• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

5.1 earthquake, aftershocks rattle California

We had bought our first house in Northridge...six months before the earthquake hit. We were three blocks from the epicenter. Every single wall in the house was cracked, the chimmney broke off at the roof line, the carport pulled away from the house and all the cinder block walls in the back yard collapesed....book cases had tipped over and blocked some doorways and all my wine glasses got broken. This all happened at about 4:30 in the morning and it was all we could do to hold onto the bed because the land mass had risen up about ten feet and then dropped back down. By the time it was over we were two feet higher in elevation. We were walking around in a daze for days afterward. But all in all, it was kind of exciting.

Fortunately, we had bought EQ insurance which at the time was only about $160 a year and 10K deductable....but we had over 60K in damage so it was definitely worth it. Can't touch EQ insurance for that price anymore.
 
:lol: That doesn't sound exciting. But then I live in an area with floods, hurricanes and tornadoes.


If you live in an area with tornadoes and floods you are far more in danger than anyone who lives in California.

The problem with Southern California is that even a few drops of rain evoke a giant emotional response. SoCal has a small 5.1 tumbler and you would think that a planet killing asteroid has hit Disneyland.

A thousand people could die in floods in India and in Los Angeles that would get 4 seconds of news. Somebody gets swimming pool water splashing on their patio in a earthquake and that is all the people in California can talk about for a month.

Blue states, waddayagonnado?
 
If you live in an area with tornadoes and floods you are far more in danger than anyone who lives in California.

The problem with Southern California is that even a few drops of rain evoke a giant emotional response. SoCal has a small 5.1 tumbler and you would think that a planet killing asteroid has hit Disneyland.

A thousand people could die in floods in India and in Los Angeles that would get 4 seconds of news. Somebody gets swimming pool water splashing on their patio in a earthquake and that is all the people in California can talk about for a month.

Blue states, waddayagonnado?

:lol: Yeah, well -- I'll take my hurricanes. At least with hurricanes, you usually get several days notice.
 
If you live in an area with tornadoes and floods you are far more in danger than anyone who lives in California.

The problem with Southern California is that even a few drops of rain evoke a giant emotional response. SoCal has a small 5.1 tumbler and you would think that a planet killing asteroid has hit Disneyland.

A thousand people could die in floods in India and in Los Angeles that would get 4 seconds of news. Somebody gets swimming pool water splashing on their patio in a earthquake and that is all the people in California can talk about for a month.

Blue states, waddayagonnado?

It's not that we're a blue state as the fact that climate-wise and geology-wise, nothing really actually happens here. Fewer earthquakes than people think, no tornadoes, no hurricanes, no floods, no significant changing of seasons, no snow, no volcanoes, no mosquitoes, no allergy-causing pollen, just...nothing.
 
It's not that we're a blue state as the fact that climate-wise and geology-wise, nothing really actually happens here. Fewer earthquakes than people think, no tornadoes, no hurricanes, no floods, no significant changing of seasons, no snow, no volcanoes, no mosquitoes, no allergy-causing pollen, just...nothing.


I don't know if that's peaceful and safe, or plain old boring?
 
Boring.

......

When I was growing up in FL, there were no hurricanes or snowstorms or ice or anything just long hot summers, boring. Then one summer we got a thunderstorm that had lightning strikes, hammering the building, blowing out 500lb chunks of concrete with rebar. It got rid of the boring real quick, and since the 90's it's been really picking up the pace.
 
When I was growing up in FL, there were no hurricanes or snowstorms or ice or anything just long hot summers, boring. Then one summer we got a thunderstorm that had lightning strikes, hammering the building, blowing out 500lb chunks of concrete with rebar. It got rid of the boring real quick, and since the 90's it's been really picking up the pace.

Well, I don't require a high body count to satisfy my adrenaline addiction. Just...something...different. In New England we had changing of seasons, and you know what? That was perfectly satisfactory.

Gotta admit though, this whole no mosquitoes and no allergies thing is pretty damn sweet.
 
Yellowstone is an active super volcano. The entire park could blow any minute and wipe out the entire western US and then some. Just something to think about.
 
Yellowstone is an active super volcano. The entire park could blow any minute and wipe out the entire western US and then some. Just something to think about.

I read an article on that somewhat recently. The pressure isn't enough to be significant for a really, really long time.
 
Well, I don't require a high body count to satisfy my adrenaline addiction. Just...something...different. In New England we had changing of seasons, and you know what? That was perfectly satisfactory.

Gotta admit though, this whole no mosquitoes and no allergies thing is pretty damn sweet.

Mosquitoes I can avoid but allergies are going nuts today. The tree pollen is covering my car like a kids crayon. I liked seasons as a kid, but I can do without sub freezing temps anymore. My bones don't heat up easily as they did.
 
Mosquitoes I can avoid but allergies are going nuts today. The tree pollen is covering my car like a kids crayon. I liked seasons as a kid, but I can do without sub freezing temps anymore. My bones don't heat up easily as they did.

Sounds like Los Angeles is the place for you!
 
I read an article on that somewhat recently. The pressure isn't enough to be significant for a really, really long time.
I hope you're right.....

"...Yellowstone tends to have a major eruption every 600,000 to 700,000 years — numbers determined by ash deposits aged using geochemical and radioactive dating — and Unsworth said another one might not be far off.

“It’s been doing it about every 600,000 years and the last one was about 600,000 years ago. I can’t call that a prediction, but some would say it’s a cause to be concerned about the next one coming,” he said......"

Yellowstone supervolcano a local threat, too | World | News | Calgary Sun
 
Sounds like Los Angeles is the place for you!


Oh hell no. After seeing the Rehab reality series with Dr Drew, I couldn't stand all the drugs, left coast enviro nuttery or expensive cost of living. I'd be more of a Mid Westerner, because they're always so nice on the customer service, phone calls. And I still like small town virtues, minus the meth labs.
 
I think the 1994 Northridge quake was a 7.1. After that quake, Los Angeles imposed some very strict earthquake construction codes....and a lot of old buildings and homes had to be retro-fitted. So L.A. might be more prepared for strong earthquakes than most places in the country.

The 1994 Northridge quake was a 6.7 magnitude earthquake.
 
oK - just wondering. I've never lived through any kind of an earthquake. My natural disasters are much different, living on this side of the country. :lol:

I'd just always read that smaller ones like the ones happening over the last few days, might be a precursor to something bigger.

Thanks for the info. :)
Well, all earthquakes below a magnitude 6.0 in the Ring of Fire is a big yawn as they are rather common.

We get magnitude 5.x earthquakes in Oregon too.

For those not knowing, a 6.0 is 10 times stronger than a 5.0, which is 10 times stronger than a 4.0, etc. See the pattern?

A 6.0 would be about 8 times stronger than a 5.1.

Your news outlets must have a slow news day to point them out.

Fig22.gif
 
5.1 earthquake, aftershocks rattle Southern Calif.

So last night a 5.1 earthquake hit LA.

4.4-magnitude earthquake hits Los Angeles area - CNN.com

Last week a 4.4 earthquake hit LA.



Granted, I am not a seismologist. But I've heard that smaller quakes lead up to a really big one. Thankfully, it's been years and years since we've had a really big West coast quake.

Are we in for another one? Anyone specialize in this?
I hope so. That whole state is welcome to slide off into the ocean.
 
It felt like a 9.0.

The type of thrust fault contributed to more ground velocity than most quakes of the same magnitude.

Compared to the 1964 Anchorage earthquake which was a 9.2 and lasted almost 5 minutes, Northridge at 6.7 was a little peep. The last big quake in Southern California was the Fort Tejon quake of 1857 on the San Andreas fault. That quake was estimated to be a 7.9 magnitude. If another quake of this size on the lower San Andreas were to occur there would likely be widespread destruction.
 
The type of thrust fault contributed to more ground velocity than most quakes of the same magnitude.

Compared to the 1964 Anchorage earthquake which was a 9.2 and lasted almost 5 minutes, Northridge at 6.7 was a little peep. The last big quake in Southern California was the Fort Tejon quake of 1857 on the San Andreas fault. That quake was estimated to be a 7.9 magnitude. If another quake of this size on the lower San Andreas were to occur there would likely be widespread destruction.

The after shocks made our house feel like a houseboat riding out to a choppy sea. It was wild. We spent the next five years earthquake proofing our house. I tried to base my decor on early Pompeii so when the next big quake hit it would look authentic. lol
 
Yellowstone is an active super volcano. The entire park could blow any minute and wipe out the entire western US and then some. Just something to think about.

This is not the first time I've heard this. I've never been to Yellowstone, and told Hubs I'd like to get there while we still can. :lol:
 
Well, all earthquakes below a magnitude 6.0 in the Ring of Fire is a big yawn as they are rather common.

We get magnitude 5.x earthquakes in Oregon too.

For those not knowing, a 6.0 is 10 times stronger than a 5.0, which is 10 times stronger than a 4.0, etc. See the pattern?

A 6.0 would be about 8 times stronger than a 5.1.

Your news outlets must have a slow news day to point them out.

Fig22.gif

It's funny you pointed that picture out. I used that very same picture last week, giving my daughter an impromptu geography lesson on the Aleutian islands and the ring of fire.
 
The after shocks made our house feel like a houseboat riding out to a choppy sea. It was wild. We spent the next five years earthquake proofing our house. I tried to base my decor on early Pompeii so when the next big quake hit it would look authentic. lol





I remember photos from the Sylmar earthquake in '71. One photo that always stuck in my mind was of a Chevrolet truck with the driver and passenger inside crushed underneath an overpass in the Newhall pass area.
During the Northridge quake a different overpass in the same area came down killing a police officer on a motorbike on his way to work.



You just have to know that in a larger quake on the southern San Andreas many of these overpasses will come down again. The idea that the mountains and foothills in this area which were formed by these quakes are not as strong as the man made bridges in the same area seems futile to me.

Here is a photo of Vasquez Rocks formed from earthquakes near the San Andreas fault and just north of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles (many will recognize this area from many Hollywood films).

VasquezRocks3.Jpg
 
I have read that the fault in So Carolina is potentially more dangerous than the San Andreas fault in California, because of the difference in soil types. Is that correct?

The midwest and east can amplify the intensity over a larger area due to bedrock.
 
Back
Top Bottom