# My mom just called me during an earthquake in Hawaii **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 15, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552 "2006-10-15T18:34:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tragically\_Dip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@Tragically\_Dip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tragically_Dip)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/1 "2006-10-15T18:34:45Z")
My parents are in Honolulu on for their 30th anniversary. This morning they woke up to two earthquakes, reportedly 6.4 mag. She said their is no-to-little damage, but all the power is out. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2006, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/2 "2006-10-15T18:43:17Z")
Aftershocks reaching 5.8. We gonna see a BIG eruption? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/3 "2006-10-15T18:46:04Z")
[6.3 and 5.8 reported by the USGS](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Maps/HI2/19.21.-157.-155.php) and lots of little aftershocks. Glad nobody’s been hurt. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/4 "2006-10-15T19:18:42Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Aftershocks reaching 5.8. We gonna see a BIG eruption? [/QUOTE] What do you mean by this? Huh? Huh? Lisa, who is leaving in 4 weeks for Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/5 "2006-10-15T20:20:36Z")
How common are earthquakes in Hawaii? When I look at maps and see those little specks of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it makes me nervous. They look so vulnerable. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/6 "2006-10-15T20:40:56Z")
That’s not an earthquake. That’s Hawaii’s clandestine nuclear program testing. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2006, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/7 "2006-10-15T21:31:35Z")
Here is an [AP story](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061015/ap_on_re_us/hawaii_earthquake) on the quake, [Reuters](http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061015/ts_nm/quake_hawaii_dc_5;_ylt=ApWvTceTvosNtVCxII1U1wBH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTA2ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--) is saying it probably won’t make tsunamis, but increased wave activity is expected. I hope this isn’t a prelude to a large volcanic eruption, but surely they volcanologists would be putting out warnings now? Or are the power outages hampering the efforts? 😕 :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2006, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/8 "2006-10-15T21:38:35Z")
Those special effects for _Lost_ are really getting out of hand. CNN says no tsunami is expected, and overall it seems comparable to Seattle’s back in 2001, i.e. alot of structural damage, but very few injuries or casualties. Life on the Pacific Rim… AP ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2006, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/9 "2006-10-15T22:05:39Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] [6.3 and 5.8 reported by the USGS](http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Maps/HI2/19.21.-157.-155.php) and lots of little aftershocks. Glad nobody’s been hurt. [/QUOTE] I was going to link to the same page. It must have adjusted upwards after you posted. It now says the first one was a 6.6. As far as the volcano danger, [Mauna Loa’s](http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/maunaloa/current/main.html) alert status is Advisory as of Oct 9th. > [@](#): > > Report by Hawaiian Volcano Observatory for the report period ending on October 09, 2006: Mauna Loa is not erupting. There have been no significant changes in the last two weeks. [Kilauea’s](http://volcano.wr.usgs.gov/hvostatus.php) alert level is watch, as of today. > [@](#): > > Summary: There have been no significant changes in the past 24 hours. Kilauea volcano continues to erupt from the Pu`u `O`o vent on the East Rift Zone. Summit inflation centered in the south part of the caldera continues. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2006, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/10 "2006-10-15T22:49:58Z")
[QUOTE=Tragically Dip] My parents are in Honolulu on for their 30th anniversary. This morning they woke up to two earthquakes, reportedly 6.4 mag. [/QUOTE] So your folks can still make the earth move, huh? 😃 I’m glad they’re okay. It sounds like there was a whole lot of shaking, but no fatalities. Fingers crossed. ---
**Author:** ![Nightsong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightsong/32/3083_2.png) [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2006, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/11 "2006-10-15T23:03:18Z")
Good grief! :eek: Relatively minor rumbles are fairly common (3-something and below on the scale) in and around the Big Island, but something **this** big? I think when I was living there, the largest was perhaps a 4-something, off the coast of the Big Island and if I remember correctly that was seen to be a fairly uncommon occurance. I hope that the people I know who still live there are all right, and that there isn’t damage to any of their (and family members’) property. * * * \<\< All computers wait at the same speed. \>\> ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2006, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/12 "2006-10-15T23:15:23Z")
looks like lots of land slides, and struct. damage. that is quite a shaker. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2006, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/13 "2006-10-15T23:22:39Z")
How do any authorities know that a tsunami is not following? Is it the direction of earth movement? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2006, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/14 "2006-10-16T00:59:08Z")
[QUOTE=Musicat] How do any authorities know that a tsunami is not following? Is it the direction of earth movement? [/QUOTE] I’m no geologist, but I believe tsunamis occur when you have eruptions under the sea that cause a huge amount of water to be suddenly displaced. Perhaps this was a land-based eruption? ---
**Author:** ![Dishfunctional](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/35a633/32.png) [@Dishfunctional](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dishfunctional)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2006, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/15 "2006-10-16T01:07:38Z")
[QUOTE=PunditLisa] I’m no geologist, but I believe tsunamis occur when you have eruptions under the sea that cause a huge amount of water to be suddenly displaced. Perhaps this was a land-based eruption? [/QUOTE] Yup… that’s the way it works. I heard witnesses on the radio describe the motion as “side-to-side” rather than the more jolting vertical movement which causes the displacement you mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2006, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/16 "2006-10-16T01:12:34Z")
Deep quakes are less likely to cause tsunamis. The quake today was 24.2 miles down. It was tectonic, rather than volcanic according to CNN. ---
**Author:** ![Tragically\_Dip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@Tragically\_Dip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tragically_Dip)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2006, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/17 "2006-10-16T01:14:24Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] So your folks can still make the earth move, huh? [/QUOTE] There is no excuse for this. I am one hundred percent sure that my parents have never copulated, although I’m still working out the details of me and my siblings. In fact, I work under the assumption that neither parent has genitals. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2006, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/18 "2006-10-16T01:52:19Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] How common are earthquakes in Hawaii? When I look at maps and see those little specks of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it makes me nervous. They look so vulnerable. [/QUOTE] Earthquakes centered at Hawaii aren’t very common. The last one that was even close to this was about 20 years ago, and that one too didn’t do much damage. I didn’t even think it was an earthquake; I thought someone was jumping up and down on second floor landing of my apartment. We fear earthquakes from Japan or the US more, since those can trigger tsunamis… and _those_ are what make us feel vulnerable. My parents on O’ahu are still without electricity, and when I called about 2 hours ago, they were surprised the phones were working. My mom said little kids were calling radio stations asking if there would be any school tomorrow. We grew up listening enviously to all the East Coast kids who occasionally got snowed out from school, so I guess we’ve learned to take what we can get. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2006, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/19 "2006-10-16T02:34:40Z")
I remember a 6.1 in 1989-- just a lot of structural damage, like big cracks in the cement walls of the rooms I was taking classes in at UHH and a lot of sloshing fishtanks. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2006, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552/20 "2006-10-16T02:50:28Z")
Oh, and Fern Forest, do check in when you guys get power again (I assume power in Puna/ Ka’u went out? Used too if you sneezed too hard. . .). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-mom-just-called-me-during-an-earthquake-in-hawaii/376552.md?page=2)