EARTHQUAKE!!!

[IrvineRealtor_IHB]

I was at the beach up above Santa Barbara. It was very mild there, a side to side swaying lasting about 30 seconds. No noise/rumbling...or maybe I just couldn't hear it for the surf. I just got home to Hwd and found two pictures had fallen off a shelf, but everything else o.k.

Kitties looked a little frazzled....

As long as roomba is OK, we're good.

 

[IrvineRealtor_IHB]

...

 

[stepping_up_IHB]

I use the QuakeHold straps and they work great. You can also get them at Home Depot. Well worth the cost. They have special straps for all sorts of things, including flat-screens. (note to self: strap the refrigerator!) Just don't forget to get extra straps for the thing the TV sits on.

Museum putty is good stuff, too. Easy to remove from furniture and doesn't stain the wood.

Another good thing to get are the baby locks for the kitchen cabinets. That way you don't end up having to clean up after broken plates and glasses.

I also have wind-up radios and flashlights that I purchased during the Y2K thing - they were readily available at the time and come in handy when the electricity goes out.

The kitchen cabinet baby locks are essential. I lived in Santa Cruz, 7 miles from the epicenter of the so called SF quake in '89. Every cupboard opened up and everthing in there went flying across the room with such intensity. I was in college living with mom, who happens to be a hoarder/collector and it was so frustrating because I couldn't get to a doorway. Things were flying at me in all directions. I finally knelt down in the middle of the floor and protected my head as they taught us in school. I was so shaken up by that one that it must have been ten minutes before I realized the warm stuff dripping down was blood and not sweat because I still couldn't feel the gash I got when mom's ceramic container filled with kitchen utensils flew off the top of the fridge and broke on my head.

I actually learned a lot from that one, so when I moved to Agoura Hills two weeks before the '94 quake we were better prepared. The experience of being so close to the epicenter of a 6.9 and a 7.1 has never left me. Two days ago I was thinking about earthquakes and made a mental note of the things that I'm uncomfortable with still here, such as having le creusets sitting on a shelf above the cabinets. I'm really upset with myself for not having moved them to a saner location. In fact, I noticed that the birds were acting funny on Monday, which is what me made me wonder on Monday if one was coming. I even called our EQ insurance on Monday because there had been a mix up and I just wanted to make sure the policy was all sqaured away.

I was in Anaheim for this one, ironically having a meeting on disaster recovery and on our way into the data center when it struck. We had a lot 5's up north growing up, so I knew what I was feeling was in the low 5 range, but my biggest fear was that it was an 8 somewhere farther away. Everyone went right to their cell phones, which of course were met with busy network. I just wanted to get out of there and turn on my public radio station.

What is it with Hispanics and the earthquakes? I had one of my business partners out from Chicago and he's asking me why all the Hispanics are clustered outside. I lived in a heavily hispanic area in '89 and they wouldn't go in their houses for almost a week. They all slept in the park. Are the buildings so unsafe in Mexico and Central America that they teach them to go and stay outside? I was always taught that you stay indoors because falling power lines are more likely than the door frame giving in.

 

[IrvineRealtor_IHB]

I'm not hispanic, but given the opportunity, I made the move all the way outside yesterday, dragging the petrified asian client with me out of my office. My thinking is/was/remains: I can maneuver around a power line coming down. I can not outmaneuver a catastrophic building collapse.

 

[Trooper_IHB]

I dunno IR2, arcing power lines have a life unto themselves.... I've seen a couple in action, they dance around like a wild snake, snapping and popping. Picture a hose turned on full blast with no one holding it. There is also the danger of stepping on a downed wire that looks "dormant". I guess it's a crap shoot.

(embedded video no longer available)

 

[EvaLSeraphim_IHB]

The other downside to moving outside is that pieces of building might fall on you. IIRC, that's what happened to the folks who died in the Paso Robles earthquake. I've seen your building IR2. It looks to be 80's era construction. Inside should be ok, unless somebody bought off the inspector.

 

[bkshopr_IHB]

The other downside to moving outside is that pieces of building might fall on you. IIRC, that's what happened to the folks who died in the Paso Robles earthquake. I've seen your building IR2. It looks to be 80's era construction. Inside should be ok, unless somebody bought off the inspector.

Constructions in SoCal after the 72’ Sylmar earthquake were reviewed heavily by the local building departments. Staying inside in most cases is much safer than running toward the door openings to get to the outside. The biggest danger staying inside is getting hit by falling objects often that are not a part of the structure such as bookcases, decorations, and objects stored on upper shelves. Diving underneath a table even a flimsy one is still the best idea for protection from falling objects. Rarely does a roof cave in or the floors pancake on top of each other in So Cal as a result from earthquake unless it is built on top of liquefaction (usually near by water). Door frames for most structure is the strongest and the safest due to post and header beams location and a place usually away from falling objects.

The danger of running out of a commercial building during the earthquake is getting cut by flying glass. As the building shakes the rectangular openings of windows and doors are deformed momentarily into a shape of rhombus. The rectangular sheets of glass used for doors and windows are not flexible at all and under any forces the glass will buckle and shatter and sending shards of glass flying in every direction if the glass is not tempered. Standing just outside close to the building is the most dangerous place due to exterior falling objects often are much heavier than objects from inside the building. The exterior skin of the building is the most dangerous due to weaken fasteners and adhesive eroded by sun, rain, weather, and corrosion over time. Brick veneers, glass curtain wall, wall mounted commercial signs, awnings and frame, and other exterior accessories mounted to the building like cameras and light fixtures after building inspection can kill due to their heavy weight and falling from a much higher distance. Many of the exterior accessory mountings are done without permits and lack the final safety approval of a building inspector.

The 2 places that I can think of dangerous during an earthquake are lamp and bike store where most of the merchandise are ceiling mounted and the likelihood of falling objects is high.

 

[CalGal_IHB]

The 2 places that I can think of dangerous during an earthquake are lamp and bike store where most of the merchandise are ceiling mounted and the likelihood of falling objects is high.

I always get nervous in stores such as Cosco where they store inventory above your head.

In support of what BK just posted above . . .

A friend of mine went through the Northridge Earthquake. She said her sliding doors jumped out of the tracks and then smashed into a million pieces when they came down. Luckily she wasn't near them when it happened.

 

[CalGal_IHB]

I dunno IR2, arcing power lines have a life unto themselves.... I’ve seen a couple in action, they dance around like a wild snake, snapping and popping. Picture a hose turned on full blast with no one holding it. There is also the danger of stepping on a downed wire that looks “dormant”. I guess it’s a crap shoot.

I dunno, Troop.

I've met IR2 and he looks like he could bust-a-move and out dance a live wire.

(OK, my 80's generation is coming out now.) %-P

 

[stepping_up_IHB]

The 2 places that I can think of dangerous during an earthquake are lamp and bike store where most of the merchandise are ceiling mounted and the likelihood of falling objects is high.

I always get nervous in stores such as Cosco where they store inventory above your head.

In support of what BK just posted above . . .

A friend of mine went through the Northridge Earthquake. She said her sliding doors jumped out of the tracks and then smashed into a million pieces when they came down. Luckily she wasn't near them when it happened.

Exactly, which is why you NEVER ever ever put your bed under a window in CA.

 

[IrvineRealtor_IHB]

I dunno IR2, arcing power lines have a life unto themselves.... I’ve seen a couple in action, they dance around like a wild snake, snapping and popping. Picture a hose turned on full blast with no one holding it. There is also the danger of stepping on a downed wire that looks “dormant”. I guess it’s a crap shoot.

I dunno, Troop.

I've met IR2 and he looks like he could bust-a-move and out dance a live wire.

(OK, my 80's generation is coming out now.) %-P

Thx for noticing, CG.

Put succinctly, I have more moves than this guy:

(embedded video no longer available)

 

[bkshopr_IHB]

The 2 places that I can think of dangerous during an earthquake are lamp and bike store where most of the merchandise are ceiling mounted and the likelihood of falling objects is high.

I always get nervous in stores such as Cosco where they store inventory above your head.

In support of what BK just posted above . . .

A friend of mine went through the Northridge Earthquake. She said her sliding doors jumped out of the tracks and then smashed into a million pieces when they came down. Luckily she wasn't near them when it happened.

Exactly, which is why you NEVER ever ever put your bed under a window in CA.

Another ancient Feng Shui rule. Bedwall should never have a window directly behind it. Feng Shui is mostly about safety issues.

 

[caycifish_IHB]

So, we just had another one. I felt three waves heading east, so coming from the west (I'm in Anaheim right now). Too early for the USGS website.

 

[CalGal_IHB]

So, we just had another one. I felt three waves heading east, so coming from the west (I'm in Anaheim right now). Too early for the USGS website.

I just felt it in Coto.

I haven't received an email yet to see what magnitude.

P.S. I just noticed that the Forums time is an hour later.

It must not have been changed with the time change.

Cayci's last post was at 8:22 pm, and it states 9:22 pm.

 

[Girl In the OC_IHB]

That's strange... :-/

I usually notice earthquakes rather quickly, and there was nothing here in Irvine that I noticed...

 

[CalGal_IHB]

Here's the email from USGS:

Region: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Magnitude: 5.5

Depth: 5 km

Universal Time (UTC): 6 Dec 2008 04:18:42

Time near the Epicenter: 5 Dec 2008 20:18:42

Local standard time in your area: 5 Dec 2008 20:18:42

Location with respect to nearby cities:

26 km (16 miles) WNW (293 degrees) of Ludlow, CA

56 km (35 miles) WNW (297 degrees) of Bagdad, CA

57 km (35 miles) E (97 degrees) of Barstow, CA

188 km (117 miles) ENE (63 degrees) of Los Angeles Civic Center, CA

 

[Girl In the OC_IHB]

Usually the windows upstairs at my place rattle a bit during an earthquake... and there was nothing... I was just in the Dining thread reading about momo's potato ricers when I saw your posts...

 

[CalGal_IHB]

I didn't feel much.

It felt like a semi truck was driving past my house.

 

[no_vaseline_IHB]

I was working on my truck when it went off.

My wife was in the house and didn't feel a thing. I have the front swaybar disconnected while I change the bushings and I absolutely knew we had one.

 

[biscuitninja_IHB]

We noticed... but i won't say what we were doing....

-bix