Thursday, March 01, 2007

Earthquake!

A few hours ago we experienced an earthquake, magnitude 4.2 on the Richter scale. It was a few miles down the raod and shook us up a bit. I was in the kitchen and Mrs. Scott was giving the kids a bath. Things fell off store shelves and people's walls near the epicenter.

Earthquakes are always a strange experience. Just before it hits, there is an almost sub-sonic sound that can both be heard and felt. It's kind of like a truck coming up the street, but not quite. When it hits, I ask myself two questions immediately. How big is this going to get and how long will it last? When the intensity doesn't increase beyond a certain level, I wonder, "is this one of those that starts out light, then increases to a major quake 20 seconds later?" The most bizarre of quakes is when there is uplifting motion. Those can lift a house a mere fraction of an inch up off its foundation, and there can be a huge crashing noise like a truck hitting your house. Tonight didn't get that serious, although there was an uplift motion.

The greatest quake I've ever experienced was the 7.1 San Francisco quake of 1989. I was at game 3 of the World Series when it hit. That was an unbelievable shaker. I was standing, and could see my feet sway back and forth under me 3 or 4 feet in each direction and it lasted almost a minute. Wild.

1 comment:

  1. Hey Dude!
    I was at choir practice and the Meeting Hall/Worship Center/Sanctuary (or whatever other term you wanna use...) gave a nice sharp jolt after the rumbling finished its crescendo to a fortissimo. ;-)
    After having gone through a 7.6 shake, rattle and roll (our choir doesn't do that song...) back when I was on Diego Garcia, this one was kinda fun. It was kind of humorous seeing a few of the people in the choir running for a doorway to hide under. One guy said this was the first quake he has ever been in! Obviously not a local yokel.
    Anyway... see you around!

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