We had a 6.5 magnitude earthquake yesterday, centered to the south of us here in Humboldt County. Fortunately for us, we shook a lot and lost our electric for several hours, but there was no damage and nothing fell off the shelves here at home. People we know who are not that far to the south didn’t get off quite so lucky.
The photo above was taken at the seaside in the town I live near, Trinidad, about a week ago. This general area is scenic, but seismically scary. A few major tectonic plates converge here. Eighteen years ago we had a series of three major earthquakes over two days. It was the only time I’ve ever seen an entire house (the one I was living in) wag vigorously back and forth. I wound up with a deep appreciation for the flexible wooden buildings we have here in California (nothing, miraculously, broke in spite of that motion).
Our most recent event made the national news. This coverage [update: since removed] from the San Jose paper includes a couple of YouTube videos. One of these is like a Humboldt County joke–it shows a bunch of people standing around in the woods like stunned deer, wondering if a redwood will fall on them. Sigh.
I never experienced an earthquake before, must be real scary when the suposedly firm ground is shaking and waving… Good to hear that you are fine!
Thanks, BT. It is scary! You just don't know when it's going to stop. This one was particularly long at about 30 seconds, which feels a lot longer when it's happening. My poor cat ran up and down the stairs in a panic and then finally hid under the bed for most of the rest of the evening. I'm a native Californian, so I've been through a few major ones and many smaller ones, but it's never a nice feeling. We do feel personally lucky today. Our electric is on, the house is warm, and there was no damage. The worst that happened was a few small things slid around in the studio, but with how messy it is in there, I doubt anyone would notice!
I also appreciate our wooden houses. Our three story house was built after the last big SF earthquake and the engineer joked that it costs us thousands more in structural redesign. We joke that if "The Big One" comes, the house will slide down to the freeway–in one piece.
Hmm… now I'm having this mental image of your hillside house slowly making its way on down… Not a nice picture. But vaguely amusing in a sick, dark way (I see the dog peering out through the window, looking quizzical.)
Speaking of such, the storm outside is suddenly getting rather intense and making the power flicker. I hope it's not going to be time to get out the candles again… Sigh….
I had just gotten home from the Norbag meeting when it hit. No real damage, but my workroom needs lots of reorganizing due to many items on the floor. Now I have no excuse not to do it.
(dguff)
Dguff–so nice to hear from you here on the blog! Glad to know you're ok (aside from the forced studio cleanup). I was wondering how you made out there in Eureka. Thanks for checking in and commenting.
I had just gotten home from the Norbag meeting when it hit. No real damage, but my workroom needs lots of reorganizing due to many items on the floor. Now I have no excuse not to do it.
(dguff)
Hmm… now I'm having this mental image of your hillside house slowly making its way on down… Not a nice picture. But vaguely amusing in a sick, dark way (I see the dog peering out through the window, looking quizzical.)
Speaking of such, the storm outside is suddenly getting rather intense and making the power flicker. I hope it's not going to be time to get out the candles again… Sigh….