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So as you may have heard, a magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck the Los Angeles area at 11:45am local time today (2:45pm eastern). The epicenter (origin of the seismic energy) was a hilly area 2 miles south of Diamond Bar known as 'Chino Hills'. This location is about 25 miles west of Auto Club Speedway (formerly known as California Speedway), and about 40 miles southeast of me. While a 5.4 is a moderate quake, there are no reports of fatalities or injuries, however there were quite a few reports of damage in the Pomona and Chino areas immediately to the east of the epicenter. Auto Club Speedway is about 20 miles east of Chino, but no reports of any damage there.
As for me, I did indeed feel it and in a way I never like to go through these things. I was asleep when it hit, and it woke me up and I bolted to our in-house earthquake protective shelter (a sturdy table). When this happens, the mind first thinks its only a nightmare, but then once its over, the realization comes that it was no dream. This is quite real. It's certainly not something that can be gotten used to, no matter how many earthquakes a person experiences.
Fortunately, I was far enough away to only experience a rolling motion like the house was a raft on the rolling waves of the ocean. To better understand this, imagine a rock being thrown into a still pond. Where the rock hits the surface would be the epicenter, where the waves originate and are sharpest. Then they radiate out growing gentler the farther from the epicenter they get until they fizzle out. However, while waves from a rock are more or less constant and symmetrical as far as distribution pattern goes, earthquakes may or may not be symmetrical or evenly distributed. Being 35 miles away, what were sharp jolts at the epicenter were strong rolls by the time they got here. The rolling motion was enough to get my attention, but fortunately wasn't sharp enough to knock anything off any shelves here. We were lucky this time.
Unfortunately we're not always lucky. In my lifetime I've gone through the '87 Whitter quake, the '92 Landers & Big Bear quakes, the '94 Northride earthquake (this one caused a TON of damage where I live), Northridge's thousands of aftershocks (not an exaggeration), and other moderate events such as today's. Since these things are completely unpredictable as far as exactly when or where the next one will hit, everyone who lives here either lives in denial, or integrates the possibility of a major earthquake striking while they're asleep, at work, or anywhere into their lives. This includes keeping lights on at night, always being conscious of what breakables are placed on edges of tables, having cabinet doors velcro'd so they don't swing open & their contents crash out in a quake, etc.
I've been there done that with these things, and they never get any easier to deal with. Can't help but feel somewhat envious of places that get hit by hurricanes or tornadoes as you can see the weather coming. There's no way to ever see these things coming. No amount of inductive reasoning-based armchair theorizing works. Ever. There's also no way to replicate the experience with hydraulics in a theme park, or science exhibition. Being the quake vet I am, I've also learned a thing or two about these things & I'll be happy to field any questions anyone out there has about these fun phenomenons of living in SoCal.
For more info about today's quake, check out the USGS website
As for me, I did indeed feel it and in a way I never like to go through these things. I was asleep when it hit, and it woke me up and I bolted to our in-house earthquake protective shelter (a sturdy table). When this happens, the mind first thinks its only a nightmare, but then once its over, the realization comes that it was no dream. This is quite real. It's certainly not something that can be gotten used to, no matter how many earthquakes a person experiences.
Fortunately, I was far enough away to only experience a rolling motion like the house was a raft on the rolling waves of the ocean. To better understand this, imagine a rock being thrown into a still pond. Where the rock hits the surface would be the epicenter, where the waves originate and are sharpest. Then they radiate out growing gentler the farther from the epicenter they get until they fizzle out. However, while waves from a rock are more or less constant and symmetrical as far as distribution pattern goes, earthquakes may or may not be symmetrical or evenly distributed. Being 35 miles away, what were sharp jolts at the epicenter were strong rolls by the time they got here. The rolling motion was enough to get my attention, but fortunately wasn't sharp enough to knock anything off any shelves here. We were lucky this time.
Unfortunately we're not always lucky. In my lifetime I've gone through the '87 Whitter quake, the '92 Landers & Big Bear quakes, the '94 Northride earthquake (this one caused a TON of damage where I live), Northridge's thousands of aftershocks (not an exaggeration), and other moderate events such as today's. Since these things are completely unpredictable as far as exactly when or where the next one will hit, everyone who lives here either lives in denial, or integrates the possibility of a major earthquake striking while they're asleep, at work, or anywhere into their lives. This includes keeping lights on at night, always being conscious of what breakables are placed on edges of tables, having cabinet doors velcro'd so they don't swing open & their contents crash out in a quake, etc.
I've been there done that with these things, and they never get any easier to deal with. Can't help but feel somewhat envious of places that get hit by hurricanes or tornadoes as you can see the weather coming. There's no way to ever see these things coming. No amount of inductive reasoning-based armchair theorizing works. Ever. There's also no way to replicate the experience with hydraulics in a theme park, or science exhibition. Being the quake vet I am, I've also learned a thing or two about these things & I'll be happy to field any questions anyone out there has about these fun phenomenons of living in SoCal.
For more info about today's quake, check out the USGS website
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