Has anybody ever been in a major earthquake?
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Started by metmike - Sept. 20, 2018, 12:52 p.m.

 

As a follow up, we'll discuss how we measure earthquakes and the strange Richter Scale.

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By carlberky - Sept. 20, 2018, 1:21 p.m.
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Oh, yes!

I was knocked off my feet, and I never felt so helpless, as I struggled to get to  the baby's room. 

We were in the San Fernando Valley and the epee center was, I believe, in Selmar.

It was in 1971, and later we heard rumors about some neighbors who  were so frightened that they moved back to the mid-west ... where they were  killed by a cyclone.

By metmike - Sept. 21, 2018, 6:02 p.m.
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Thanks Carl. So where can you go on this planet to be safe?

Hey, that's a good idea for another thread!

Here's my earthquake story.

In July 1980, I was working as a dietary supervisor at The University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, while I was going to school there. I was on the 8th floor in the office with a dietitian from the Philippines, Tesse. 

Southeast Michigan has not had a major earthquake in history. The biggest one was a 4.6 in 1947, so people living in Michigan do not even think about what to do in an earthquake.

On this particular day, there was a moderate earthquake in Kentucky that shook buildings(just a wee bit) as far away as Michigan.

http://geosurvey.ohiodnr.gov/border-region-quake-pgs/kentucky-quake-1980-additional-data

Nobody even noticed it but Tesse started screaming and got under a desk, yelling "earthquake! earthquake!

I thought she was nuts but she insisted there had been an earthquake. The next day we found out that there was an earthquake that shook buildings just a smidgen. 

Incredible. We had a human seismograph in our midst!!

Of course she also told us about her experiences in earth quakes growing up in the Phillipines:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_the_Philippines

Top 10 countries most prone to earthquakes:

https://listsurge.com/top-10-countries-prone-earthquakes/

By metmike - Sept. 21, 2018, 6:56 p.m.
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1971 San Fernando earthquake


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_San_Fernando_earthquake


Both the Upper and Lower Van Norman dams were severely damaged as a result of the earthquake. The lower dam was very close to breaching, and approximately 80,000 people were evacuated for four days while the water level in the reservoir was lowered.

By metmike - Sept. 21, 2018, 7:17 p.m.
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How do scientists measure earthquakes?

http://tremor.nmt.edu/faq/how.html


They use a siesmograph and the Richter Scale:

"Magnitude is a measure of the amount of energy released during an earthquake"

"In other words, a magnitude 7 earthquake would produce seismogram waves 10 x 10 = 100 times as high and release energy 32 x 32 = 1024 times as great as a magnitude 5 earthquake."


Watching this video might help to explain it better:

Magnitude/Intensity

https://pnsn.org/outreach/about-earthquakes/magnitude-intensity

The Severity of an Earthquake

https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/earthq4/severitygip.html

By carlberky - Sept. 21, 2018, 7:25 p.m.
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" Thanks Carl. So where can you go on this planet to be safe? "

Well, I've experienced a hurricane (1938), and an earthquake (1971).

In my bucket list is a tsunami. Where's the best place to go to catch that sucker  ?.

By Lacey - Sept. 21, 2018, 8:06 p.m.
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Yes, an 8.6 in Quatemala City 40 years ago.  Was traveling through and just lucked into it.  All buildings lost their glass.  The hotel next door cracked in half but did not fall down.  The thing about big quakes is the after shocks that go on for maybe a week longer.  They continue to drop buildings and do damage.  Actually feel lucky I wasn't in the countryside, because it was those buildings, not steel reinforced, that came down and killed 60,000 people.

By metmike - Sept. 22, 2018, 5:55 p.m.
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By Lacey - Sept. 23, 2018, 9:10 a.m.
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Yes, that must be it, thought they said 8.6.  Must have been wrong.  Also not as many people died, which is good.  Terrifying all the same.  Military Jeep's with machine guns mounted running all over the place.