Have You Ever Been In An EarthQuake?

[Parche]

I have been in 3

One 1993 here, my first one, the whole building shook and rumbled,
The 2nd one was in Anchorage Alaska, small one
3rd was 2001, I thought someone was thrashing my cubicle dividers, but it was an earthquake.

:woohoo: :woohoo:

:hi:

[joeybee12]

1. I must have been in about a dozen...mostly minor, but I was in the

1994 Northridge quake. Boy did that scare the s**t out of me.

[Karenina]

I thought it was all over

as the walls were cracking, power lines snapping and ground LIQUIFYING! The video shop my kids and I frequented PANCAKED.
There was a plaque by the entrance that said "This building is constructed of unreinforced masonry which may be unsafe in an earthquake." Ya think?

What was worse were the THOUSANDS of aftershocks. I had PTS for MONTHS!

[joeybee12]

31. Yeah, those aftershocks kept coming....

...I recall the news all talking about how what we thought was the earthquake could have just been a warning, sort of like a pre-shock, and a bigger one was to come. Basically, they were telling us they didn't know what was going on!!!!

[EstimatedProphet]

2. Only 2 today

And a couple before that

[TZ]

3. Never.

I was gonna say they don't have them on the East Coast..but about 15-20 years ago I recall there being a small quake felt on Capitol Hill of all places..

[hobbit709]

4. Earthquake and volcanic eruption.

Waiting for meteor strike.

[Sanity Claws]

5. The big one in Seattle 2/28/01

The entire building shook. My monitor almost fell off my desk and I had to go catch it. File drawers fell open and almost caused the cabinet to topple over.
My office was on the 43rd Floor and we had to walk down because it was unsafe to operate the elevators.
It took probably a year or two before I stopped thinking unusual noises or vibrations were the start of another earthquake.

[NewJeffCT]

6. nope - I live pretty close to the safest place in North America

at least weatherwise, that is. I think I recall that the safest place is somewhere near Storrs, CT

So, never had an earthquake that I've felt, never had an extended drought. A few hurricanes and some blizzards...

[krispos42]

30. What about that earthquake about 20 years ago there?

We were living in Norwalk at the time. IIRC, it hit at about 3am.

It woke my mom up. Everybody else slept through it! :-)

[Tommy_Carcetti]

7. No. Just two hurricanes

Hurricane Frances in 2004 and Hurricane Wilma in 2005

During Wilma, it did feel like a 2 hour earthquake...constant 100+ mph winds actually make your house rumble.

[skygazer]

8. I've been ON one but never in one

I bet that would hurt. :P

[Midlodemocrat]

9. Yup. Twice. Once in CT and once here.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. My dear Parche!

Too many to count, sweetie!

I've lived in California since 1956, and there have been so many!

I remember the Northridge quake...

The house shook like crazy, but we had no damage...

Got up and went to work...

Everybody was there, wanting to give blood...

We haven't had any big ones in a while now...

[huskerlaw]

13. Shhhhhhhh!

Don't remind it... :scared:

I don't know what "it" is...but it definitely shouldn't be reminded of the lack of it's activities recently...

;)

:hug:

[IndianaJones]

11. this morning, but I slept through it. nt.

[MorningGlow]

12. Several--in SoCal visiting my brother and here at home (WNY)

I used to visit my brother pretty regularly when I was younger, and each time I arrived and he asked me what I wanted to do while in SoCal, I always said, "I want to be in an earthquake"--and SoCal always obliged. It got so I had to stop saying that.

A couple have followed me home--one when I was in college in spring of '84 originated in the Adirondack region and was felt throughout a lot of NYS, even as far away as my college in the Catskills. I had my dorm bed propped up as a kind of semi-loft, and the quake nearly shook me out of bed early in the morning. I was so groggy that at first I wondered what the guys on the floor below were up to this time, but as I woke up it dawned on me it was an earthquake.

I haven't been in any biggies, though.

[driver8]

55. The Northridge quake in 1994 destroyed my apartment.

Our building was condemned and we had to move out. That one felt like a freight train going through the middle of our living room. I thought I was a goner...

We also had quite a few when I lived on Adak, Alaska (middle of the Aleutians).

[Beausoleil]

14. Yes, several

In Alaska. The biggest one I felt was only about 5.2 but the center was about 2 miles from where I was at the time. It felt like the whole building dropped about a foot. It came in waves, too. I was on the phone with my wife when a big aftershock hit. She said, "Here comes another one!" I didn't feel it until I'd hung up the phone about 30 seconds later. She was even closer to the epicenter than I was.

Others felt like 18-wheelers going down the street in front of the house and shaking everything inside.

I had lived in California for four years and never felt a burp.

[Blue_In_AK]

36. Were you here for that big quake in 2002?

It was a 7.9, but luckily was north of here in a not very populated area. Ironically, I was in Southern California at the time and missed it, but my family said it shook pretty good even here in Anchorage.

[plcdude]

15. many

in Papua New Guinea

[Pithlet]

16. We had one this morning but I slept through it.

I slept through the other one we had a few years ago, too. So, I've never experienced one while fully conscious.

[huskerlaw]

17. Just one.

I've lived in Los Angeles for over 2 years and I've only felt one. *crosses fingers, knocks on wood, etc.*

A small one (3.5ish) woke me up in the middle of the night. Actually, it was more the sound of the windows rattling than the movement that woke me up. I thought "huh, that must be an earthquake..." and then I rolled over and went back to sleep.

That's the kind of earthquake I like. ;)

[lizziegrace]

18. Memphis

in the late 70's we had one. Heard glass break as I was running down the hall to the stairs. Never found what had broken. :shrug:

[Gonzo Gardener]

19. Oh yeah!

The first was the New Madrid quake in 1987. I was living in Chicago.

I experienced many during my years in SoCal... Sierra Madre (5.6) in 1991, Landers (7.3)/Big Bear quakes in 1992 (I was living ON the San Andreas Fault line in San Bernardino, CA at the time!), Northridge (6.7) quake in 1994, and I've felt two little shakers today!

Call me sick, but there is something invigorating about feeling the earth move under my feet. I always found it sort of amusing when everyone driving on freeways in SoCal would all start to pull over at once because they all thought they had a flat tire when there was a quake.

:hi:

If you plan to open the bar today (TGIF) I'll have a Bloody Mary, please!

[FloridaJudy]

20. Too many to count

I grew up in the SF Bay Area. When I last visited there over a year ago, we had two. Nothing really gruesome, thank the gods: just enough to rattle the dishes and knock a few books off the shelves.

Now hurricanes...I've been through about a dozen. Eleven were no biggies, but the last one was a Category 3 to 4, and I don't want to know what a Category 5 is like! "Wilma" was bad enough to knock out power to South Florida for over a week, and turn the oranges on the neighbors' trees into deadly missiles.

[bikebloke]

21. A couple in Seattle

A slept through a few in New Zealand, Israel and Greece.

[Oeditpus Rex]

Mmmmmyeah

Lived within 20 miles or so of the San Andreas Fault all my life.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

24. Yup, 48 years in San Francisco....

and I've felt a few. :D

[BrotherBuzz]

22. I've been in many and figure I'll probably die in one because....

I make no make attempt to move towards safety (stand in doorway, or other such nonsense). I have to watch everything move and shake. I've watched tall palm trees violently sway on a still day, witnessed asphalt undulate like the surface of a sea, I've seen water splash out of a swimming pool.....Incredible stuff.

[LadyoftheRabbits]

23. I've experienced everything else but that

pretty much. Hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, ice storms... but no earthquakes. Yet. :P

[Oeditpus Rex]

29. Come visit me

Eh, I guess you can bring the 7-11 dude. :P

[lizziegrace]

32. ...

:spray:

[Oeditpus Rex]

35. ...

[lizziegrace]

39. Yeah right...

;)

[Oeditpus Rex]

40. Hey, watch him for a few seconds

He's like, "Mmmmm... I'll think about bein' good." :D

[lizziegrace]

41. That's what worries me...

;)

[Oeditpus Rex]

43. What?

It's not like I'm gonna be drivin' a '67 Corvette or anything. :(

[lizziegrace]

46. ...

:hug:

:)

[LadyoftheRabbits]

54. HAHA!

I'd love to. I've never been to California. :P

[Lydia Leftcoast]

25. Yes, in both Japan and Oregon

:-)

[Arugula Latte]

26. I grew up in SF Bay Area, so ....yeah, too many to count

The one that stands out is the 1989 World Series Big One. I was driving in Berkeley and my car suddenly pitched to the side and the streetlamps started swaying towards the middle of the street. I recall driving in the Berkeley Hills and watching several huge fires in San Francisco and elsewhere. :scared:

[Fox Mulder]

27. I'm on a stable craton here in MN.

So no.

[bertha katzenengel]

28. ROFL Where do I begin? Well, I'll begin with

Sylmar, Feb. 9, 1971 (that was on my mother's 30th birthday)

Whittier Narrows, Northridge, Landers/Big Bear . . . many, many, many, many, many others.

Of course, I'm from Southern California. :hi:

[kentauros]

33. Nope

Hurricanes are bad enough and you know those are coming, just not exactly where or when.

Although I seem to recall a researcher with the Navy (studying antenna science and arrays) discovering that he could predict earthquakes by about 20 minutes from a special type of underground long-wave antenna he had been researching. I don't know whatever became of that discovery or technology...

[Blue_In_AK]

34. Many times...

Alaska shakes a lot, and before that I lived in California. I barely notice them anymore unless they're above 5.5. I've also experienced volcanic ash fallout three times since I've lived here.

[Breeze54]

37. They say New England has them but I've never felt one, AFAIK.

Why Does the Earth Quake in New England?

http://www2.bc.edu/~kafka/Why_Quakes/why_quakes.html

The Science of Unexpected Earthquakes

Alan L. Kafka, Ph.D.
Weston Observatory
Dept. of Geology and Geophysics
Boston College

Revised: January 3, 2004

In the early morning of October 2, 1994, residents of central Massachusetts were awakened by ground
vibrations that appeared to come from beneath their homes. At first many thought it was their furnace
malfunctioning or a large truck passing by, but within a few minutes it became clear that it had been
an earthquake.


Seismogram of the magnitude 3.5 Hardwick, MA earthquake of
October 2, 1994, recorded at Weston Observatory, Boston College

Yes, it's true. Earthquakes do occur on a regular basis in New England.

[KamaAina]

38. Well, let's see. I lived in SF, then Oakland for about a year

so that'd be a Yes. Strongest was a 5.5; it was over just about the time I was about to jump out of bed and get under Mr. Doorway.

Bonus: While I was away for the October '06 quake out here, we did have a nice little aftershock on Thanksgiving Day -- right when Mom was on the phone!

[Orsino]

42. Two, neither exciting at all.

I was on duty in the middle of the night in Germany ca. 1993, and was bending over a satellite up-converter when it felt like the floor dropped a quarter-inch beneath me. Had to read in the paper the next day that there had been a minor shock centered in the Netherlands.

Another one in the middle of the night in Georgia in about '04 managed to wake me up and make a dog bark once. I didn't actually feel anything, and again I had to read about what had happened the next day.

[Shine]

44. Lots. I live in California.

Need I say more? :D

[LibertyLover]

45. Yes, several

4 that I've felt and a couple, when I was living in Mexico, that I slept through. The first one I actually felt was in my dorm room in Chicago, Illinois. It had a rolling motion rather than the back and forth shaking. The others were in my home at the time in Bergen County in northern New Jersey and sitting at my girlfriend's dining table in Putnam Lake, New York. The ones in NJ and NY. were because of the Ramapo fault, which runs right under the Indian Point nuclear power plant (cue Spock's line from Star Trek IV about the siting of nuclear power plants in late 20th century on Earth).

[Iggo]

47. I been in all the cool SoCal ones.

Sylmar, Northridge, and Whittier were some doozies. But they're par for the course around these parts. As the saying goes, "If there's an earthquake and a brick falls off of a building and hits you on the head and kills you, well then it was The Big One for you." Or maybe that's not a saying. True nonetheless.

[kwassa]

48. Dozens of quakes. The Northridge quake threw me out of bed.

Any sizable quake in Southern California between 1979 and 1995, which means many. Many, many over say 5.3. I kinda like them.


As I have always said:
"A true Californian doesn't trust any land that doesn't move, any trees that don't burn, and any air that they can't see."

[S n o w b a l l]

58. Me too....

Lived in LA from 1988 to 2002. Worked in the City of Commerce during the Whittier one. It hit as I was driving to work. Lived in Palos Verdes during the Northridge one and it was amazing. It was more like a rolling quake.I think because Palos Verdes is on bedrock or so I've always heard, but it was like riding a wave. We only had a few things fall off shelves. And only a few miles away in Santa Monica, buildings were crumbled.

Ironically, when I visited my hometown in IN from LA in 1989 or so, we had one here. I'm now back in So IN and this one felt just as strong as those I experienced in LA. Seemed like it went on forever.

But, I kinda like them too...as crazy as that sounds. Must be the adrenaline rush.

[LeftyMom]

49. There are no faults where I live, but people sometimes feel distant quakes.

A lot of people here felt the Loma Prieta quake in '89, but I was in a car at the time and didn't feel anything over the ambient level of rattling and bouncing around. I got home and the neighbor's pool had sloshed around and that was the first indicator I had there was an earthquake.

So yeah, lifelong Californian, and I've never felt an earthquake. Apparently Sacramento is good for something after all.

[CreekDog]

50. an earthquake? well, lemme see here...

too many to count yes. although I think I can remember most of the 5.0+ ones:

10/30/07 5.6 (that sucker went on a long time, like 40 seconds --criminy!)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3048512
2004ish 5.0
8/89 5.0
3/84 6.2 (that sucker went on for a long time, teacher was looking at the walls moving and said, "okay you better get under your desks...okay now i better get under something!" :rofl:

First one I remember feeling was in 1979, it was a 4.8. I cried. :cry: :hide:


I missed the 7.1 in 1989 (was away in college).

[Radio_Lady]

51. Yes, both in southern California and northern California.

I think it's tied in to visits to my aunt's house.

She used to live in Los Angeles, and now she's in San Rafael.

I was in her house in 1959 and then once again in August of ... one of the late 1990s, but I can't recall which one.

I'm sure it's her fault. She has really strong karma, and she doesn't know it.

:sarcasm:

[KitchenWitch]

52. Yes.

No big ones, yet.

[SPKrazy]

53. Several smaller ones

and a 6.0 one once

no damage to our house (I was a kid growing up in Utah) but I remember the basement floor had waves in it, and everything shook.

Scary

[pink-o]

56. Like my GG Bridge pic? Guess where I live???

...And today is the 102nd anniversary of the 1906 quake. The radio even interviewed a gentleman who was 3 years old back then and he remembers it!!

I was actually born in Baltimore, December 1954, and moved here when I was 4. I know native SF-ers who were here in the 1957 earthquake and remember it well. I've lived thru many tremors, and nothing fazed me until 1989 Loma Prieta, when my house started shaking like a little boat on a stormy sea. I was freaked out because I didn't know how bad it was or if anyone I loved was hurt. But I was lucky: I never lost my telephone or television signal, so I was able to find out everything I needed pretty quickly. Think about it: analog equipment, and a land line. I bet nowadays, the satellite signal would be unavailable!!

[Auggie]

57. Several. And I'm sure there will be more in the Bay Area. Very soon.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

59. Many times.

...At least that's what she always told me...

:evilgrin:

[bigwillq]

60. No (nt)

[rateyes]

61. I don't think, technically, it was an earthquake, but

the earth moved for me more times than I can count. :evilgrin:

[CBHagman]

62. Minor tremors.

I felt the earth move (Not what you think! :blush:) in Western New York back in the '80s. There was no damage.

I seem to recall we also had some tremors in Southern California when I lived there.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

63. Yes

There's a fault that runs north/south from about Wichita to OKC and in the 50's when I was a kid living just south of the KS line we had a quake. I was outside and it tossed me to the ground, put cracks in buildings.
Odd, I spent most of the summer of '65 in the San Francisco area and not a tremor.

[yellowdogintexas]

64. two: one in 1968 and one in probably 1987 or 1988

I was in college in Owensboro KY in 1968 in the library on a Saturday morning, the tables started dancing, the book cases started wiggling and a few books fell out, then the college president came in the door and ordered everyone out, as it could be the boiler trying to blow up.

Of course when we walked across the quadrangle back to the dorm, the ground swayed under us and we determined it was NOT the boiler in the Administration Building.

Our dorm had these neat little sofa beds that looked like little couches but pulled out from the wall for sleeping. Several of these beds were partially tucked back into place by the quake

The other one was in Evansville IN when my daughter was about 3, so around 1987 we were sitting on the back steps when the yard seemed to sway a couple of times. My husband, the geologist, was quite excited to have finally experienced an earthquake.

But let us all hope the New Madrid fault just sits there quietly and does nothing for about 3 or 4 hundred more years.

[YDogg]

65. honeymoon rocked my world

:hide:

[Awsi Dooger]

66. Several, but nothing major

A few little ones when I went to school in LA. Then several times we've felt them in Las Vegas, even when the epicenter was in California. The Northridge quake shook my chandelier in Las Vegas.

But by far the weirdest, and briefly the scariest, was a quake that apparently epicentered in a remote area in Southern California. This had to be '91 or '92, based on where I was living at the time in Las Vegas. I awoke at maybe 5 or 6 AM and the ground felt like jello, a distinct rocking sensation like being on a boat, and for a few seconds you thought you might be swallowed. I looked outside and there were small waves in the pool.

[OmahaBlueDog]

67. I went to school at Cal

My first earthquake was actually the strongest (6.2 @ Morgan Hill), but it basically just made the building make a quick, singular motion - like a whip.

The second was at like 3 AM, and it went on a and was a shaker.

My third was a roller. I was walking across the living room, and it was like I was surfing.

[nuxvomica]

68. Many years ago when I lived in an apartment downtown

It was in the early morning and woke me up. I'll never forget the sickening feeling that the ground beneath me had liquified. I couldn't possibly live in California. :scared:

[cemaphonic]

69. 3 or 4, all in Seattle

It's an uncanny experience for sure.

[Critters2]

70. Apparently. At 4:30 this morning. I wasn't impressed.

Or awake.

[SeattleGirl]

71. About 6 of them, all here in Washington.

:hi:

[bumblebee1]

72. I've been through three

My first one was in Greece.

The other two were in California. One was the Landers quake. The other was the Northridge quake. There have also been minor quakes.

[snailly]

73. A couple now

The one this morning wasn't frightening though I knew exactly what it was and leaped out of bed to get to my kids. They didn't wake up. Everything was fine.
It was just surreal and unsettling, so to speak. I went back to bed and thought too much.
My first thought was "Thankfully it wasn't a tornado or we'd be done-for the way the house was rattling".
Strange how our experiences cloud perception.

[Venceremos]

74. Two small ones

The first was in June 2004, I thought it was just an unusually long & intense thunder clap (4.5 mag). The second was Friday (5.2 mag), didn't even wake me up but the dogs started barking.

[The Animator]

75. I used to work at Earthquake

at Universal Studios Florida.

[nickinSTL]

76. Not until yesterday...

Interesting experience...though I don't really feel the need to experience a stronger one than yesterday's 5.2.

[Rhiannon12866]

77. One, and they're pretty rare here in Northern NY State...

I was working nights then, and was just about to get into bed at the crack of dawn. My little dog came running up to me, shaking so much that his tags were jingling. I barely had time to ask him what was wrong when the whole house started shaking. I grabbed the dog and went and hid in the closet. There's still a small crack in the wall from that day, just over my bed...:scared:

[Fleshdancer]

78. a few minor earthquakes while living in Japan. eom