Earthquake this morning!

There was a small earthquake in my neck of the woods early this morning.
However, I felt it very intensely because it was only one kilometer from
my house.

Here's what I wrote to Winnie, who just emailed me to ask about it:

I am fine, but the quake jolted me out of sleep (it was around 5 in the
morning) and scared me to death! I didn't actually feel anything, but I
heard a loud, crashing sound and that's what woke me up. I thought at
first that the cats had knocked something over. Then I thought maybe someone
had tried to break into the apartment, so I got up and checked everything
out, but nothing was toppled over or broken, and no signs of entry.

So then I thought it might have been an earthquake, especially since when
I woke up, I found Smudge cowering in the little space between my bed and
the night stand beside it. So I looked under the bed, and yup, Licky was
crouching under there with shining eyes. Poor kitties! Only Roxy continued
to sleep blissfully, my little Zen master kitty.

I didn't find out for sure until several hours later when I got online
and had received messages from my neighborhood email list about the quake.
It wasn't a really strong one - 4.2 - but it was only one km from my
house, so I was practically on top of it. Other people in my neighborhood
had really felt it, too.

Joyce

On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:17:29 +0000, jXwXeXrXmXoXnXt wrote:

There was a small earthquake in my neck of the woods early this morning.
However, I felt it very intensely because it was only one kilometer from
my house.

Here's what I wrote to Winnie, who just emailed me to ask about it:

I am fine, but the quake jolted me out of sleep (it was around 5 in the
morning) and scared me to death! I didn't actually feel anything, but I
heard a loud, crashing sound and that's what woke me up. I thought at
first that the cats had knocked something over. Then I thought maybe
someone had tried to break into the apartment, so I got up and checked
everything out, but nothing was toppled over or broken, and no signs of
entry.

So then I thought it might have been an earthquake, especially since when
I woke up, I found Smudge cowering in the little space between my bed and
the night stand beside it. So I looked under the bed, and yup, Licky was
crouching under there with shining eyes. Poor kitties! Only Roxy continued
to sleep blissfully, my little Zen master kitty.

I didn't find out for sure until several hours later when I got online and
had received messages from my neighborhood email list about the quake. It
wasn't a really strong one - 4.2 - but it was only one km from my house,
so I was practically on top of it. Other people in my neighborhood had
really felt it, too.

Joyce


What is your location? MLB

On Jul 20, 7:17 pm, wrote:
There was a small earthquake in my neck of the woods early this morning.
However, I felt it very intensely because it was only one kilometer from
my house.

Here's what I wrote to Winnie, who just emailed me to ask about it:

I am fine, but the quake jolted me out of sleep (it was around 5 in the
morning) and scared me to death! I didn't actually feel anything, but I
heard a loud, crashing sound and that's what woke me up. I thought at
first that the cats had knocked something over. Then I thought maybe someone
had tried to break into the apartment, so I got up and checked everything
out, but nothing was toppled over or broken, and no signs of entry.

So then I thought it might have been an earthquake, especially since when
I woke up, I found Smudge cowering in the little space between my bed and
the night stand beside it. So I looked under the bed, and yup, Licky was
crouching under there with shining eyes. Poor kitties! Only Roxy continued
to sleep blissfully, my little Zen master kitty.

I didn't find out for sure until several hours later when I got online
and had received messages from my neighborhood email list about the quake.
It wasn't a really strong one - 4.2 - but it was only one km from my
house, so I was practically on top of it. Other people in my neighborhood
had really felt it, too.

Joyce

Having zero experience with earthquakes, that sounds scary. I was
curious, does a 4.2
damage your house structurally?

Sherry

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 19:35:11 -0700, Sherry wrote:

On Jul 20, 7:17 pm, wrote:
There was a small earthquake in my neck of the woods early this morning.
However, I felt it very intensely because it was only one kilometer from
my house.

Here's what I wrote to Winnie, who just emailed me to ask about it:

I am fine, but the quake jolted me out of sleep (it was around 5 in the
morning) and scared me to death! I didn't actually feel anything, but I
heard a loud, crashing sound and that's what woke me up. I thought at
first that the cats had knocked something over. Then I thought maybe
someone had tried to break into the apartment, so I got up and checked
everything out, but nothing was toppled over or broken, and no signs of
entry.

So then I thought it might have been an earthquake, especially since
when I woke up, I found Smudge cowering in the little space between my
bed and the night stand beside it. So I looked under the bed, and yup,
Licky was crouching under there with shining eyes. Poor kitties! Only
Roxy continued to sleep blissfully, my little Zen master kitty.

I didn't find out for sure until several hours later when I got online
and had received messages from my neighborhood email list about the
quake. It wasn't a really strong one - 4.2 - but it was only one km from
my house, so I was practically on top of it. Other people in my
neighborhood had really felt it, too.

Joyce

Having zero experience with earthquakes, that sounds scary. I was curious,
does a 4.2
damage your house structurally?

Sherry


IMHO it depends on the structure of the house and how deep the quake is.
I was on the 10th floor of a downtown building when we had a 5.quake
directly under downtown. That building creaked and groaned and swayed. I
was scared, as it was a long way down to the ground and I was afraid the
building would crumble. My son was about 4 blocks away on the ground
floor and he didn't even feel it. The building had only a few minor
cracks at the corners of the ceiling. MLB

Sherry wrote:

Having zero experience with earthquakes, that sounds scary. I was
curious, does a 4.2 damage your house structurally?

It depends on a lot of things: how close you are to the epicenter, what
type of quake it is, how long the shaking goes on. Some quakes have more
of a side-to-side motion. Those don't do as much damage. Whereas others,
such as the one in the LA (Northridge, in '94) have an up-and-down motion,
which I gather is far more destructive. I don't know how long the one
this morning lasted. I don't remember feeling any motion - I was awakened
by noise - a loud bang and crash. I thought maybe someone had broken one
of my windows in an attempt to enter my apartment. Or that there was a
feline squabble, ending in some major topplage.

In general, 4.2 is considered smallish or moderate. I'm not aware
of any damage to my building, but I haven't examined it for structural
problems, so who knows? As I said, I live very close to the epicenter
of this one, so it was more intense than it would be for someone else
further away.

Joyce

mlbriggs wrote:

What is your location? MLB

I'm in the San Francisco area - earthquake central.

(At least for the USA. I probably shouldn't complain about our tiny
shaker after what happened in Japan!)

Joyce

"Sherry" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Jul 20, 7:17 pm, wrote:
There was a small earthquake in my neck of the woods early this morning.
However, I felt it very intensely because it was only one kilometer from
my house.

Here's what I wrote to Winnie, who just emailed me to ask about it:

I am fine, but the quake jolted me out of sleep (it was around 5 in the
morning) and scared me to death! I didn't actually feel anything, but I
heard a loud, crashing sound and that's what woke me up. I thought at
first that the cats had knocked something over. Then I thought maybe
someone
had tried to break into the apartment, so I got up and checked everything
out, but nothing was toppled over or broken, and no signs of entry.

So then I thought it might have been an earthquake, especially since when
I woke up, I found Smudge cowering in the little space between my bed and
the night stand beside it. So I looked under the bed, and yup, Licky was
crouching under there with shining eyes. Poor kitties! Only Roxy
continued
to sleep blissfully, my little Zen master kitty.

I didn't find out for sure until several hours later when I got online
and had received messages from my neighborhood email list about the
quake.
It wasn't a really strong one - 4.2 - but it was only one km from my
house, so I was practically on top of it. Other people in my neighborhood
had really felt it, too.

Joyce

Having zero experience with earthquakes, that sounds scary. I was
curious, does a 4.2
damage your house structurally?

Sherry

If a house is well constructed, an earthquake has to be well over 5.0 before
it will do structural damage. I've been through earthquakes over 7.0 with
no structural damage.

It is obvious that Joyce, like me, has lived in an earthquake-prone area for
a long time. A 4.2 will scare people who aren't used to them. However, as
she says, they aren't really very strong. I would probably have felt that
one since it was so close, but normally I wouldn't feel one under a 4.5.
Before our last big one in 1993 (I think), I didn't feel anything under a
5.0, but I've been a little more sensitive to them since then. Of course
I've lived in earthquake territory for 71 years.

Joy

wrote:
I didn't find out for sure until several hours later when I got online
and had received messages from my neighborhood email list about the quake.
It wasn't a really strong one - 4.2 - but it was only one km from my
house, so I was practically on top of it. Other people in my neighborhood
had really felt it, too.

A few years ago, there was a 3.6 earthquake centered on the sea off
the coast of Massachusetts. I remember I felt the ground shake as
though a tank had driven by. I'd never felt an earthquake before, but
I was immediately sure that's what it was, because the neighborhood
was otherwise completely quiet.

Glad it wasn't big. Those California faults need to let off steam
every once in a while so you don't get a big one.

Do your cats sit there and look at you as if they are saying, "Make it
stop"? Mine do.

Cantate

"Cantate" wrote in message
oups.com...
Glad it wasn't big. Those California faults need to let off steam
every once in a while so you don't get a big one.

Do your cats sit there and look at you as if they are saying, "Make it
stop"? Mine do.

Cantate

If I don't make it stop, my cats run out of the room. When we had our last
big one, they ran out of the house, and I didn't see them for several hours.

Joy