Earthquake experiences

[reflexboy]

I have just returned from holiday in Lardos, Rhodes, having experienced the earthquake early Tuesday morning. Apparently it hit 6.3 on the richter scale and was about 45 miles down and to the south of the island under the sea. Neighbouring islands also felt it. I awoke to the sound of the wall lights in the room rattling violently and the overall feeling was that of being aboard a boat swaying from side to side quickly. It lasted about 45 seconds and caused little damage to anything, except a few bars and restaurants in the village we were staying had crockery and bottles fall off shelves and break. A woman in the neighbouring village died when she tried to flee her home, slipped on the stairs and banged her head. Other than all the hotel guests out on thier balconies in their nightclothes (more frightening that the quake) at 6.30am, calm was quickly restored. I and a neighbour did feel a slight 'single wave' type feeling at about 2am the following morning and we were told that was the aftershock which normally occurs within 24hrs of a quake. The locals say they get minor earthquakes every 2-3yrs but according to an elderly taxi driver (Dark blue W210) this was the worst he has known for about 30yrs-So we were privilidged. Has anyone else experienced an earthquake and how would you describe it?

 

[Dieselman]

Has anyone else experienced an earthquake and how would you describe it?

Not sure, but I'm hoping to find out in a minute..

 

[Dave Lewis]

I experienced a mild one in LA in 1987 whilst driving along Venice Boulevard late at night. The road went all soggy and waved around like it was made of rubber, the lamp posts waved around, a few things fell over, and I had to pull into a Tacobell to gather my wits. No one else paid it much attention.

 

[neilrr]

I experienced a mild one in LA in 1987 whilst driving along Venice Boulevard late at night. The road went all soggy and waved around like it was made of rubber, the lamp posts waved around, a few things fell over, and I had to pull into a Tacobell to gather my wits. No one else paid it much attention.

I lived in L.A. for years. If you can feel one when driving it wasn't mild.

 

[SEM]

Kefalonia 1989.. same region about the same scale, it was'nt nice

 

[The Dent Guy]

Menorca a few years ago - Was in my bathroom on the top floor of the hotel, sat on the edge of the bath, chatting to my other half when i thought i felt the bath rocking. At first i thought it was me having a funny turn or a dizzy spell but, then i spotted the towels swinging quite significantly on the towel rail.

Our first thoughts were to run - down 9 floors and away from the hotel.

 

[Godot]

We survived the Folkestone Earthquake of April 2007, up in the Hills at Hawkinge. £11,000 worth of damage to our cottage. Very scary experience when you are fast asleep in bed!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Kent_earthquake

http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/earthquakes/reports/folkestone/folkestone_28_april_2007.htm

Was tempted to buy one of these :http://flickr.com/photos/tesselate/sets/72157600164326637/

but I resisted the temptation & donated http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/6651991.stm

A joke reused from other "disasters" at the time was :

A major hurricane (Hurricane Shazza) and an earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale hit Folkestone & Dover in the early hours of Saturday .Its Epicentre was in Folkestone. Victims were seen wandering around aimlessly,muttering "Faaackinell".
>
> The hurricane decimated the area causing approximately £30 worth of damage.
> Several priceless collections of mementos from Majorca and the Costa del Sol were damaged beyond repair.
>
> Three areas of historic burnt out cars were disturbed. Many locals were
> woken well before their giros arrived.
>
> Invicta FM reported that hundreds of residents were confused and bewildered and were still trying to come to terms with the fact that something interesting had happened in Folkestone. One resident - Tracy Sharon Smith, a 15-year-old mother of 5 said, "It was such a shock, my little Chardonnay-Mercedes come running into my bedroom crying. My youngest two, Tyler-Morgan and Victoria-Storm slept through it all. I was still shaking when I was skinning up and watching Jeremey Kyle the next morning."
>
> Apparently looting, muggings and car crime were unaffected and carried on as normal. The British Red Cross has so far managed to ship 4,000 crates of Sunny Delight to the area to help the stricken locals.
>
> Rescue workers are still searching through the rubble and have found large
> quantities of personal belongings, including benefit books, jewellery from
> Elizabeth Duke at Argos and Bone China from Poundland.
>
> HOW CAN YOU HELP?
>
> This appeal is to raise money for food and clothing parcels for those
> unfortunate enough to be caught up in this disaster.
>
> Clothing is most sought after - items most needed include:
> Fila or Burberry baseball caps
> Kappa tracksuit tops (his and hers)
> Shell suits (female)
> White sport socks
> Rockport boots and any other items usually sold in Primark.
> Food parcels may be harder to come by, but are needed all the same.
>
> Required foodstuffs include:
> Microwave meals, Tins of baked beans, Ice cream, Cans of Colt 45 or Special Brew.
> 22p buys a biro for filling in the compensation forms.
> £2 buys chips, crisps and blue fizzy drinks for a family of 9.
>
> The futures bright,the futures Nat says:
> £5 buys B&H and a lighter to calm the nerves of those affected.
>
> ***Breaking news***
>
> Rescue workers found a girl in the rubble smothered in raspberry alco-pop.
> 'Where are you bleeding from?' they asked, "Aylesham" said the girl, "wossit gotta do wiv you?"
>
> Please don't forward this to anyone living in Folkestone/ Dover - oh, sod
> it... they won't be able to read it anyway.

 

[MBManInKen]

I remember first hand experience of two earthquakes: a 1983 one in Belgium and the 2002 UK one. Both of them around 4.8 on the Richter scale, so enough to wake me up in bed - funny feeling when everything moves around you, but only light in comparison to a 6.5 one (the Richter scale is logarithmic, not linear).

 

[prprandall51]

I was San Fransisco a few years ago. I went down to breakfast and everyone was talking about a reasonably large earthquake that had rocked the city overnight and woken up all the hotel residents. Beds shaking and stuff.

It appears that I slept right through it Too much time spent in the micro-brewery the evening before

 

[Defiant]

I'm a native (fifth generation) of Napa, about sixty miles north of San Francisco, but on the "dry" side of the San Andreas fault- the one most noted by the geologists as what will bring SF's second end. I've felt about ten quakes, a couple of them worthwhile. I've never been much upset by them (nor by traffic collisions, for what that might relate). The most dramatic was in the late sixties, around 10PM. I was in my early teens, lying in bed just before drifting off when I heard a roar approaching- my first thought was of a large jet aircraft coming in not only too low, but also crashing very nearby (I'd had much more exposure to the ring of Air Force bases in the Bay Area and their sorties than I ever had to railroads). As I looked up to the door jamb of my room, lit by my parents still up in the living room and watching TV, I could see the frame slightly trapezoid as the quake passed under our area and the house flexed. I don't think there was any damage in Napa, but it toppled some brickwork in Santa Rosa, further west and north of us by about fifty miles. I don't recall any damage to SF from that one.
The biggest was the '89 Loma Prieta- it happened just as the World Series game was about to begin in SF, and it was the one that collapsed the Cypress structure in Oakland and caused the Bay Bridge to drop a segment. Still in Napa then, it shook my apartment well for about twenty seconds, but didn't otherwise affect me. Quite a lot of damage, lost lives and general chaos -overcome by mutually-assisting humans- for a few days.
I was certain SF would have their big one right around 2000, but it turns out I'm no better with geological prescience than I am with roulette wheels.

Amongst SF's biggest liabilities in threat from earthquake isn't only the terrible geological location, but that so much of the City is built on landfill from the famous 1906 earthquake. It turns jellylike under shaking (part of what caused the terrible Cypress collapse) and tends to actually magnify the quake's effects.
Of interest (and, probably surprise):
http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/latest.htm
They really go on all the time. You'll seldom feel one if you're driving, or otherwise moving around, until they get above 4 or so on the Richter.