Earthquake in California

I didn't feel a thing but I was sleeping at that time. I'm a good distance from the epicenter but usually with a quake that size we still feel them. A lot of quakes we have that are 6.0 usually cause very little damage. I hope everyone is OK and that there is minimal damage.
 
Angel how strong does a earthquake have to be to cause serious damage and injuries? I thought 6.0 is really strong but it seems not?
 
shel90 said:
Angel how strong does a earthquake have to be to cause serious damage and injuries? I thought 6.0 is really strong but it seems not?
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It really varies depending on what kind of quake it is and where it actually hits. Most areas in California have strong earthquake building codes. My house took a direct hit with a 7.1 quake and had little damage. I've been in a 6.8 quake when I was a little girl and we had to leave our home because they felt like the dam was going to break. Lot's of serious road, bridge and structural damage.

There have been many quakes around 6.0 that cause very little damage. Depends totally on the area, like liquor stores usually have a mess to clean, grocery stores might have a mess etc.

BUT....there have been some 6.0+ that have cause major damage and death. Loma Prieta, Northridge were awful and caused a lot of damage and numerous deaths.

They still scare the heck out of me. If I was awake and just sitting here I probably would have felt it just a little.
 
My daughter & son-in-law slept through it. They live west of San Jose, so were not close to the epicenter.
 
Shel, to add to the responses to your question, I'd say, basically, the most damage is at the quake's epicenter and lessens the further out........
 
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WOW watching the news this quake caused a lot of damage. Lot's of fires now due to gas lines breaking etc.

It is going to take a long time to get things settled.
 
My aunt and her husband are in Salinas, cousins in S.F......
can't get CNN online to connect...
 
The trains are stopped for track inspections. Hope the tracks are not too damaged.
 
dogmom said:
My aunt and her husband are in Salinas, cousins in S.F......
can't get CNN online to connect...
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Salinas is really far from the epicenter so is San Francisco. My area is on the map but we didn't feel anything. A lot of the buildings that fell were historic buildings dating way back.

Watching the news makes it look horrific. The newer part of Napa is just fine and business as usual. Napa is Wine Country so they are estimating that thousands and thousands bottles of wine have been destroyed.

Hope that helps a little bit.
 
:ty:Angel :wave:

"..makes it look horrific" - yeah, you're right about that, that's why I didn't automatically call over there because the damage -can - be so sensationalized on the news and I know the damage is also dependent on various factors
 
dogmom said:
:ty:Angel :wave:

"..makes it look horrific" - yeah, you're right about that, that's why I didn't automatically call over there because the damage -can - be so sensationalized on the news and I know the damage is also dependent on various factors
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Exactly....In reality it is not a very big area that has severe damage. The area that did get hit, got hit hard.

Like the Loma Prieta quake, that caused damage to a very large part of California.
 
I did not feel anything as I was sleeping hard through the night right after I had a long day surfing in Pacifica. When I woke up at 1030am and I turned on tv, whoa I see a lot of damages in Napa. I just hope there's no deaths, as news said three people are severe injured. It seems like '94 Northridge Quake (6.7) is worse than this.
 
I just got into bed and the house was swaying.. tv, and things were swaying. It woke almost everyone up. I'm fine here but there is some damage in Napa area and surrounding since it was the closest to the epicenter.

If the magnitude rating holds, it will be the largest earthquake to hit the Bay Area since the Loma Prieta episode in 1989 that measured 6.9. The largest on record was the historic 7.8 earthquake that hit San Francisco in 1906.
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I can't believe all the damage in Napa. It was the rolling type of earthquake, those tend to cause more damage. That is why you see some of the sidewalks lifted like three feet and then it is ok, then lifted three feet then ok. Napa has so many older houses and buildings and those seem to have taken a big hit. So far no deaths which is amazing.

Loma Prieta quake I believe 62 people died. Most of those were when the Cypress Structure collapsed.
 
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