SC - Earthquakes (OT/OP) was Currant history

[Huette von Ahrens]

- --- Nanna Rognvaldardottir <nanna at idunn.is> wrote:
> Pretty bad, we are quite used to minor ones here. No
> casualties that I know
> of, though, but structural damages to many houses
> and roads in the South -
> nothing bad here in Reykjavík. 

Coming from Los Angeles, Calif. and having been thru
many many large earthquakes, I know and sympathize
about how you feel and what you have gone through. 
6.6 is a fairly decent quake, but survivable.  Thank
God that there were no casualties.  Houses and roads
can be rebuilt.  But lives can't be replaced.  I have
friends and relatives who are still rebuilding their
homes after the 7.8 Northridge earthquake.  The
important thing to remember is to keep calm at all
times.  To assess where you are in relationship to
having things fall on you.  Make sure that there are
no shelves over your bed, so that nothing can fall on
you in your sleep.  Bolt any bookcases, or large
pieces of furniture to your walls.  Stay away from
windows, in case they break and cut you with flying
glass.  Do not run outside [because chimneys and other
parts of your house could fall on you], but go to the
nearest doorway or to your bathroom, because they are
the strongest parts of the house in case your house is
damaged or destroyed.  If you can do so now, find out
what kind of soil your house is built on.  Sandy soil
or landfill soil tends to be subject to liquefaction,
which means that the shaking makes the ground act as
if it were water, which causes your house to collapse.

You should also make yourself an earthquake survival
kit, which should contain bottled water, canned food,
a can opener, a flashlight with batteries, a portable
radio with batteries, a first-aid kit, and a set of
spare clothes and shoes.  You should also learn how
and where to turn off your utilities, in case your
house is damaged.

I suspect that your earthquakes are of volcanic origin
rather than from continental plates shifting, which is
what usually happens here in California, but I am not
an expert.

- - Last night, I was
> writing a message to
> Elysant, telling her about the quake on Saturday,
> and finished with saying
> that scientists had predicted another large quake
> soon - problem was, no one
> knew if "soon" meant in two hours or two years.

We here in California keep being warned that there
will be a major earthquake coming "soon".  The Big One
is supposed to be in the 8.5 to 9 Richter Scale range
and they have been predicting it will happen somewhere
on the San Andreas Fault for the past 40 years. 
Geologists and seismologists think in geological
epochs of millions of years, so "soon" could sometime
in the next 100 years or more.


> Exactly two minutes after I
> sent the message, the second large earthquake hit.
> There is a story and map
> here:
> 
>
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_799000/799724.stm
> 
> I don´t think I´ve ever been in a car during an
> earthquake but the only
> people I know of that didn´t feel the quake on
> Saturday were either in a car
> or in a swimming pool.

My brother was driving to work during the Sierra Madre
Earthquake, which was 6.5.  He had stopped because he
saw the concrete and asphalt freeway he was driving on
ripple in front of him.  He also made sure that he was
not under any bridges or overpasses that could
collapse on top of him.

Of course, the most important thing about surviving
earthquakes is to learn from them and rebuild with
stricter building codes.  With every earthquake we
have experienced here in California, our building
codes became more and more stricter and safety
conscious.  

I have an unfortunate ability to wake up just before
an earthquake hits.  The Northridge earthquake hit at
a few minutes after 4 AM.  I woke up at 4 AM, which is
very unusual for me.  I was lying in bed wondering why
I awoke so early, when the earthquake hit.  I wish I
had slept through it.

Huette





__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send instant messages with Yahoo! Messenger.
http://im.yahoo.com/