My Personal Reasons for Concern About Recent Earthquakes in California

I will admit, I may be a bit over reacting to this recent EQ swarm near Brawley. The potential volcanic activity intrigues me, not to mention I live in San Diego, about 90 Miles away.

People make it sound like EQs are always happening around California and we need to Chill. Yes, there are a lot of EQs here, so much that they seem normal. We write them off if we don't feel them or if not over a 5.0.

I would like to provide to those who may not have been around back then some perspective on why I think that although they maybe small and "normal" for CA., there is coming and was a time when they were anything but "normal".

Below are some pictures of some of the damage the major quakes have done in the past. Specifically the Loma Prieta Quake in 1989(Bay Area) and The Northridge Quake 1994 (North Los Angeles)

I was just a kid when the Loma Quake hit, I was 200 miles away and felt it. Saw my swimming pool tossing its water from side to side spilling over the edges. They stopped the World Series between my two favorite teams, Giants and The A's. Our family visited the Bay area often, so I was familiar with the sites and landmarks that were destroyed.

I was a kid and had to deal with images like these below, Crushed cars and collapsed buildings, you might say it was traumatic. Since then to cope I have been trying to educate myself on earthquakes, when ever I can.

Loma Prieta:
Cypress Freeway Collapse



Bay Bridge


In the City




Northridge
Interstate 5

Parking Structure

Department Store

Apartment


While all of these are structures, There where many individuals who suffered loss. Im not going to list the death toll, you can look it up if you want. I don't think we need to be in constant fear about quakes, but I think we need to at least respect the potential power of nature.

I hope I'm not alone on this. I think that might explain why some of us are really into EQs and anything related that might be out of the ordinary. I would love to hear from others who were effected in such a way.
Thank you to those who have posted helpful information this past week.

Yea, I was young with all those quakes as well, I still remember the Whittier Narrows quake, brought down our fireplace right into our living room.

Its great that we put major cities on major fault lines isn't it.

Anywhere you go will have its share of natural disasters, Earthquakes are just kind of a biggie, Ive lived in SO Ca my entire life and have learned to roll with the quakes.

With that being said...

Good luck with the whole imminent quake thing, Im outta here on Friday, last day in SoCa, moving the hell out hopefully before a major quake.

(im not so far from SD as well)

reply to post by benrl


Right on, hope your not moving to anywhere in Tornado Alley.
Despite the occasional bump from an EQ, Its hard to part with such a perfect climate.

Good luck with your move.

check out this real time world seismic monitor... link to follow.. ( I have it book marked and go to site daily).-

www.iris.edu...

I've lived in Japan where there were tremors virtually every day. I experienced many typhoon seasons while living in the Philippines had my place flooded out 7 times. I experienced Hurricane Andrew in Homestead Florida, losing everything i couldn't pack into my car, my place was basically reduced to a large pile of kindling wood.

I've lived in So.Cal (San Diego area & rural unincorp.Riverside Co.) since 1995. Compared to past places i've lived it's pretty benign here. I'll take the possibility of a big quake happening or a possible wild fire over pretty much guaranteed tropical storms/hurricanes in the southeast, the yearly "Nor'easterner" in Northeast in the winter, or tornado's in tornado alley.

Whatever happens, happens. Just be as prepared as you can.

I lived in Cupertino, CA and worked in Palo Alto in 1989. Fortunately I was away, visiting relatives in Idaho, during the Loma Prieta quake. I cut the trip short and hurried back. My apartment (first floor) had damage - I lost breakables and a computer, and our office sustained MAJOR damage. I'm now in Utah...still living in earthquake country, and waiting for this state's "big one." I don't go in for fear mongering, but believe in being prepared...and respecting anything out of the "norm." If nothing else, threads like this help us keep on our toes. To become complacent, thinking all is well, really puts you in jeopardy when all is NOT well.

I'll never forget the day of the Bay Area quake. I too, was watching the world series on TV. Lived about 180 miles away at the time and felt it.

The image burned into my head is the video footage of that one car not seeing the collapsed section of the Bay Bridge and driving into it. They showed if over and over and over on the news.

My personal reason for concern about the recent shaking is that I had two very vivid dreams a few weeks ago, before the recent swarm. In the dreams, I was my current age, but I was in the house where I grew up in CA, experiencing what I would guess to be at least a 6.5. The recent swarm has not certainly accounted for those.
I have no history of dreams like this happening in reality, which makes me feel a little better anyway.

reply to post by Jansy


Well put, about fear mongering. I'm much better at observing and listening than communicating, you explained my point exactly.

Thank you

i lived in the bay area from 1982 until 2002; i was sure there for the big one in the bay area, and i remember it very vividly and i am sure always will..

difference was, i was a young mom, raising kids, and, when that one hit, the youngest was one? and as time went on, so so many talked about leaving for safety sake..

so...eventually, i did...as the years went on, the activity only increased. i moved to the santa rosa area, and jeez, half the time it looked like jenner was falling off..:rolleyes:: so after careful analysis, i did make plans to move to somewhere a bit more secure..

i loved california(obviously; almost half my life was spent there)but, i knew, after time, that the possibilities existed that a good portion of it was on unstable ground.....

to all those on this line who still are in the area...it might not be a bad thing to consider relocation while the 'gettin' is good'..

reply to post by Zarniwoop


I remember seeing that footage too. I would have included it my post but I figured people would get the point.

Another image that sticks with me was a picture of a car with the front half under the collapsed freeway. I remember contemplating if that person would have slowed down a little bit or perhaps not left home so early, he might have avoided the collapsing freeway.

To be honest these same feelings and thoughts surfaced when watching the footage of 9/11.

reply to post by Zarniwoop


That car on the Bay bridge was exactly like my car and MY husband was in SF working I didnt know where he was and I had to look at it for hours with out reacting so my kids did not panic.. It was NOT ours but I didn't find out till almost midnite when he finnaly got a line out to call. He had been stuck on the freeway in a truck and had to fight off looters with a baseball bat. Fun Times.. I also felt that quake in Davis, Ca..

reply to post by hollwd


Wow! Now, that's a rough day.

reply to post by hollwd


Sounds very stressful.
Davis, I was in Sacramento at the time, doing homework on my bed.

reply to post by hollwd


I had a friend who worked in the city. She had just past the tollbooths (going East) at the Bay Bridge when the earthquake hit. She spent the night contemplating what might have happened if she hadn't left work exactly when she did, or if she'd had to wait at one additional stoplight...and called her boss the next morning to say she was moving back home to New York and he could send her final paycheck there!