Bay Area Earthquake

[rp2813]

Last night the Bay Area had the "biggest" quake since Loma Prieta in 1989. No major damage from this 5.6, it was shallow and on a lesser fault in a zone that tends to creep and release pressure regularly with moderate quakes. This one was more of a rattler, the house jiggled and did some squeaking and creaking but there was no major shaking. We are about 20 miles from the epicenter. I was sitting at the desk and heard it first, turned to my partner and said "hey" and we sat there as the house got the jitters for about 10 seconds. I was poised to bolt if things got worse and the free-standing entertainment unit/bookshelf decided to take a tumble and land on my chair.

This morning at the office a couple of items were found that were knocked down from on top of overhead cabinets in a cubicle or two, but that's it.

News reports are making a bigger deal out of this than it was. Just advising the AW community that everybody pretty much took this one in stride and went right back about their business. And no, this didn't do anything to reduce the potential of the "Big One" on either of the two major faults that run up either side of the bay. THAT will be news when it happens.

Ralph

 

[sudsmaster]

Chained to wall?

Sounds a bit kinky.

Actually, what I've seen pictured are little L shaped metal brackets that one uses to secure the top of tall furniture to the wall. I confess I have some tall bookcases in the house that are not so secured - so I have some work to do in that regard. Part of the problem is that the walls in question are plaster and lathe, and it's very difficult to locate studs in such a wall, and I dislike punching random holes in perfectly good plaster. But it's not a good excuse.

 

[oxydolfan1]

Wow! Glad to hear everybody's okay, and damages were limited.

Actually, there was a bulletin last night, but very little about the aftermath this morning.

 

[sudsmaster]

It woke me up from a nap, that was about it. However, this morning's paper says that for the next few weeks there's an increased chance of a major quake on the Hayward fault. So we are being a bit anxious about that.

 

[whirlcool]

Just make sure any tall and heavy furniture is chained to the wall. Just in case....

 

[rp2813]

Suds, I would agree that chaining anything to the wall does pique my kinky interests but I too haven't done anything to secure things like large entertainment/shelf units. There's only so much you can do, and if your house gets knocked off its foundation, does it really matter if everything inside stayed upright? You're red tagged regardless.

I swung by my mom's place yesterday. It's closer to the epicenter. She's in a nursing home so we are just keeping up appearances at her place until the time comes to sell. The grandfather clock had stopped at precisely the time of the quake but I didn't find any other evidence of shaking.

I was at a buddy's house yesterday afternoon and while we were . . . er . . . passing the time, an aftershock hit. Not often you can say the earth moved for you in a literal sense!

 

[sudsmaster]

Ralph,

I took the time to bolt my home to the foundation and to reinforce the cripple walls, etc, about six years ago. It would take a very large quake to undo that, but I suppose it's possible.

The unsecured tall bookcases stand beside one of the exits to the outside, so I think it's probably mandatory to secure them to the wall. They also surround the dining room table - wouldn't want any dinner guests to wind up under a bookcase.

 

[rp2813]

I was ready to either hop out of my chair or push against the entertainment unit depending on how bad the shaking got. Due to the size of the TV and the limited depth of the unit, it sits several inches away from the wall so bracing would be both unsightly and require a bit of engineering.

Definitely if you have an issue where an exit would be blocked that's a good motivator to secure things. Considering your location you'll be glad you did once the Hayward decides to heave. You may not have power or water but you'll be able to easily find a book to read by flashlight!

 

[rapidry1000]

It was one of the few times I was sitting in the living room when I thought a huge truck was passing by my house. Then the china cabinet began shaking and creaking when I realized that it was an earthquake. It shook for seconds but seemed like a long time. This quake was no comparison to the 1989 quake.
I was in my office in the financial district during Loma Prieta in 1989 when my office file cabinets fell and completely blocked me from exiting my office. It was after 5pm and luckily an office mate heard my call for help and managed to get others still in the office to lift the file cabinets to free me.

 

[rp2813]

Oh yeah James, no comparison to Loma Prieta. Living out near Los Gatos things really shook and we had rivers of water coursing down the streets for days from broken mains. The Calaveras isn't in the same league as the San Andreas or the Hayward.

 

[sdlee]

my funny mom

when we lived in Cali and I was very young I clearly rememeber my mom talking to my grandma here in South Dakota and she (my grandma ) lived in constant fear that we were all gonna die out there in some earth quake. Well there was a shaking and my grandma even heard it over the phone....My mom told her" oh, that was just a truck"

then it happened again and the next thing I hear is my mom saying "That was an after-truck!!!"

 

[sdlee]

my funny mom

when we lived in Cali and I was very young I clearly rememeber my mom talking to my grandma here in South Dakota and she (my grandma ) lived in constant fear that we were all gonna die out there in some earth quake. Well there was a shaking and my grandma even heard it over the phone....My mom told her oh, that was just a truck

then it happened again and the next thing I hear is my mom saying That was an after-truck!!!

 

[sudsmaster]

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of small faults underlying most of the region. Only the big ones get names, but remember that the fatal 6.7 Northridge earthquake was on a previously un-known fault.