
5.6 Mag Earthquake knocks San Jose - nickb
http://quake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Maps/San_Francisco.html
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herdrick
That was awesome! Seriously, it was absolutely the coolest thing. Not really
as intense as I would have expected a 5.6 quake to be, though. Still, my
business partner and I were impressed and excited.

Sorry for the breathless report, folks, but it was my first and I have been
unluckily missing earthquakes for years: Seattle's quake of 2001, a spate of
microquakes in Spokane later... so I am thrilled to finally get one.

We're in San Jose BTW.

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mechanical_fish
In my first and only Bay Area earthquake (a smaller one than the one you just
had) I had much the same reaction. It was just large enough for me to know it
was a quake, and I kind of enjoyed the experience.

Then I went to work the next day at the fab and discovered that everyone there
was distressed and nervous. Post-traumatic stress: They had all lived through
the quake of '89, when some of the freeways and bridges had collapsed.

So, keep in mind that while it's okay to be secretly impressed by the awesome
power of plate tectonics, doing so publicly is the sign of a Bay Area newb. :)

Now might be a good time to revisit this USGS earthquake safety page:
<http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/2005/15/>

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herdrick
Thanks for the tip! I'll be quieter about my delight.

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gabrielleydon
I'm in San Jose and WOW very nerve wracking. I'm getting too old for this.

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plusbryan
So weird. Friend and I were jogging down at the marina and didn't feel it one
bit.

I'm so disappointed.

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andrewfong
You were jogging. That's why you didn't feel it. If you were sitting still
looking a computer screen, then you probably would have.

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kyro
Wow, he must jog with precision then to have the motion of his legs perfectly
counterbalance the motion of the earth, let alone the motion of his
surroundings produced by a 5.6 quake!

Any tips on anti-quake jogging?

ps: I hope everyone is ok up there.

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juanpablo
Usually if you are driving you mistake an earthquake with the car normal
vibrations. I suppose the same happens when jogging.

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npk
Felt it all the way in my office ~ 80 miles away. Amazing. Never felt anything
this powerful before.

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abstractbill
That was the biggest one I've been here for so far.

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ed
Keep in mind tonight's quake was 20-30x smaller than the one in 89.

Now THAT was an earthquake ;)

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mxh
Yeah, '89 was something else. OTOH, it was centered off in the boonies (modulo
Los Gatos), whereas this one looks to have been right outside of S.J., so a
good ride even at less energy.

I'll still take quakes over tornadoes and hurricanes. They're usually harmless
fun. Once in a while they're tremendously devastating, but what is life
without adventure?

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ashu
i was listening to loud music and felt vibrations on the floor. at first, i
thought some dude was going around with a very very loud bass! however, i soon
realized everything else was shaking as well and ran downstairs scared shit!

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DocSavage
We were at the preview screening of "Lions for Lambs" at Stanford. The
audience definitely felt it and some of them got up to leave. For a while, I
thought it was a really impressive subwoofer :)

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gibsonf1
(In SF) That was one of the longest I've felt - though is was low intensity
here but definitely unsettling. It was really a different kind of quake then
I've felt in the past.

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iamelgringo
We're in SJ, about 8 miles from the epicenter. It was a good shimmy.

Time to by the pack of 100 MRE's to prepare for "The Big One" (TM).

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ivankirigin
One of my favorite earthquakes was around 1999 in the central valley, CA. It
wasn't too harsh, but it lasted for a good 30 seconds. 30 seconds is long
enough to realize that you're in an earthquake, and to enjoy it.

The waving of the ground was surreal.

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mgummelt
Our dorm in Stanford definitely felt it. Most everyone was excited about it.

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brianr
which dorm are you in? definitely felt it in sae, i was worried the house was
going to fall in to the parking lot.

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mgummelt
I'm in Branner. Is SAE on the row?

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brianr
It's technically a "row house" but it's not really on the row. It's up on the
hill next to 680, kappa sig, and theta delt.

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nanijoe
I did not feel anything either..but wait, I'm in New York :) Never thought I
woudl hear anyone describe an earthquake as cool..Last I heard an earthquake
was something that killed people.

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ardit33
I felt nothing, as I was driving at the time :( Too bad, I missed the fun.

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mudge
I'm from Sacramento. Didn't feel a thing. I wasn't jogging either.

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far33d
Felt it in oakland, but I figured it was a 3.0 or so...

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bluishgreen
Felt it in sunnyvale. Pretty intense.

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anupamkapoor
isn't it what makes milk more creamier ?

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sabat
Not an intense quake -- at least up here in Redwood Shores (the land of
Oracle) -- but what impressed me was how long it seemed to last. The long ones
are potentially more dangerous, if they're also intense.

