Earthquake Swarm in Arkansas Intensifies. Memphis, Tennessee could be epicenter for the next big one

reply to post by getreadyalready


Thanks for the info. I`m upgrading the water and electrical with flex joints this weekend. And in the process of making up emergency storage containers. You answered a question I had this morning about where in the structure to put the filled emergency box..Thank you!

reply to post by getreadyalready


One point about going outside during an EQ is that many of the reported injuries are sustained by falling debris and brick from homes as well as and more importantly downed power-lines and poles which can snap and break after an EQ.

another small rumble just came thru

another quake just came through GEE

reply to post by KathyG427

Hello Kathy,

good to hear that the birds are singing where you are. That's a pretty good sign. From what other members have said, some dogs sense these things more than others so I guess it just depends on how they are and how well they adapt.

About the house: I'd go along with what getreadyalready said about checking for gas leaks. If you don't have any special stuff on hand, one quick way to check lines is with some warm, soapy water. Just wipe it on the lines with a sponge (and double check any joins). If there's any leak it'll blow bubbles. I always use this method when we go to the cottage and we need to connect the gas bottle for the stove.

Do you know if the door frames in your house are all steel? I don't know the building codes there, but here, all newer homes built of brick must have steel frames for doors and steel bar over windows, as wood can always be defective or eaten our by white ants and so forth. (And we're not in a quake zone at all.) If you've got steel frames then that's a lot better than wood.

Mike

reply to post by KathyG427

Can you describe for me what it feels like? Is it just like a vibration under your feet, or actual movement? I have never felt one, so just curious...

reply to post by JustMike


I am all electric so no gas-line worries here. I can't tell if the door frames are metal or wood

reply to post by antar


I think that would be more true in an urban setting than a residential one, but it is still something to keep in mind, so thank you!

As for living in a mobile home, just put the wheels back on it, and moor it to the ground like a boat! Crisis averted!

reply to post by StealthyKat

Can you describe for me what it feels like? Is it just like a vibration under your feet, or actual movement? I have never felt one, so just curious...

It can be felt both as vibration and movement. Sometimes when I'm sitting at my desk I can feel gentle movement - kind of like being in a boat with gentle waves lapping at the boat & moving it -- this movement usually isn't even detected as a quake but it's happening. When a measurable quake happens, I feel some vibration at first and then almost a slamming sound with the jolt which is definite movement. The house just "shudders" quickly & noticeably with the jolt.

reply to post by getreadyalready


Great idea .

reply to post by antar

Yes, whether to stay indoors or get outside is very much a matter of where you are, so knowing your immediate locale is very important. Here where I live, for example, going outside would be deadly because there are so many balconies on the multi-story apartment blocks here that could just come crashing down into the streets, and then there's the two-lane tramway down the middle of the road with its high-ampere power cables, plus traffic most of the time... So if we ever have a serious quake while we're home then we'll be staying indoors and just hoping for the best.

In the recent quake in Christchurch, we all saw what happened to cars and buses that were in the wrong place at the wrong time when building parapets, balconies and even facades came down. They were simply flattened.

However, if a person is in an area where there's open space and nothing big around that might fall -- including trees! -- then outside could well be better. However (again), I've read of things like cars, tractors and even oil drums that can go rolling around during a large quake, and as a full oil drum weighs a few hundred pounds I sure wouldn't want to get skittled by one of those.

So the smart thing is to look at your surroundings and take note of anything that might fall or roll, or anything that might be electrified. Clearly, it's best to stay away from any gas or water mains as well.

One of the best pieces of advice I read (from a site about California quake preparedness) was to keep a pair of walking shoes in a sturdy plastic bag by your bed, and have a small but powerful flashlight in the same bag. That way if a quake strikes at night and you have to dive for cover by the bed (NOT under it, but in the "triangle of safety"!!!), then when things quieten down you can slip on some shoes that won't have splinters of glass or whatever in them and then grab the flashlight and do whatever you have to do next. Because without good, safe shoes to put on, you're already in trouble.

It makes great sense to me.

Mike

reply to post by StealthyKat


One other way to describe it that might help you get a feel for it -- if you've ever pulled your car off the side of the road on the interstate and had an 18-wheeler whiz by and felt the momentary shake and "blast" as it goes by, that's similar to how the jolt of the smallish earthquakes feel to me.

reply to post by KathyG427

If they're metal they'll be steel, so just get a fridge magnet and see if it sticks. If it does, they're steel.

reply to post by JustMike

If they're metal they'll be steel, so just get a fridge magnet and see if it sticks. If it does, they're steel.

Thanks! I'm so... DUH!... sometimes. Magnet doesn't stick, so not metal.

reply to post by KathyG427

Thanks! I live in Louisiana, and we had a small one near Clinton during the BP thing.....but it was not close enough to me. That must be a scary feeling!

reply to post by KathyG427

It's no problem. We all have the right to be a bit "Duhh!" sometimes, and right now you're not living in the most ideal circumstances for relaxed, clear thinking, either.

At times like this we all help one another.

But the main thing is now you know your doorframes aren't steel, and that means you shouldn't trust them too much if you get a big shaker coming through there. That's well worth knowing -- and it makes me wonder how many of your friends and neighbors would know what the door frames in their houses are made of.

Regards,

Mike

reply to post by KathyG427


You can also hear them. Sometimes you feel a gentle sway, other times it's much more obvious. Shaking and rattling of door and windows, sometimes you can feel the rumble under you feet like someone playing a boom box vibration. I think it's the gentle swaying that sometimes causes the vertigo and nausea.

reply to post by StealthyKat


I am a Louisiana girl too, born and raised there, lived all over the state in the south and north end. Loved it, still have family and grandkids there and in all corners. My concern is for them as well, if new madrid pops it's cork, most of Louisiana is under water along with parts of Arkansas. What I've been looking at and trying to figure out is exactly where on this new fault am I sitting. I am I think on the south side of it, but am I actually on one of the lines in it. How far south and west does it actually go and how deep, if it broke off and the ground dropped out from under us so to speak, what part am I going to be on with whats left. LOL

Hey guys look at TA.X40A BHE and BHN

MAP 3.7 2011/03/03 15:55:25 35.241 -92.389 6.6 ARKANSAS
MAP 3.2 2011/03/03 15:31:49 35.266 -92.371 6.0 ARKANSAS


Here we go again!