Rocking Along in Cali on Humzoo

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Tuesday, July 29th, 2008
Rocking Along in Cali

Hello Humzoo!

Maybe you've heard we had a 5.4 earthquake in southern California today around lunch time. The building where I work is pretty old and made out of brick and cement but we came through just fine. We're about 25 miles from the epicenter. I happened to be meeting with five of the most outgoing, talkative and loud people in my office when the earthquake struck. The weirdest thing was that they all went silent, just standing there feeling the building rock. I did something even weirder- I walked over to my co-worker who was sitting in front of a big window and grabbed his hand and then walked him away from the window. I heard most injuries from earthquakes are from flying broken glass. I must have just been reacting to remembering that info.

During the earthquake, which seemed much longer than most, I looked out over his shoulder and saw the cars in the parking lot rocking back and forth, forward and back in the parking spots. They really got moving, rolling like a foot in each direction.

My work is closer to the epicenter than my house, so I don't think much happened at my home, but I've heard of people's refridgerators being thrown open and food strewn on their kitchen floors. Glasses and stuff falling and breaking. I'm glad to hear that it sounds like most people weathered the quake pretty well.

5 Comments

1) Awesome - sounds like fun! That's just like you to move your coworker away from the window. Safety first! Thanks for the update. It's nice to hear stories "from the ground" so to speak, rather than speculative reporting from the media.

Dave Heinzel Tuesday, July 29, 2008

2) I have a friend who just moved from Illinois to Cali. Needless to say she was a bit freaked out by her first earthquake experience. She's going to turn into Tori from Saved by the Bell and start walking around in a helmet.

Sarah S. Tuesday, July 29, 2008

3) The type of earthquake can really make a difference. When I was a kid, right after there was a big earthquake (maybe it was 7.8?) in Big Bear, we had aftershocks all summer long in our family cabin in the same town. There's a long hallway in the cabin and you could hear the earthquake coming down the hall like a freight train. Those were jarring something-terrible is happening kind of earthquakes.

This one here today was sorta a wobbly-rocking type so it didn't seem as bad. As you looked around though it seemed kinda like a fun house, things were wobbly long enough that even after it was done you still felt like you were rocking.

Lionheart Tuesday, July 29, 2008

4) I'm happy that Portland (and OR in general) doesn't get the quantity or strength of CA quakes. There have been several small ones since I moved here but they were so light I missed them. One I slept through and the other at work went totally unnoticed by me (a co-worker remarked he felt it). One of the Portland natives remarked about being in a building in downtown Portland during a more serious one years ago. He said he didn't feel it so much as see it when he looked out the window. He said seeing a building shimmy was a little daunting and the motion was more obvious with his eye on the wiggling buildings. I heard from a friend who works in one of our offices outside of LA and he told me about the quake but assured me they were all fine and not too concerned or jumpy about it. I guess you can get used to anything but the ground wiggling under me would be very weird. Glad you are ok and even calm enough to think of others as well. I love how the loud folks went silent.

LGrant Tuesday, July 29, 2008

5) Glad you are okay. As noted on the news those 5.4s are usually only talked of in passing, but in a major city it can be noticeable news. I am so glad that we (California in general) are good (for the most part) about building codes.

girlcarew Wednesday, July 30, 2008