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sjfiuauqadfj t1_itsdgdr wrote

Reply to comment by Bloorajah in Preliminary 5.1 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Near San Jose by BusbyBusby

honestly people who dont have earthquakes think earthquakes are more scary than they actually are. a 5.1 is like you drank some coffee and got the shakes but it only lasts for a few seconds

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anadem t1_itsllzs wrote

That's how I used to think until the big one in '89 (was in SF at the time) .. that changed my view and since then I really do not like

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Bloorajah t1_itst3fz wrote

I’m fine with smaller earthquakes, but the big ones definitely can get scary. The one in 89 knocked over all those freeways right?

The big one I was in started very gently, like a smaller earthquake, but instead of stopping after a few waves like you’d expect, it only got stronger and stronger until it was really hard to stand up. I was in a fairly safe building (newer construction) but some buildings nearby came down. The sound of the buildings collapsing, people screaming, car alarms, and the whole time the shaking is just getting worse and worse and it goes on and on.

They sorta build up like the frog in the pot of water, it doesn’t seem like you’re in the middle of a natural disaster and then it suddenly crosses that line and you realize there isn’t really anything you can do, just sorta hope you picked the right hiding spot.

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Awkward_Bowler t1_itt5qbk wrote

Yea I lived through the '94 Northridge one. That shit was fucking crazy. There were aftershocks the entire night. I still take small earthquakes seriously because you never know if it'll turn into a big one.

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haysu-christo t1_ittpi0k wrote

Yeah, I lived through the Northridge quake too and that was a nasty one. Big, long shakes and lots of aftershocks!

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kiki4thewin t1_ituibse wrote

I’m traumatized to this day from the Northridge earthquake. I was young but they have been a fear of mine ever since!

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Meleeki t1_itt6fu7 wrote

>honestly people who dont have earthquakes think earthquakes are more scary than they actually are.

That's what everyone says about whatever natural disaster is common to their region. People can adapt to anything.

There could be a colony on some alien planet where the rain is acid and demon alien monsters crawl out of cracks in the ground every few months and the people would just shrug and say "You get used to it. At least we don't live in Detroit."

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EmeraldGlimmer t1_ittsdsi wrote

That's not too far off from living some place that's so cold you can die if you get caught outside without your proper clothing, and also, bears.

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SPACE_ICE t1_itt5mfz wrote

as someone who moved east to west years ago its a lot more related to soil composition. Dry, hard, and mostly shallow bedrock soils that dominate around california don't actually transmit eneegy from earthquakes very well and move with the shaking vs jiggling. The east coast has very water logged soils with very deep a and o horizons that jiggle like jello during earthquakes and transmit that energy very well. About ten years ago DC had a low magnitude earth quake that caused a lot of damage and shook buildings, it had more to do with the soils then building code. And like others have said a magnitude 5 earthquake in california hardly feels like anything if I feel it at all, but a magnitude 2 earthquake in swamp land feels 10x worse.

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Sinfluencer666 t1_ittlirk wrote

Gonna agree with you on that one.

I live in Idaho, and we had a 6.5 about 70 miles from where I live and it was the first earthquake I've ever been in.

It didn't help that I was welding at the time the shaking began. With the hood down, I felt suddenly like I was drunk or going to pass out. I stood up, lifted my hood, and looked up at the metal rack on the wall, and all the tubing, flatbar, and sticks of angle iron were flexing and vibrating on the rack. It was about then I thought to myself, "Oh shit! Is this an earthquake?" and got underneath the platen table until the steel rack calmed down. It was certainly unsettling. The Earth is a wild and beautiful thing.

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hundredjono t1_itssnmg wrote

It all depends on the depth of the quake. The shallower the quake, the more shaking there is on the surface.

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