We just had an Earthquake!

[PKRWUD]

Cool! About 8 or 9 minutes ago. Sharp jolt. I'm going to check the news and see what's up. It felt like a 3 if it was close, or higher if it was in L.A.

More later.

Take care,
-Chris

[PKRWUD]

Check this out

So far I've felt 3 jolts (1 quake and 2 aftershocks) if this map is right, this had to be very shallow, because I'm 40 miles from the epicenter.

More in a few.

[Unit 5302]

Wow. Here in MN, no tsunamis, no volcanos, no earthquakes, no hurricanes.

We do get serious winter storms, and tornados though. Hope it winds up being minor.

[PKRWUD]

I have already felt 6 aftershocks, but the website says there was 7 so far, and they ranged in depth from less than a mile to several miles.

Sky, you okay?

Take care,
-Chris

[PKRWUD]

Thanks kell, but it's cool. I actually love earthquakes. I haven't felt this pumped up since my drug days. So far there hasn't been any damage, except for a few pictures off of walls, but the epicenter has some remote areas. Actually, it was within a couple miles of Hawaii Racing. I'll call Jim tomorrow and see if there was any damage (earthquake sale at Hawaii Racing!!)

[PKRWUD]

15 aftershocks so far, but I haven't felt any in 20 minutes or longer. A guy on the news is calling this an aftershock of the 1994 Northridge earthquake! That's kinda lame, IMO. Anyway, it's been fun!

Take care,
-Chris

[Rebel79]

Yeah I heard on TV you had 3. The biggest was a 4.3. Supposedly aftershocks from the 1994 earthquake. I have my fingers crossed for you guys. Stay safe....

[Fox Body]

Earthquakes...That's scarry dude. If I could fly, I guess it'd be diff,...but I can't...

Unit have you seen a tornado in real life. I want to, but then again, I don't want to....

[mustangdani55]

Chris...

Just in case you ever decide to get the hell out of california, we have lots of great sprintcar tracks herein the middle of the country, where there are no earthquakes, and no chance of sliding off into the Pacific ocean..hehe

[69fastback]

Damn i didn't get to feel any of them down here. Quess they weren't strong enough to reach me. I know what u mean pkrwud earthquakes can be fun.

[Skyman]

Yeah I like earthquakes too, kinda shakes you up and gives a litle excitment.

But I didnt feel a damn thing. My friend called me and asked if I did, but I didnt notice anything.

So I dont know?

Skyler

[silver_pilate]

Fox Body,

You oughta come spend a spring with me here in West Texas. We'll go chace a few twisters. It has really become second nature to watch the sky around here, although the last couple of years have been fairly quiet. I've had tornados jump my house, and I actually watched one touch down in the field behind my house. That was the most sinister sight I have ever seen in my life. The wall cloud came in from the west and pretty much stopped above us. You could look right into the heart of it...spinning and churning like a cauldron. Dirt devels were kicking up all around the house. You could look out any window of the house and see 2-3 of 'em. Give me shivers thinking about it. A few years later, we were driving to town, and noticed a bunch of traffic coming out of town and going down towards my neighbor's house. We looked over, and the house was all but gone. That tornado came within 2 miles of our house, and we didn't even know it. No warnings or anything. Anyway, it keeps the adrenaline going.

PKRWUD,

Glad it wasn't a big one. I know exactly how you feel, though. Getting pumped up and the adrenaline flowing. Severe weather does the same to me. Take care and God bless.

--nathan

[PKRWUD]

Sky-
I'm right across Victoria from the Govt. Center, and there is a fault line that runs from Valencia to the ocean, along the 126 freeway. Because of that, whenever they have an earthquake in that area, I feel it. I was in my office in the basement, sitting at my Mac, when it felt like getting rear-ended in a car. It was a very sharp jolt. The after shocks weren't as sharp, but I still felt several of them. If I had been in bed, it would have been worse because my bedroom is on the third floor! Still, it was cool.

Everyone else-
Tornados are what scares me. I love earthquakes. They're actually fun. The destruction you see on TV is usually limited to a few small areas, not much bigger than a city block, or two. The news coverage catches it from every possible angle, though, and makes it look like every building in town is destroyed. The advantage to living here, unlike the south east, or the tri-state area (N.Y./N.J./Conn.), is that most of our buildings and bridges have all been either designed with earthquake safety in mind, or have been retrofitted. I seriously fear for the people of NYC when they get their "big one". They have recently been having mild quakes, and are not prepared for anything serious. If the quake(s) we had last night happened there, thousands would have died. Back to tornados, I have only seen one, in person, in my life, and it was the most scared I have ever been. Anyway, thank you for all the well wishes, I do appreciate them alot! I was just sitting at my Mac building a website for someone when it happened, and I wanted to share it with my family, which includes all of you.

Thanks again.

Take care,
-Chris

[PKRWUD]

Here you go. This is a graphic showing the areas that felt it. Sky, you should have. You're in it. Oh well, better luck next time.

Take care,
-Chris

[Coupe Devil]

That graphic is pretty cool. We live about ten miles "New Madrid" Fault line. WE are also waiting for "The Big One". Fortunately being farm country, we dont have many building over about 6 stories other than a bank or two. nbot even the hospitals are that tall. Were waiting. researchers say there hasnt been a signifigant quake here since the mid 1800's or something like that.

How close are you to San Diego. I have some friends that live there and I know nothing at all about California geography.

Brad

[PKRWUD]

Looking at the attached map, San diego is at the lower left corner of California, right where the Mexican border, California and the ocean meet. I am just to the left of the cluster of earthquake marks just above there (red & blue big ones). In fact, the blue one in the ocean was at Santa Cruz Island, which is just off the coast from Ventura. I can see it from 100 yards away from my front door. San Diego is probably 200 miles away, or less.

Take care,
-Chris

[Fox Body]

Originally posted by silver_pilate
Fox Body,

.... I've had tornados jump my house, and I actually watched one touch down in the field behind my house. That was the most sinister sight I have ever seen in my life. The wall cloud came in from the west and pretty much stopped above us. You could look right into the heart of it...spinning and churning like a cauldron. Dirt devels were kicking up all around the house. You could look out any window of the house and see 2-3 of 'em. Give me shivers thinking about it. A few years later, we were driving to town...

--nathan

A few years later?? What do you mean a few years later?!? Crap, if that was me, my skinny behind would've been outta there dude. My worst nightmares have tornados in them (seriously). Screw that.

Hey, I wouldn't mind visiting west Texas, see a few tornados from a distance, wisper a few "ooohh, aaaaah's" and then skidadle all the way back to the safe, tornado-free south east .

[Five0]

Man I wish I could have been there, I would love to experience one of those. I would also like to see a twister and I am still waiting for a good hurricane to come through florida.

The last hurricane we hade come close and we got winds around 60 mph here and I was out in the rain playing in the wind.

The rain kind of stings when it hits your face but it was still fun; and really cold. My friends thought I was nuts but I love that kind of stuff.

[PKRWUD]

I just happened to be visiting my Mom and Grandmother in Florida when Floyd came through. They live just south of Cocoa Beach, and we were evacuated to Orlando. When we saw on the news (from the safety of a Holiday Inn in Orlando/Kissimmee) that the storm wiped out the pier at Cocoa Beach, we became concerned. Ended up just breaking a few trees off right at the roofline, and ripped the TV cable out of the roof of their house.

Earthquakes are more fun. So far.

Take care,
-Chris

[silver_pilate]

Hehe,

I grew up with that kinda stuff. I've been carried to the basement while I was asleep in the middle of the night like you see at the begining of the movie Twister. I've seen hail stones the size of grapefruit. I've seen it hail golf ball size hail for two hours straight. The drains of the underpasses clogged up with ice and the underpasses filled with water and hail stones. Cars were floating in what looked to be a giant slushy. That same storm burried cars under overpasses. Seriously. They stopped under the overpass to get some protection, and the hail drifted up like snow. It burried the cars up to the roofs. They had to get bulldozers to get them out. The hail storm that ripped through Fort Worth in 1995 had light-bulb size stones with spikes like a mace. A stone actually punched through the hood of a parked car.

I won't lie to you. As many storms and tornados as I've seen, they still scare the living piss out of me. But it also gives a huge rush. The main thing is knowing what signs to look for. You gotta read the sky to know what's going on. Otherwise, they'll catch you with your pants down. The neighbor's house that got hit a couple of years back...they were napping on Sunday afternoon. The both heard the noise at the same time and Robert yelled at his wife to get in a closet. They both jumped into the same closet about 2 seconds before the twister hit. It was the only part of the house left fully standing with a roof. And that was a sissy little F2...maybe a weak F3. Not anywhere near the power of the one that hit Oklahoma City a few years ago. In that storm, even a basement wouldn't have saved your life. A storm of similar magnitude ripped through a large ranch in South West Texas a couple of weeks after OK. It was a very large area with no population, so no one was injured. However, they found cattle...dead...completely stripped of their skin. That's some crazy *** power.

Ahh well, enough of my story telling. I've got a lifetime of weather stories. Oh, and I actually almost felt an earthquake once. It originated somewhere in New Mexico. Tremors were felt as far as West Texas. Unfortunately, it occured like at 2:00 am and no one was awake to feel it. Can you imagine the power of the one that hit the Mississippi river valley a couple of hundred years ago. Powerful enough to make the entire Mississippi river jump its banks and change course. And the river flowed backwards for weeks. Crazy stuff we live with. Maybe we all oughta move to the moon.

--nathan