5.6 Earthquake
Dude!
At 8:04pm an earthquake struck the South Bay. I haven’t really experienced a decent-sized earthquake since 1989, and even then I was in Modesto at the time and it was more of a wave-like experience there. Sure there’s been a few since then in Northern California, but really this one.. holy moly!
The epicenter was in Alum Rock.
People have been calling into NBC11, KRON 4, and other stations noting “I felt it!” in locations like Union City, San Francisco and even Manteca.
No heavy damage has been reported (that I can find/or have heard on TV.) So that’s good.
I was baking cupcakes when all of a sudden you hear a rumble… then some stuff starts to hit each other and make noise.. then some shaking… then all of a sudden it felt like someone grabbed me and shook me.
While we were still rolling I grabbed my cell and called my mother out in Modesto. She felt it out there too!
So what’s your story?
Nothing like watching the house shake! I am about 12 miles from the epicenter.
Wow… I’ve been here on the west coast for two years now, and up until today the largest earthquake I’d felt was back in Washington, DC where I’m from. I figured that an earthquake out here would be like that — a gentle swaying.
In just 30 seconds I learned the difference between small, everyday earthquakes and the real thing.
Now, my question to you natives: when will I finally calm down and relax again?
I blogged my experience here.
I was upstairs in my office listing to GrooveSalad from SomaFM (internet radio) while surfing the internet to find the lowest price on a 20″ LCD monitor. My wife and son were down stairs in the kitchen going over homework, and my daughter was upstairs in the shower……then it hit!
I’m in South San Jose (major cross streets: Cottle, Bernel, Santa Teresa) and felt a pretty good shake-rattle-and roll for about 15-25sec. The whole house rumbled with a high frequency vibration before it started to buckle and sway. We all jumped up and ran to the front door and prepared to exit if we though the house was going to collapse. I don’t know where the cat went, but cats always seem to survive disasters.
We only experienced a few items that fell off of shelves, and had to straighten a few picture frames on the walls. But other than that all is well. It was my kids 1st major earthquake and unfortunately…..it won’t be their last.
I was just opening the door for a friend coming in from airport with a suitcase and heard the doors rattle (we are in 2nd floor) and for a quick sec thought he was placing the heavy suitcase one on each metal staircase making the shaking!
My first earthquake, feel at home in CA now :)
Glad no one was hurt.
Gary — you’ll get used to it. It’s actually good to keep it in the back of your mind. Most Californians aren’t ready for the next major quake, including myself.
If you haven’t already, watch LA Story… there’s a scene regarding earthquakes that’s totally California.
Victor, I am use to it, I am a Californian. I have been through many earthquakes. The one in 1989 a number of items fell to the floor in my house. I was without power for about 4-5 days. I know earthquakes. I sat through this one realizing it wasn’t as bad as the ‘89 quake. Otherwise, I would have been heading for the front door which I think has the strongest doorframe.
Last night at 8:04pm I was just about to do a bad, bad thing - eat. Parked well into the drive-thru lane at In-N-Out Burger, getting the $2.15 ready, the cab began to shake. Just as randramble’s wife, I thought something was very wrong. Stuck in a drive-thru up near SFO…the trouble I would be in!!! Boy, was I glad when I realized it was ONLY an earthquake!
I guess my comment was directed towards Gene. Sorry. Well, my story is that I’ve been sicks for a few days, and when the earthquake hit, we were watching The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. Not being in the right frame of mind, I thought, hey this is fun. Then I realized that I wasn’t in my Jeep going through Joshua Tree. My wife and I got the kids, headed towards the kitchen to put them under the table, I was then fixated with the bending and flexing of the walls, only to realize that it was my house that was bending and flexing.
When the quake stop, I was laughing because of all the strange things that popped into my head as a result of taking some cold medication.
At the end, I was hoping that we weren’t on the recieving end of a larger earthquake. Luckily, we weren’t.