whew, 5.0 quake just hit LA

[red baron]

I felt that down here.

[erkishhorde]

Rolling motion at the Santa Ana/ Costa Mesa boarder. Kinda fun. 

The 'rents felt it over in the Claremont/ Upland area.

[ducpainter]

I felt that down here.

are those another tax for warmth?

no thanks.

[TiNi]

5.0 is pretty strong, no? 

[Holden]

5.0 is pretty strong, no? 

not by most standards. and it was 4.7, not 5.0â€"you can't round that stuff. bear in mind a 6 is about 30 times the energy of a 5, and a 7 is 1000 times the energy.

Northridge was 6.7

p.s. if you're gonna have a thread about it: http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/ci10410337.html

[derby]

are those another tax for warmth?

no thanks.

the weak and short-moderate ones aren't really a big deal. by the time you process that an earthquake happened, it's already over.

fwiw, i'd rather have quakes than hurricanes (florida).

just for some perspective, the epicenter of this quake was about 6 miles from me.

[MendoDave]

the weak and short-moderate ones aren't really a big deal. by the time you process that an earthquake happened, it's already over.

fwiw, i'd rather have quakes than hurricanes (florida).

just for some perspective, the epicenter of this quake was about 6 miles from me.

I see a map of LA.

[herm]

to put it into perspective for those of us who have never experienced a quake.......

how strong do they have to be to knock a bike over?

[derby]

how strong do they have to be to knock a bike over?

i'll tell you after i go downstairs and check the garage. 

[Drunken Monkey]

are those another tax for warmth?

no thanks.

You've got Leaf, Rain, Muggy, Snow and Mud season.

We've got Earthquake, Fire, Riot and Mudslide season.

Nope. It's still worth living here for the year round riding.

But ask me again when Zombie season and/or 10m sea level rise season happens 

[Triple J]

5.0 is pretty strong, no? 

Nah. Anything less than a 6.0 shouldn't cause any real damage or injuries. The exception is unreinforced masonry buildings might be damaged a bit, but those are fairly uncommon anymore in the west coast earthquake areas. I've been through a couple 5.5 quakes in Reno and they were kind of neat. I was also in a 5.5 in Oakland (centered in Napa) which was interesting...there was a child killed in Napa for that one from the partial collapse of an unreinforced masonry building.  

6.0-6.5 also shouldn't cause any real damage either, but in general above 6.0 it gets interesting as quake duration is just as important as intensity, as is soil properties. For instance, the 6.9 Loma Prieta EQ in SF lasted about 17 seconds...realtively short for that magnitude. It caused significant damage (poor soil areas), but should have been much worse. IIRC, the 6.7 Northridge quake was less intense, but longer duration than Loma Prieta and thus caused more damage.

edit: forgot...depth also matters. CA earthquakes tend to be shallower due to the fault type, than ones in the PNW. So in general a smaller CA EQ will produce more damage than a larger PNW one. This was evident by the 2001 Nisqually EQ in Seattle (mag. 6.9) that produced relatively little damage, compared to the 6.9 Loma Prieta quake in SF.

Then you have the 1969 Alaska 8.9 (maybe 9.2...can't remember) EQ, which lasted over 2 minutes!   It wasn't pretty no matter how you look at it.

[erkishhorde]

Nah. Anything less than a 6.0 shouldn't cause any real damage or injuries. The exception is unreinforced masonry buildings might be damaged a bit, but those are fairly uncommon anymore in the west coast earthquake areas. I've been through a couple 5.5 quakes in Reno and they were kind of neat. I was also in a 5.5 in Oakland (centered in Napa) which was interesting...there was a child killed in Napa for that one from the partial collapse of an unreinforced masonry building.  

6.0-6.5 also shouldn't cause any real damage either, but in general above 6.0 it gets interesting as quake duration is just as important as intensity, as is soil properties. For instance, the 6.9 Loma Prieta EQ in SF lasted about 17 seconds...realtively short for that magnitude. It caused significant damage (poor soil areas), but should have been much worse. IIRC, the 6.7 Northridge quake was less intense, but longer duration than Loma Prieta and thus caused more damage.

Then you have the 1969 Alaska 8.9 (maybe 9.2...can't remember) EQ, which lasted over 2 minutes!   It wasn't pretty no matter how you look at it.

Bah, I could never remember all the facts of all the historical quakes in GEO class.  Memorization just ain't my thing. If you're at the epicenter of a 5.0, things will likely fall over on shelves but bookshelves usually won't fall over and neither will a bike. Like 3J says, there are a lot of variables that affect how bad damage will be relative to magnitude.

I'm about 35-40mi away from the epicenter and we got a rolling quake for about 4 seconds which wobbled my desk decently but nothing on my desk came even close to tipping over and I've got a top-heave spill proof mug on the top that is prone to falling over.

[herm]

You've got Leaf, Rain, Muggy, Snow and Mud season.

We've got Earthquake, Fire, Riot and Mudslide season.

Nope. It's still worth living here for the year round riding.

But ask me again when Zombie season and/or 10m sea level rise season happens 

you got it wrong. its mud, bug, tourist, and snow.