Earthquake hits California!

EARTHQUAKE ROCKS CENTRAL CALIFORNIA, NORTH OF PASO ROBLES; PARKFIELD AREA... PRELIMINARY MAGNITUDE 6.0... FELT FROM SAN FRANCISCO IN THE NORTH TO LOS ANGELES IN THE SOUTH... SWARMS FOLLOW... DEVELOPING...

www.drudgereport.com...
quake.wr.usgs.gov...

[edit on 28-9-2004 by Banshee]

[edit on 28-9-2004 by Mynaeris]

quake.usgs.gov...

Originally posted by Mynaeris

Is this even news? In the 5s on the Richter Scale is pretty tame.

We just felt it here in Norcal, and, well, most people didn't even put down their coffee...

earthquake.usgs.gov...

5-er. No damage reports yet, but that's not too terribly big for CA.
Dunno where Drudge is getting a mag 6 from, but it seems to be a 5.

Hearing 5.9, Drudge must have rounded up. No reports of damage, up to 10 aftershocks at this point. All according to NFC.

Possibly one after shock that registers 5.0.

Gotta wonder... they had a multitude of earthquakes in NoCal earlier in the month, and now all the quakes under Mt. St. Helens. Certainly these are all connected.

Now their saying 5 miles deep. Which apparently is a good thing, as it keeps the jolting forces away from the surface, and minimizes damage.

There was a 5.9 4 minutes prior to the one you linked to, Banshee.

I wouldn't really say it really "rocked" California -- it wasn't particularly impressive. I live fairly close to Parkfield (a town that sits directly on the San Andreas and is frequently the epicenter location for many SA quakes). I also live the same distance from San Simeon that had that 6.something last December. Though it is nice to see San Andreas move a little since I'm getting a bit tired of the newly-discovered fault beneath San Simeon producing aftershocks for 9 months.

[edit on 9/28/2004 by Tanin]

25 aftershocks as of 1:51pm EST, highest mag aftershock is 5.0
This isn't unusual whatsoever. Nobody panic.

Originally posted by phreak_of_nature
Possibly one after shock that registers 5.0.

Gotta wonder... they had a multitude of earthquakes in NoCal earlier in the month, and now all the quakes under Mt. St. Helens. Certainly these are all connected.

Probably not, actually. The St. Helens quakes are an anomaly and folks over there are creeped out for obvious reasons. We get 4.0-5.0 earthquakes in Cali fairly often. Just good old tectonic tension getting released little by little.

We love the little quakes over here, because the more of those we have, the smaller "The Big One" will be.

I'm in So Cal and didn't feel a thing. They have been saying for months that we are LONG overdue for a biggy so I hope this isn't the trigger that causes us to make our surfboards our new home!

Jemison

i dint feel anything and im in san fran erm??


owell there will be more its cali afterall

This didn't have anything to do with the Washington quakes. Today's are courtesy of our good friend the San Andreas fault, which is different from the faults in the Cascade area. As oppodeldoc mentioned, we get these all the time.

Quite honestly, I'd take one of our earthquakes over a tornado or hurricane any day. They're actually a lot of fun if you're outside in a field and don't have anything that can fall on you.

Originally posted by Jemison
I'm in So Cal and didn't feel a thing. They have been saying for months that we are LONG overdue for a biggy so I hope this isn't the trigger that causes us to make our surfboards our new home!

Jemison

Actually, they've been saying we're long overdue for the big one since forever. I remember getting all scared about huge earthquakes when I was a kid, then Loma Prieta happened. That WAS pretty scary, but the thing is, these little quakes are always good because they release the tension between the tectonic plates that would otherwise build into large earthquakes.

The big one will happen one day, could be later today, could be 100 years from now, but the more little ones we have, the better I feel working in a 15-story building...

Parkfield sits on the San Andreas and is a highly monitored area and home to a earthquake prediction experiment. Geologists should acquire a great deal of insight on this one.
They have been expecting a large earthquake there for some time this is why the prediction program was placed there. Here is a informative pdf on the subject.

www.scec.org...

and are are some real time info sites on the experimental station.

www.geocities.com...

Have a god day,

TUT

RedPuma reports 6.1 : www.seismo.ethz.ch...

28Sep2004 17:15:24.0 35.8N 120.6W 10 MS=6.1 M*GSR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA 1828

28Sep2004 17:15:24.0 35.8N 120.4W 7 M =6.0 M*NEI CENTRAL CALIFORNIA 1759

28Sep2004 17:15:24.0 35.8N 120.4W 1 M =5.9 M*NEI CENTRAL CALIFORNIA 1748

Originally posted by phreak_of_nature
Gotta wonder... they had a multitude of earthquakes in NoCal earlier in the month, and now all the quakes under Mt. St. Helens. Certainly these are all connected.

Like it has been said, those in Cascades are in different area.

But those happening in same fault can trigger other quake... and stress in fault goes off first in place which is weakest and requires smallest amount of energy to "break".
It cannot be said exactly, this might be followed by small earthquakes in other places or it might be "just" clearing its throat.

ill be damned if i felt anything, them earthquakers quite a ride yeup. didnt feel a thing. last one i remember was in 96 it was a 2.3 i was in class wasnt much of nothing. then there was the big one of 89 it was 7.2 or something shock the whole dern house. earthquakes are fun if your in a empty field, but inside it feels like a bomb going off right next door. just pray that your house doesnt fall over. bound to be another big one of these days, some folks are ill prepared for a major even like that. then again whats to be prepared for something imposible to predict?