Well, this is certainly "In the news"! Southern California had a magnitude 6.4 Earthquake this morning at 10:33 AM, PST. It was centered in the Mojave Desert at Ridgecrest, 85 miles north of my Apple Valley location. I was waking from a morning nap when it hit...I just lay there, enjoying the ride until it was over 10 seconds later. The dogs were puzzled. No damage due to our distance from the epicenter. The dining room chandelier was still swaying after I got up and checked the property. "Mother Nature's got Gas, her diet's gone stale... See her Acid Indigestion on the Richter Scale!" Hal
Nothing new for those of us in California. I felt it while reclining in my Lazy Boy. The center of the quake was south of me and measured at 6.4. It was measured where I live at 2.6
@Hal Pollner I think even at 85 miles away, I would still be nervous. Does this happen rarely or is it something you expect in this particular area?
@Hal Pollner , I guess that was a rude awakening, wasn't it? @Bess Barber , it happens all the time in California. Someday the whole state in going to fall into the Pacific.
Temblors are nothing new to California...we get them frequently, but usually the magnitudes are in the 3-4 range. This is our most intense shaker since 1999. This is why I decided to retire and move to the side of the deadly San Andreas Fault known as the stable Continental Plate instead of remaining on the side known as the Pacific Plate. A major displacement on the San Andreas would cause the areas on the Pacific Plate to snap off like a soda cracker and sink into the Pacific Ocean, taking millions of residents with it. Hal
Really? @Hal Pollner , I was just kidding about CA falling into the Pacific. Is that a real possibility?
Not me, @Lon Tanner . A tornado can cause damage to a lot of area but not nearly as much as an earthquake. Tornadoes are usually on the ground for a few seconds or minutes then dissipate. Earthquakes can destroy entire cities and kill many thousands .
A tornado took the roof right off my house in Spain while I was there ...I have never been so scared!!
But, @Holly Saunders , you survived. If it had been an earthquake, the roof would probably have collapsed on you and killed you.
@Lon Tanner I don't know. With a hurricane or tornado, you have some warning and usually time to take shelter. In an earthquake, your could suddenly be dropped into the core of the earth. There's no place to hide from it.
Here is a news video of the California earthquake. they are saying that this is the largest one in over 20 years, and slight possibility of a larger one to follow this one. Holly, I know what you mean about tornadoes ! We didn’t lose all of our roof when we had the tornado here, but a good part of it came off, and the house was then flooded from the torrential rain accompanying the tornado. Since there is no warning when or where one will happen, I think that it is one of the scariest natural disasters we have.