Earthquake in the N.E. USA

[Tommy-the-Greek]

This just reminds us we can get them too.http://www.comcast.net/smedia/associatedpress_2002_04_20_-----_1462-0624-Northeast-Quake..html

[Skins24]

We sure can. Remember in March of '93. Right after the blizzard, there were a couple of small tremors in Columbia, MD.

Way to close for comfort.

[@DCGoldPants]

I took a class in college back in like 95 where the Prof was convinced that the NE was due for an Earthquake that will just tear us all apart. I just hope I'm in a plane at the time.

[Om]

Lived in Chile for 3 ½ years back in the 70's. Pretty much right on top of the San Andreas fault. Earthquakes were very much a part of our lives there. At least after the first few, and you realized the Earth was, in fact, NOT about to swallow you up.

Nothing quite like them.

The first time it happened was about a week after we got there. We were in an 40's style ground-floor apartment, and I woke up in the middle of the night with my bed rattling across the linoleum tile floor, stuff falling and breaking in the kitchen down the hall, and plaster dust falling from the ceiling onto my head.

It's not the sound of rattling human stuff in the apartment that struck me then, though, or now. It was sound of a 100 freight trains passing directly under the floor. Or a couple thousand subwoofers exalting Delerium. And the sense of crushing power around you. And almost subliminal vibrations deep in your chest. And the sense of the ground underneath the floor having turned to liquid. Everything was sliding.

It was unreal.

After a while, having these things every month or two, we as young teenagers of course decided there was nothing, NOTHING cooler that earthquakes. For the most part, the buildings were built to roll with the punches, so they mostly stood up and people mostly didn't die ... so the events became a cause to celebrate.

My best bud lived in a four-story house, with his bedroom on the top floor, AND he had a bunk bed. Guess where we'd run as soon as we heard the freight trains coming. The top bunk would sway back and forth, and walk a couple of feet across the floor ... and we'd whoop and holler and carry on and be kings of the world for the 30 or so seconds it would last.

Then, when it was over, his Dad would storm into the room and kick our a$$es for being such incredibly stupid, insensitive, clueless kids. Which no doubt we were.

But it was so cool. :cool:

Just don't let me catch MY kids celebrating no earthquakes. Don't they know those damn things kill?

[inmate running the asylum]

Dont talk to me about earthquakes. I survived the Sylmar earthquake of about a 6.7 magnitude, which killed about 70 people and totally destroyed our apartment.

Then we had the Whittier earthquake which I felt nearby, which killed three people.

And then I went through the subsequent 1994 Northridge earthquake of about a magnitude 6.4, which also killed a number of people. In fact I moved out of the apartment building right next door to the apartment shown in the photos below, where a number of people were also killed. Both of these earthquakes occurred in the wee hours of the morning when it was dark. So that last time I was really lucky, being out of the immediate area of the epicenter.

http://www.fema.gov/nr/2584.jpg

http://www.fema.gov/fema/photolib/001751.jpg

The hundreds of minor earthquakes we have experienced of magnitude 5.0 or lower, we Southern Californians do not even count. However, you never get used to earthquakes. Especially when you are knocked to the floor by the moving ground and things are falling on you. People who have never experienced a strong earthquake, think they can run out of buildings to escape them. But within seconds the ground starts moving, and you usually cannot remain standing and are thrown to the floor or ground. I would imagine, however, that a tornado striking in the middle of the night would be a far worse experience.

What really pissed me off though, was the time in 1974 when I was in Tokyo on vacation. The first night I arrived there, they had a damn earthquake! All I recall was being awakened in the middle of the night with the hotel room rattling. Luckily there was no damage or injuries, as it was a minor one.

[Om]

Thank you for the lesson, inmate. But don't misunderstand my post.

I generally choose to post in a lighthearted way about things, as you may or may not have noticed. I would suggest, however, that it does not signify a lack of pathos, thought or understanding of solemn issues. Your apparently comfortable assumption of the moral high ground here – in my humble, lighthearted and understated opinion – leaves a rather sour taste.

Tell you what ... don't talk to me about religion, and we'll call it even.

[inmate running the asylum]

Om,

Hmmm. I wasnt even referring to your post in my post, Om. I was referring to the newspaper article in tommy-the-greek's post, whereby a 5.1 earthquake was mentioned. I apoligize to you if you took it the wrong way, for that was not my intention. Its just that I suppose we all have different experiences, and I was trying to share what I had experienced with most of the Extremeskins people who I believe live on the East coast. If I had been a kid experiencing earthquakes, maybe I would have seen it entirely differently. A 5.1 earthquake in Los Angeles probably doesnt even get anyone's attention out here now.

My recollection of earthquakes in California has not been a pleasant one, because I experienced the large ones firsthand, and because of the destruction and the number of people killed nearby. But it was not my intention to belittle your experience.

[Om]

That's the thing about message boards, I guess. You post something. Somebody posts something thereafter which ends up, naturally, immediately below said post. The natural tendency is to assume the subsequent response somehow ties to what one just said, and not to an earlier post by someone else. It can lead to confusion.

If that is the case here ... I apologize for taking issue with you.

Guess all the earthquake talk just shook me up.

[RyansRangers]

Hey guys

I felt that quake a little in my home in Connecticut..

There is a quite a big fault line that acutally runs through NE and from a geological standpoint it was created when the tectonic plates collided and created North America... There is a smaller fault line in Moodus CT which results in "Moodus Noises".. Either way I think this was bound to happen like someone said before it was just a mattter of time. It is odd though since NE is not know for severe weather other than Snow, Humidity and your once in a while Hurricane..

[inmate running the asylum]

Om,

Yes Om, you are absolutely right about how misunderstandings can occur on these message boards. I just recently misunderstood Terry's initial post to me, over on the thread Religion III. Fortunately, it resulted in no hard feelings -- I dont believe -- between us.

This is my first experience with posting on this type of message board, and Im not entirely used to it or the time delay between responses. My experience previously had been on Yahoo, whereby you send and receive real-time messages, although admittedly of the short sentence variety.

On this message board, however, if a person cant express themselves well in writing or are lax in what they type, someone sooner or later will read what was typed and probably take offense. So as a result what I have started doing lately, is typing the name of the individual at the top of my post, to whom I am addressing. In this particular thread, however, I forgot to do that. So sometimes you cant win.

Anyways I hope there are no hard feelings. At least there aren't on my part.

[Skins24]

Guess all the earthquake talk just shook me up.

:doh:

I think this was bound to happen like someone said before it was just a mattter of time. It is odd though since NE is not know for severe weather other than Snow, Humidity and your once in a while Hurricane..

Earthquakes aren't what we Americans call "weather" Rykins.

Earthquakes, volcanoes, etc., these occur on the earth, not above it. They are geological events and have nothing to do with severe weather. (though volcanoes, if big enough, can change the weather)

[Om]

Hard feelings? Over this? Please ...

Onward and upward, brother.

[Pete]

We had a small one once when I lived in NY. We had the Ramapo fault just North West of NYC, which is small and very inactive. Everything started to slightly vibrate for about 30 seconds. Thought that I was just very buzzed till I heard the guy on the radio yackin about it when I was driving to my shop a bit later.

A guy who worked for the company my mom worked had to go to Japan for a few days on business . While there in his hotel, they had a quake. The dude was so scared, he grabbed the Bible, and hid under a desk till it was over, praying the entire time. When he crawled out and sat down to calm down, he thanked God and looked to the good book, which happened to be the local phone book in his hands.:doh: It’s the thought that counts;)

There are so many faults that are in areas that could cause tragic results that folks don't know exist, or choose to ignore due to inactivity. I saw a quake proof system that has the entire building on giant roller bearings that sit in cupped footers that let the building roll back and forth, greatly reducing the energy transmitted upward into the building. Pretty simple actually from an engineering standpoint. I’m glad I don’t have to deal with them. The yearly threat of a major hurricane is good enough for me. They say if we get hit with a category four or five, 2/3 of my county could be under 8 to 12 ft of water. I always think of that old Cosby album with God talking to Noah. "How long can you tread water"