelling even 2-3 mph slower or left 1 minute later) yet the entire structure collapsed, in total darkness he didnt stand a chance.



The Northridge earthquake occurred on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 AM Pacific Standard Time in Reseda, a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California. The earthquake had a "strong" moment magnitude of 6.7, but the ground acceleration was one of the highest ever instrumentally recorded in an urban area in North America. Seventy-two deaths were attributed to the earthquake, with more than 9,000 injured. In addition, the earthquake caused an estimated $20 billion in damage, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history

We ended up making it to Vancouver were not long after checking in to the motor inn I was rushed to hospital after collapsing due to shock and exhaustion.

Staying with friends in the Mojave desert California I have also felt loads of small rumblers (2-4 richter) which can be rather unsettling.

All in all, if I don't feel another earthquake I will be a happy person.

gingerbeer01
Sat Mar 07, 2009, 07:14 AM
There will be a portion of people who will have thought they did a real good job making the earth move - only to discover there was an earthquake.