# Earthquake! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 12, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake/307974 "2005-06-12T15:31:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake/307974/1 "2005-06-12T15:31:51Z")
Wow. That was fun. Did any other Southern Californians just feel that tremblor? My guess is about 4.2. Mainly P-waves in the Redlands area…all my chessmen fell over, but no damage. Whee…what a ride! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fritz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Fritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fritz)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake/307974/2 "2005-06-12T15:37:08Z")
Ventura here. Nope, didn’t feel a thing. ---
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake/307974/3 "2005-06-12T15:44:48Z")
Inland Orange County checking in. It began with a gentle tremor lasting about five seconds, then a stronger jolt. In fact I thought it was going to get worse, so I shut down my computer in case I had to run somewhere. (Insert chicken noises here.) My favorite seismic [webpage](http://www.data.scec.org/recenteqs/Maps/Los_Angeles.html) ain’t showing it yet, but it’s been less than ten minutes. In the meantime I’ll guess at an epicenter in the Inland Empire. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake/307974/4 "2005-06-12T15:53:01Z")
Magnitude 5.6, 17 miles SSE (151°) from Idyllwild, CA, at 15:58 UTC. [Recent earthquakes](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/activity/) ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake/307974/5 "2005-06-12T15:55:59Z")
They’re showing it as a [5.6 centered near Palm Springs](http://www.data.scec.org/recenteqs/Quakes/ci14151344.html). **plankter** , I love that website, too! I guess that’s what woke me up, but I don’t recall the shaking. ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake/307974/6 "2005-06-12T16:05:44Z")
Yep, felt that one in Riverside. It’s the first time I ever found myself getting up and moving to the nearest doorframe, just in case. Not particularly strong tremors, but they went on for several seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake/307974/7 "2005-06-12T16:09:40Z")
_sigh_ Sometimes I miss SoCal. All we have up here is a stupid volcano that doesn’t even erupt. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Landshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/77aa72/32.png) [@Landshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Landshark)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake/307974/8 "2005-06-12T16:53:18Z")
From the relatively brief but fairly sharp jolt I felt in San Diego, my guess about the Richter reading was that it would be in the low 5 range. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake/307974/9 "2005-06-12T16:58:51Z")
So THAT’S what that was! I was half-awake in bed and the kitties were running around, and I couldn’t figure out if one of them had bounced off the side of the bed or what was going on. “Earthquake”! did cross my mind however… ---
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake/307974/10 "2005-06-12T17:31:45Z")
> [@plankter](#): > > My favorite seismic [webpage](http://www.data.scec.org/recenteqs/Maps/Los_Angeles.html) ain’t showing it yet… …because it ain’t on that map. :smack: Try [this](http://www.data.scec.org/recenteqs/Maps/117-34.html) one, where you can see the aftershocks too. Oh and thanks for your link, **Campion**. I went to “Did you feel it?” and filed my own report. ---
**Author:** ![beckwall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@beckwall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beckwall)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake/307974/11 "2005-06-12T18:54:22Z")
That was a big one, maybe not in numbers but definitely in intensity and length. We haven’t had one like that in a few years. I thought it would measure at least 6.0, but 5.6 is what I’m hearing, too. When this happens, I always wonder if the epicenter is nearby and we are just feeling a strong one, or if it’s an 8.0 centered in LA, and we’re getting a small taste of it. I was in Santa Barbara for the Northridge quake, and we didn’t know how bad it was until we turned on the TV later that morning. I was in bed this AM, reading. Every time this happens, I re-think the pros vs. cons of a floor to ceiling mirror behind the bed. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake/307974/12 "2005-06-12T22:22:17Z")
> [@Orbifold](#): > > Yep, felt that one in Riverside. I’m in Riverside for a UCR graduation. And might I say, this earthquake had fantastic timing, right in the middle of the poet laureate’s speech during the actual commencement ceremony. The next ten minutes were spent by the crowd turned around in their seats keeping a close eye on the bell tower that loomed directly above us. Nice little quake. First instinct was a truck or something like that, which I suppose is pretty much always your first instinct, but the motion was very distinctly side-to-side, and that realization was when everyone’s eyes grew and we started looking around. This was followed by cheering and a round of applause. Gotta love native Californians. The speech guy apparently didn’t feel it, and looked a bit confused as everyone was cheering mid-sentence, until he asked, “Something happen?” My friend, one of the grads, was sitting about a hundred feet away from me, and he thought the girl behind him kicked his seat. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake/307974/13 "2005-06-12T23:21:44Z")
It woke me up here in Carson (just north of Long Beach) but I went back to sleep while it was still going on …“mmm, damn cats, mmm”. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake/307974/14 "2005-06-12T23:28:40Z")
I remember a strong Northridge aftershock hitting while I’d taken my kids to a Star Trek convention at the Pasadena Civic Center. The locals all went ho-hum while the out-of-towners were utterly freaked. Good times, good times. > [@](#): > > _sigh_ Sometimes I miss SoCal. > > All we have up here is a stupid volcano that doesn’t even erupt. And all we have here in the swamps is a stupid tropical storm that doesn’t even come to visit. Nowhere near as much fun. Not to mention you can see them coming, too, which takes most of the excitement out of them. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake/307974/15 "2005-06-12T23:34:56Z")
We were all home, all awake, and my dad was visiting, and no one in the house felt it. My mother-in-law, who lives about 5 miles farther away from the epicenter, did feel it. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake/307974/16 "2005-06-12T23:36:27Z")
> [@Mama Tiger](#): > > I remember a strong Northridge aftershock hitting while I’d taken my kids to a Star Trek convention at the Pasadena Civic Center. The locals all went ho-hum while the out-of-towners were utterly freaked. Good times, good times. The building where I work is on rollers, which makes for fun times in an earthquake (and makes me seasick during the Santa Anas). I think the rollers are meant to limit damage when the building rocks, but the consequence is that you can feel the earthquake quite well. So a new coworker, fresh from Tornado Alley and therefore thinking he was inured to the concept of natural disasters, came running to my office after a quake. “Was that an earthquake!?” says he. “Yeah, probably,” says I. “Well, shouldn’t we, you know, do something?” Now, I should be quite plain that I am a Bad Person. 😃 “Yes,” I said. “You should probably get under your desk to ride out the aftershocks. It’s best to stay there until they’re done – no leaving the building because you don’t want to get caught in the elevator during one.” I understand that he did, in fact, take my advice, and after the first aftershock did leave the building. Via the stairs. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake/307974/17 "2005-06-20T10:28:08Z")
> [@Mama Tiger](#): > > I remember a strong Northridge aftershock hitting while I’d taken my kids to a Star Trek convention at the Pasadena Civic Center. The locals all went ho-hum while the out-of-towners were utterly freaked. Good times, good times. No way! I was there too! Not only was I there, I was in the parking garage, which is one of the worst places to be at that time. Mr. Rilch was in one of the convention rooms, watching stunt players do a demonstration. He says they carried on with it, probably not because they didn’t feel anything, but because they didn’t want the audience to freak (further). ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthquake/307974/18 "2005-06-20T14:12:16Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > No way! I was there too! I was sitting in the main meeting room, and just waited it out, while the tourists mildly freaked. (I was one of the kids **Mama Tiger** referred to. I am no longer a kid, but I guess I’m still hers. _g_) I took a certain glee in being able to say, “Eh, I’ve felt worse,” afterwards. “Yep, just an aftershock, we’ve been having them for months. That was the biggest one we’ve had in a while, though. Nice ride, huh?” After two months of aftershocks you kinda get used to them.