Jolting Sunday

When we picked up my mother-in-law this afternoon she made the comment that it felt like "earthquake weather." Where that comment came from I don't know but wouldn't you know there was an earthquake later tonight. I was on the phone with my good friend whose granddaughter is undergoing intense treatments to battle leukemia. All of a sudden the house lurched forcefully and the ground groaned. It was quick and eery. My wife and I ran to the living room where my boys were with my mother in law prophet. Sad to say we weren't well rehearsed as to where to go in such a circumstance.

Since the last major quake in 1994 there has been little seismic activity here in the South Bay. The South Bay juts out off the coast and is located southwest of Los Angeles' downtown area bordered by the Pacific to the west and south. Up until 1994 earthquakes here came rather regularly although the magnitudes were rather tame. The 1994 Northridge quake was a formidable shaker and cause extensive damage mostly to the north. After a jolt the immediate reaction is to run to the "safe spot" and be ready for after shocks. The primary shake was later reported to be magnitude 4.7. The 1994 quake was a magnitude 6.7 and here is a snippet from Wikipedia

"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, lasting for about 20 seconds.[1] 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.[2] Seventy-two deaths were attributed to the earthquake, with over 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."

Tonight's quake rattled some windows but there have been no reports of injuries. There were two aftershocks, 2,5 and 3.1, respectively. One never knows if the first shake is a precursor to a bigger shock or the main event. In any case, there is always an aftershock one must be ready for. As I was starting to say earlier, prior to 1994 quakes of magnitude 4 or so came frequently enough that being prepared was not a question that received a negative response. I have been in LA 30 years and since my arrival the media keeps pointing out that we are overdue for the "big one." No, not the downturn in the economy but of a 7.2 or larger magnitude quake along the San Andreas fault. I am still waiting. Need to refresh the freeze dried goods.

Once it was determined that no additional tremblors were coming I heard a distant voice- my friend was still on the phone. He felt it too and also heard the ground roar. I must admit that was a first for me. I have experienced light fixtures swinging with gusto and watched a mini-tsunami in a pool dump water out but never heard a roar. Then the calls started coming in to ascertain all was well. One person was down by the pier and was freaked out by the mental visions of a real tsunami sweeping through. My sister-in-law called to check if our recent second story addition was intact. So we end up with two one story structures instead.

Oddly enough yesterday we got around to hanging some pictures up and wondered more than once if they were hung adequately to survive a quake. Proud to report that though some are slightly askew all hung tightly to the wall. As I sign off and get ready for bed I hope that tonight's experience was not the small precursor shock. Let's see what tomorrow brings. Hey, how do you like them Dodgers and Lakers.