California unveils new seismic shaking map

Mercury News ^ | 4/22/03 | Frank Sweeney

[NormsRevenge]

If you live in the ``pink'' or ``red'' zones, you could be in trouble, scientists and government officials warned in San Jose today as they unveiled a new earthquake shaking map for the state of California.

For the Bay Area as well as most of Southern California, the map colors are very, very warm. In fact, nearly all of coastal California from north of Eureka to the Mexican border, where more than 70 percent of the state's population lives, is red. So are the southern inland deserts.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Hey! Now THAT'S the way to look at it!!!!!

[WSGilcrest]

Go get yourself a Piper's burger in Silver Springs! Damn fine burger.

[Jonez712]

Well I'm screwed, along with EggsAckley, we both live in Santa Cruz county, right where a whole lot of pink and red shows up, at least in my part of the county.

[John H K]

Well, all of Nevada has some pretty respectable seismic hazard, but it's worst along the West edge; the fault on the East side of the Sierra (where the Sierra came up) is extremely dangerous and has cranked out massive quakes; the last big one was in the 1800s RIGHT before the area was settled.

All the ranges of Nevada are basically hinged blocks and they rise through quakes; so you can have them most anywhere. But there's a little less hazard away from Western Nevada.

The place that's really dangerous that people don't realize is Salt Lake City and the whole populated area in Utah; lots of seismic hazards, regular 7.5s every 160 years or so on the Wasatch front, but the last one was RIGHT before Brigham Young showed up.

The whole area is built on mushy lake sediment and at some point in the next 50 years ago you're likely going to see all the cities of the Wasatch front leveled.

[NormsRevenge]

If ancient caulderas don't get ya, old faults will.

The geological record of North America is one of massive occurrences at fairly predictable frequencies.

Unfortunately, a lot of these areas are overdue for the next event, if Im not mistaken.

If folks think 9/11 , socialism, GATT, NAFTA and "FRee trade" have kicked our nation's economy in the head, just wait until one of these babies lets rip.

[scab4faa]

A few years ago I was stationed in Adak, Ak and we were hit by a 7.9 earthquake, now you want to talk about rocking! we also had about 400 6.7+ aftershocks in the couple of months that followed

[NormsRevenge]

Talk about a Pacific Rim job!

An E ticket ride, for sure. ;-)

[buffyt]

Talk about a Pacific Rim job!

Somehow that sounds like a Clinton Lewinsky joke!

I better get my mind out of the gutter

[buffyt]

We lived in San Marino just east of LA from 1988-1990. Had a big huge Spanish house, 4865 Sq ft., built like a rock in 1926. We had three earthquakes while we lived there, three I recall. The first one was in the middle of the night and woke me up. The bed was rolling like a water bed with waves rolling through it. I woke up, sat there in bed, thinking the water bed is rolling. Then I woke up enough to remember it was not a water bed, but a mattress. That was about a 5.4 I think.

One of the quakes I was at the park. One I was standing in the house in the entry hall looking at the den and living room. The fireplace, mantel, chimney were swaying, waving from the floor to ceiling like they were liquid. The lamp shade in the den was rocking back and forth smoothly. Strange! Nothing fell, nothing broke. That house is solid.

One of the quakes I was at Ralph's. I went up to front of store away from products that could fall onto me, away from glass windows. The elderly people just kept shopping, it was nothing to them!

One of the quakes I was at the park with the kids. My friend noticed the quake and wanted to go home. Her kids and my kids didn't even notice the quakes. My daughter was at a birthday party and none of the kids at the party noticed the quake. The kids were all about first grade.

Santa Anna winds actually did more damage than any quakes while we lived in SM. Knocking over trees, knocking out power worse than Gray Davis!

[buffyt]

Well that was four. I think there were more, but I don't remember all the details.

One of the quakes my cat went outside and refused to come in. After the quake and aftershocks stopped she came in. She knew it was coming before it came. How did She know to get out of the house?

[NormsRevenge]

As plates reach the snapping point there are "pre-discharges" that animals are sensitive to and scientists are still trying to definitively identify.

My cats have never given any warning in my household but they can sense when the food cabinet door is about to be opened, even from a dead sleep. Strange. (It's almost as if they hear the cabinet door hinges squeaking before they are opened.) Nyahhh! ;-)

Funny how Moanica moves different folks in different ways, eh? Fox really does scrape the bottom of the barrel some times(actually, most of the time, imo).