Thursday, March 17, 2011

Time for us Californians to Take Note

No doubt, most (if not all) of us have been glued to the news about the tragedy in Japan. I’ve been especially interested for a couple of reasons. First, I have two aunts in Japan. They are both fine (one lives in Sapporo, Hokkaido and one is Osaka) and out of danger. The second, and much more selfish reason is, I live in California.

Yes. I’ve been through a few earthquakes in my time. Most of the time, you kind of wonder what a truck is doing driving down the street in front of your house. Then, before you have a chance to do anything, a little shake rattle and roll happens. Five maybe ten seconds. It’s usually all over before you even realize what’s going on.

The aftermath of a minor earthquake. A 4.0 about 8 months ago.

Some are much larger though. The most terrifying I’ve been in was probably the Northridge earthquake in 1994. From a pure magnitude perspective, it was major, but not catastrophic (6.7). It lasted a whole 20 seconds. 20 freaking seconds. It felt like a lifetime. But, its proximity to where I was living at the time (about 30 miles) made the shaking pretty terrifying. Books flying off shelves. Paintings off the walls. Cupboards dumping out their contents kind of shaking. Ever watch a cupboard door open on it’s own?

The largest I’ve experienced was Landers in 1992 – out in the desert sorta kinda  near Palm Springs. It’s about the same distance from where I was living as Tokyo was from the quake in Japan. We rocked and rolled for pretty close to two minutes. Because of the physical distance, the shaking was not severe. But, I had to physically hold a 30 gallon fish tank to keep from having a minor gold fish extermination event. The worst part was the shaking just kept going on and on and on. And on. Forever. That was a 7.2 magnitude quake.

Any of my fellow Southern Californians remember those quakes? Well, let’s put Japan in perspective. 3 plus minutes of shaking. 9.0 magnitude. Since the moment magnitude scale is logarithmic, that means the quake in Japan was 2818.382 times stronger than Northridge. Hell – there were aftershocks in Japan larger than either the Landers or Northridge quakes.

The scientists say we’re due*. Just remember how Los Angeles ground to a halt in 1994. If you’re not prepared  just keep in mind - there are no riots or looting in Japan. Let’s not wait until it’s too late. It can happen here. It probably will.

* The good news is that the type of quakes we have here in California (strike-slip) makes tsunamis unlikely.

18 comments:

  1. The epicenter of the Northridge quake was 3 blocks from my house. Mind you, I didn't live in SoCal at the time, but it's still a little terrifying to think about. My neighbors said they ended up with an inch in diameter hole in their plaster, and that was it, but the house across the street slid entirely off its foundation.

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  2. I remember NOrthridge like it was yesterday. Scary. I can't even imagine that multipled by almost 3,000. I've donated to the Red Cross and am doing what I can to help Japan, but you're post got me thinking about MY preparedness. This weekend I am going to make an earthquake preparedness kit! Better safe than sorry!
    Thanks Glenn!

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  3. Not in a good area up here in the PNW either. :(

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  4. Here in the midwest we have the New Madrid fault, if it ever goes, it'll be a doozy.

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  5. That gave me chills Glenn. I have experienced a few earthquakes in my time, none that were even close to those you mentioned. Here in Utah we have the Wasatch Fault, which is only a few hours away from where I live...scary times we live in.

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  6. I wrote a long comment, but agggh blogger for going kaput on me! I remember both quakes. It's unsettling, but I can only hope that we can handle it nearly as well as the Japanese have.

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  7. I'm much more aware of San Onofre than I was a few weeks ago. I definitely do not feel safe living this close to a nuclear reactor.

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  8. Wasn't in town for Northridge, but my electricity was knocked out for a day and a half from Landers. Darn nuisance!

    Please, please, please, all I ask is that I'm NOT at work when we have a major-ish one. Whittier happened at the beginning of the school day, but we got to go home at the final bell. There's no guarantee, it's school by school and we can be ordered to stay for up to 72 hours after a major disaster. #shootme

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  9. Glad to hear your relatives are OK. Scary that now Japan has to deal with nuclear reactor issues.

    Earthquake-wise, we had the Loma Prieta quake (6.9) in 1989. That one shook quite a bit. It stopped the World Series. Some buildings and some freeways collapsed. The upper deck of the Bay Bridge fell on the lower deck.

    Scary is that we're overdue for another large quake.


    http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/nca/1989/

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  10. I'm so glad that your relatives are okay.

    I lived in SoCal for a few years and was terrified of earthquakes. I think one thing that makes them so scary is their unpredictability. At least you usually get a warning siren and time to head to the basement when there's a tornado around. Even though people living in Japan "expect" earthquakes, I keep thinking about how frightening it must have been during the quake and how terrifying the aftershocks must be. My heart goes out to them.

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  11. Glad to hear your family is OK Glenn! Lived inland about an hour from San Fran when the Loma Prieta hit in 89. Remember vividly seeing the parking lot I was standing in do "the wave" even though we were quite a ways out. That's as close as I care to be, although, we have had a couple tremors here and live on a fault at the edge of the Rockies - that could get ugly....

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  12. Glad your family is ok! It's amazing how the Japanese aren't looting -- if only Americans could have class...

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  13. i wondered if you had family there, glad they are okay. i asked my dad if we did and he said they are in safe areas. one of the trails i run at sits right atop the san andreas fault. every time i pass it i can't help but think that california is inevitably due for a big one soon!

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  14. Ditto to all the comments about your family being safe.

    The Landers quake occurred about 12 hours after Walter and I got married (it was at about 5am, right?) We were on the 26th floor of the Westin Hotel in downtown San Diego, so yes, I have some pretty vivid memories of that quake (mostly me thinking..."this figures, I finally get married and now I'm going to die.) It was a pretty good ride.

    It also made for some entertaining family stories about what we did to make the earth move like that! :-))

    During the Loma Prieta quake (in NoCal in '89), the Giants were about to play the Oakland A's in the first game of the World Series. My parents (HUGE GIANTS FANS) were in the ball park that day. They evacuated the park.

    The funny thing (not funny haha, but funny interesting) is neither one of those experiences ever made me think seriously about having an "earthquake kit." Living in SoCal, I've definitely been among those who treat the idea of earthquake preparedness with a pretty laisse-faire type attitude. I mean they happen all the time, right? But, what's happened in Japan has caused me for the first time, to realize that I really need to have food and water on hand, for several days, just in case.

    The Japanese people have been absolutely amazing.

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  15. scary. and my son is in school in california :-(

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  16. I remember the Landers quake. It hit at a weird time of the day (around 5 a.m. for the first real shake) and then another around 8 a.m. We were in Fountain Valley at the time.

    I'm glad your aunts are OK. We have a nephew in Tokyo helping with rescue efforts. It's so heart-wretching to watch all that footage and yet heart-warming to see people remain calm and polite in their overwhelming grief.

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  17. I have visited California, but I have never experienced an earthquake. That would absolutely freak me out. I had a friend who was in San Francisco during the one that interrupted the World Series (1989?). Scary stuff!

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  18. I was in Northern California for some big ones and the media had everyone terrified because of the big one "due" within 30 years and that was 22 years ago. I live in AZ now and we never have earthquakes

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