Earthquakes - Good Reason for being MOBILE

[angeli]

That was a weird one, blars.&nbsp; It depends on where in the city you were as to what happened to you.&nbsp; My folks were living in Santa Monica, right off the beach in a rental, and that house actually cracked in half from the secondary quake that came from the epicenter in the Bay.&nbsp; They lost quite a few posessions as well, but since the house wasn't theirs, they could just move.<br><br>Some of the aftershocks were almost as big as the original.&nbsp; I was staying in my VW van in the driveway as our house had been totaled, and the after shakers would bounce the thing up and down so hard that it slipped out of gear and rolled down to the street!&nbsp; Something like 9000 aftershocks in 6 months.&nbsp; But we felt safe in the van, even with the after shakers.<br><br><img src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/eek.gif" align="absmiddle" border="0"><br><br>

 

[Seraphim]

On a humorous note -

I don't remember the year, but we had a sudden rush of concern about earthquakes in Ohio about 10. - 15 years ago that caused everyone to go out and buy earthquake Insurance. We felt a tremor, and a bunch of articles came out about faults in the area ... just a lot of fear at the time in an area which had never had an earthquake.

DW is a teacher, and she and some of the counsellors had their own vans outside of the school. Just after the scare began, she had several of her students go out and rock the van of one of the counsellors ever so slightly.

And you guys think that it's ME with the nasty sense of humor lol.

 

[mockturtle]

Up here in Western WA we can expect another 'big one' at any time. And Mt. Rainier is due to blow sometime, too.&nbsp;&nbsp; That would be <i>some mass evacuation</i>!&nbsp; Glad I don't live in Seattle any more!&nbsp; Or Tacoma, which is closer. <br>

 

[sl1966]

mock ... 3rd time's a charm when it comes to getting it out huh.<div><br></div><div><br></div><div>I think anyone would be find so long as you didn't park your RV at the bottom of a canyon of cliff face when an earthquake hits.<br><div><br></div></div>

 

[twokniveskatie]

<div>I deleted 2 of his hiccups in the interest of bandwidth and Bob's pocketbook </div><div><br></div>

mock ... 3rd time's a charm when it comes to getting it out huh.<div>I think anyone would be find so long as you didn't park your RV at the bottom of a canyon of cliff face when an earthquake hits.<br><div><br></div></div>[/QUOTE

 

[Vivid-Dawn]

I'm probably going to stay in Utah for the most part, once I start mobile living. This state is kinda boring!<br>Winters can be harsh, with mid-day temps of only 20F, and really wet winters we can get 3 feet of snow at a time.<br>Where I live right now (Northern Utah, Davis county) we get really bad winds sometimes. Just this last December the winds were up to 100mph in some cities. A state of emergency was called for a couple. <br>Oh, and of course the Wasatch Front is on a huge fault line...we're supposed to get a HUGE quake "any time now" - which has been said for the last 30+ years<br><br>The wind is about the only thing I worry about, as I decided I'm going to live in a trailer. Even if I get a solid wall one (though I'm currently looking at pop-up/out ones), that'll still be kind of flimsy. Heck, if our winds topple over semi trailers (which happens frequently), I'm in trouble!<br>I wonder if there's a way to tie down a trailer with anchor ropes or something? I know you can do that with tents for camping...my tent survived 35+mph winds last summer (that was very interesting to sleep through!)<br>

 

[sl1966]

I think you might be ok with the winds. It really depends on if the broad side of the trailer is exposed to it, and how much surface of that side there is. A semi has a lot of surface to interact with the wind, but you'll reduce that surface area if you park length wise towards the wind. I mean provided you are able to for whatever reason. &nbsp;It's the same line of thinking with ships caught in storms. They point the ship into it to get through it faster, but suffer less storm effects for making their profile smaller.<div><br></div>

 

[stude53]

<p style="margin: 0px;">VividDawn,</p><p style="margin: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0px;">Don't want to scare you, but 100 mph winds are extremely dangerous. For example, I lived in Ohio when a tornado came through with 100+ mph winds, and it picked up many things and hurled them like missiles through windows and walls. Even Railroad cars were over turned.</p><p style="margin: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0px;">From an emergency preparation site, the following:</p><p style="margin: 0px;"><span class="goog_qs-tidbit goog_qs-tidbit-2 goog_qs-tidbit-hilite">"If you live in a trailer and there is an impeding threat of a hurricane or</span> tornado, leave the area immediately. You have no protection against such winds. The metal can literally rip to pieces around you; the shrapnel becomes a deadly weapon. If you are in a trailer park, see if there is any way to get to a storm shelter for such occasions, or at least a ditch.</p><p>The very best option is to leave a trailer hours beforehand. If a hurricane is coming, just go to a shelter during the storm. Relax and read a book, play a game, or talk to whomever is around you.<p>Again, listen to the news for instructions. It may be advisable for<i>everyone</i> to evacuate the area. If that's the case, take your emergency kit. You may not be going home for awhile.<p>Many who live or vacation on a boat have also considered staying with the docked vessel through a hurricane. It is a poor idea. The hurricane is going to be at its most powerful as it first hits land, meaning it is going to be hitting your little boat and ramming it into the dock with everything its got. Secure the vessel as best you can, and go inland away from the storm.<p style="margin: 0px;">Understand that the power could go out for hours or days. Have the emergency kit handy for anything that could happen. After the winds have settled, be mindful of dangerous situations such as downed power lines, broken gas pipes or neighbors in need of assistance. Help where you can - but call authorities if a problem is simply beyond your abilities."</p><p style="margin: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0px;">Be safe.</p><p style="margin: 0px;">Bob<br></p>

 

[Vivid-Dawn]

Yeah, there was LOTS of damage. One of the grocery stores had all their windows on one side blown out (or rather inwards...glass all over the aisles). Many homes had trees fall into the roofs and collapse cars.<br>The 50 foot pine tree in our front yard fell on the house, but only broke off the little jutted out part of the roof and broke the outter window (we have double pane windows). The little juniper tree next to the driveway fell on my car, but didn't do any damage other than scratching the paint job.<br><br>If winds are going to be over 50, I plan to take my 72hr kit, cats, and go stay at a friend's solid house or a hotel if I need to. I would certainly not want to be in the trailer if it tips over (or worse!)<br>

 

[sparky1]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/

lots of earthquakes today around the country
Oklahoma, Idaho ,Montana,& as usual California.

 

[Unchained]

Brea and La Habra have been shaking on and off since Friday. I felt a couple of them down here in San Diego county.

 

[sl1966]

I was closest to them both when they hit ... they were Meh!

 

[minimotos95]

Up here in Western WA we can expect another 'big one' at any time. And Mt. Rainier is due to blow sometime.

i lived in lacey back during the 2001 quake. a 6.8 magnitude if i remember right, it didn't do much besides some building and road damage. no deaths caused by it either, i remember hearing about a heart attack though. that was when i was in school and we just kept on with school work after it was over and the building got a quick once over.
personally i don't see earthquakes as a very big threat when compared to other natural disasters. unless of course i'm under a cliff/steep hill or on a bridge or overpass.

 

[Unchained]

I was closest to them both when they hit ... they were Meh!

Had I been out and about, I probably wouldn't have felt them at all. I happened to be having a 'kick back and watch movies' weekend in my 5th wheel, so I noticed.

My first earthquake was a few months after my family moved to Cali when I was 16. I was asleep and woke up thinking that my alarm didn't go off and my Mom was shaking the bed. Took a second for it to sink in that a) the bed frame was moving, b) I had a waterbed and c) Mom was strong, but not THAT strong! :huh: Then the whitecaps on my bed subsided and I rolled over and went back to sleep

I once had a t-shirt that read, 'The 4 seasons of California- Earthquakes, Floods, Firestorms and Riots'.

 

[sephson]

When in a group of people I can always tell who the California natives are by their reactions, or lack thereof to an earthquake.

When Saturday's 4.1 hit I was at a friend's house in Anaheim, California. Only one of my friends reacted beyond commenting that this one was lasting a bit longer than most. She also happened to be the only non-California native in the house.

My favorite earthquake experience though, was the 6.5 that hit San Simeon in 2003. I was driving down the U.S. 101, heading back to Southern California after visiting my sister in Santa Cruz. I had just pulled my Frontier into a parking space at rest stop about 25 miles north of Paso Robles when the pick-up started bouncing around. At first I thought it might be some kids shaking my bumper, but when I checked my mirrors, nothing. So I sat tight in the truck until the earthquake finished, got out, used the facilities and visited with the other folks at the rest stop for about an hour while listening to the news to find out if the road was still safe for travel. Once I was satisfied that the road was clear, I got back in the truck and on my merry way.