Gregory Szorc's blog

My First Earthquake

After living in California for nearly a year, I finally experienced an earthquake. On Tuesday evening, I had just sat down at my desk and heard some rumbling. At first, I thought the people above me were moving heavy furniture around. Then, I realized that the rumbling was coming from all around me and the ground wasn't exactly stable. I walked the five feet to the doorway and stood it out. The major shaking lasted maybe 10 seconds before it subdued quite a bit. It was a bit unnerving to see my plasma television wavering on its stand, but I could tell it wasn't going anywhere. More concerning was the creaking of all the wood in the building around me. Yikes!

Utilities weren't affected, so after it died down, I got on the computer and found above half a dozen IM's, all reading, "you feel that!?," "dude!," etc. Of course, the link to the USGS earthquake detail page instantly made its way around the area via IM no more than 60 seconds after the quake occurred. Excited that I had experienced my first earthquake, I called my mother. She didn't answer, so I tried calling friends from back east. However, I couldn't get a dial tone. I guess everyone else had the same idea! Strangely, my mother was able to call me about two minutes after I called her, at the same time I couldn't make outbound calls. It definitely sounds like the cell companies were prioritizing inbound calls. I didn't even think to use my SIP account with work to call people. Providing I still have power and internet after the next one, that is definitely the way to do it.

It took a few minutes, but the USGS eventually settled on a 5.6 rating. Apparently, this is one of the stronger earthquakes to strike the area in a few years.

This first earthquake taught me a lot. First, I now have a basis of comparison for the scale of earthquakes. 5.6 was strong enough that you couldn't miss it. However, it wasn't nearly strong enough to cause any serious damage or put many in harm's way. It also instilled some fear in me. Since the Richter Scale is base-10 logarithmic, I find it hard to fathom an earthquake that is 100 times greater. Even something that is 10x greater (just a single point on the Richter Scale higher) is something that would probably terrify me. I hope that I never have to experience that, but I know that it is inevitable. Until then, I'll try to keep prepared.

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After earthquake you are better guy, I hope!

How completely cool! Yet it's as though a higher power is trying to tell you guys something - first devastating fires, then earthquakes. Some might say it's time to head outta Dodge... ;))

Glad you're fine. By the way, I gave you some link love over at my site today, Greg.