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Your Experiences with Earthquakes!

PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2003 1:23 am
by BFMF
I've been thinking about doing this post for a while, but due to the recent earthquake in Turkey, I thought I would post this today.

What are some of your experiences in earthquakes?

During my lifetime I've only been in a few. I was in a couple 3 pointers, and maybe a 4. These weren't really bad. They were a little scary at the time, especially since Mount Ranier wasn't too far away.

A couple years ago, I was in the 7.1 pointer near Tacoma, Washington. Does anyone remember hearing about that one? Now that scared the hell out of me. I was sitting in my room doing my schoolwork when I heard a distant rumble. It only took a couple seconds to start rattling the windows, then the whole house started to shake violently. It didn't take me long to get to a doorway, and then decide that since it didn't look stable because we lived in a mobile trailer I started running through the hallway, which had bookshelves along the walls. As I was running though that hallway, books were literally flying off the shelves at me. It didn't take but a few seconds to run acrossed the house and out the door into the yard, which was also violently shaking like crazy. It felt like forever, but in actuality, it lasted for almost a minute! :o

That was the last one I've been in, thank God.

How about all of you?

Re: Your Experiences with Earthquakes!

PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2003 1:38 am
by Rivers
Never been in one, there are no earthquakes or tornados around where I live :) I hope I don

Re: Your Experiences with Earthquakes!

PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2003 3:22 am
by ozzy72
Well I live in a geographically sound area, but apparently I was in one as a kid in California (v.small), and all I did was look after my little sister who was crying like mad, and then ask when we would have lunch (some things never ever change with me! Even after having 6 teeth out in one go I still demanded a full roast lunch, and ate it!)

Ozzy

Re: Your Experiences with Earthquakes!

PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2003 5:22 am
by loomex
Been in at least three hile in Reno NV. once while at home, twice at work inside very large buildings. A bit scary

Re: Your Experiences with Earthquakes!

PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2003 8:44 am
by BFMF
Has anyone been in one as big as the one I was in???

Re: Your Experiences with Earthquakes!

PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2003 9:05 am
by Fly2e
I have not Andrew, and hope I never am. Stay away from Oso's Chilli though, or you will definatley be in a major "Rumbler"!!!!

Re: Your Experiences with Earthquakes!

PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2003 12:19 pm
by Woodlouse2002
Well, I have been in one. (Yes. in jolly old cornwall too!)

It was a few years ago and about 5 on the richter scale i believe. Sadly I was in bed at the time so I missed the whole bloody thing!

LOL! ;D

Re: Your Experiences with Earthquakes!

PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2003 12:47 pm
by Maccers
I was in one quite recently, in Shropshire (bit more random than cornwall :P)
It was about 3am in the middle of November. The door started shaking, the thing is it shakes anyway, but this was bit bigger than normal. A Glass of water i had fell onto the floor and shattered, and my car alarm was set off. So off i go outside in my boxers (in November!) step on the broken glass and get some in my foot. Hobble out to the car, spend ages hobbling over the gravel to it. spend even longer fiddling with the alarm button because the batteries were flat. and hobble back up and step in the galss once more :-[
I didnt sleep much that night :(

Re: Your Experiences with Earthquakes!

PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2003 12:55 pm
by Ivan
the only real earthquakes where i live are caused by gas drillings. they only are Richter 3 or lower.

the heaviest SIMULATED earthquake i experienced was in a museum in New Zealand, it simulated the infamous 7.5 earthquake in Alaska

Re: Your Experiences with Earthquakes!

PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2003 4:44 pm
by ChuckMajik
Hey Andrew I was in the same one.

I was sitting in chemistry class
when the door handles started to shake.

I thought it was the schools poor excuse for an earthquake drill,

but then
all the desks started to shake, the bottles in the chemical store room rattled,and the TV began to rock from side to side;

and then it hit me:
THIS IS REAL!

Re: Your Experiences with Earthquakes!

PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2003 7:31 pm
by RIC_BARKER
LOL, cool thread.

I've been in one real Earthquake, in England of all places. Not sure how big it was (3 ish I think) but it was really odd.

I was watching Casino on telly, and my window blind started to rattle - and I thought " :o "The the whole house "wobbled" (shook is too strong a word).

It was really strange.

There was some stuff on tv the next day about it, some guy's house collapsed - unlucky!

We don't get anything major here, just tremors really.

I've felt a simulated Richter 7 in Australia, in a museum in Canberra. I can only imagine what it must be like to be in a big one - a good time to be up in the air I think!  ;D

Re: Your Experiences with Earthquakes!

PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2003 7:41 pm
by Iroquois
Living in Ontario, earthquakes are un common and when they do ocurr, the most damage done is a few crooked pictures. We do get a lot of bad snow and ice storms though. Lightning storms can get bad here too.

Re: Your Experiences with Earthquakes!

PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2003 8:28 pm
by BFMF
[center]Hey Andrew I was in the same one.


The 7.1 earthquake in seattle a couple years ago?

What I want to know is how can a 6.4 quake kill hundreds of people in someother place, but the only casualty I know of from the one I was in, was an old man had a heart attack???

Re: Your Experiences with Earthquakes!

PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2003 9:19 pm
by Brian_Gladden
I'ts called building codes......... Actualy... North America has very few all masonry construted buildings. most have a wood or steel frame that has some "give" and fares better in a trembler. where the area around the Med has alot of purely stone and other "brittle" structures that fail rather easily in an earthquake. Also populatin density has alot to do with it. there was a 5 + one in northern NY State about a year ago. the only real dmage was some broken windows and cracked foundations and chimneys.. all brittle structures while the wooden houses faired well. Hmmmm, All those lessons on building construction stuck from my Fire fighters training LOL

Re: Your Experiences with Earthquakes!

PostPosted: Sat May 03, 2003 12:04 am
by ChuckMajik
The 7.1 earthquake in seattle a couple years ago?


Yep,

but
after travelling through the ground it was only 6.8 up here in BC.