Scary Earthquakes: Large or Small?
I was up at one of my sweepstakes web sites this morning and stopped by its forum. One of the sweepers mentioned he or she lived within 10 miles of the center of that Napa earthquake. A small discussion ensued with another sweeper saying he found small earthquakes fun and the big ones scary.
Am I the only one that sees it the other way around?
With the large quakes, they happen so fast you don't have much time to be scared. You just hang on for the ride. Sure, you may worry when it's done that there might be more to come, but that's countered by being relieved that it seems to be over.
With a small quake, you have the time and composure to worry... and get scared. Happens all the time to me. I'll be sitting here. The house will shake just a bit and I can't help but worry if this is the start of The Big One. My heart starts pumping and I sit there wondering if the worst is about to happen, even after the shaking stops, sometimes for quite some time.
Not saying I'd prefer a large quake over a small one. They all suck, but I've probably aged a lot more with my heart thumping over small ones than I have over the biggies.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 7:08 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Lived down in SF for a few years, then LA for awhile, and then back to SF before moving up here. Never noticed any quakes 1st SF experience, but in LA I noticed that the wall hangings were often uneven and had to straighten them every now and again. Small tremors that weren't even noticed caused that.
Then felt a good shake in LA and it was kind of awesome, though not a biggie.
Back in SF out at GG Park one day when the ground started to roll. Felt safe as we were outdoors, but that was a doozy.
Then there was the '89 quake that rocked Ferndale. Was about 30 miles south when that happened and was outside again. Little boy came screaming out of the house behind me when dishes started to crash to the floor. His distress was understandable, but by now I have figured that there's not much you can do about them when they hit except get outside and away from buildings.
Still straightening pictures from time to time even up here.
I slept through the Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles, and I don't recall experiencing any earthquakes until that one the dropped the freeway overpass over by C/R. I was outside working at Humboldt Bay Power Plant at the time. I believe it was the early '80s. Aftershocks went on for days after that one.
Been through and felt many of the ones since then. Probably the biggest rocker for me was the January 10, 2010 one. That was a good one, but happened so fast I didn't have time to get really scared. I just stood there with my mouth open in awe of what was happening.
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