Living on a Fault Line
Hard to believe its only been a week and a half since the La Habra earthquake here in S. CA. I'm guessing it didn't make big news outside of our local area because it was only magnitude 5.1. My thinking exactly... my wife and I were spending the weekend out in the desert near Joshua Tree at the time the quake hit. I could feel that we had an earthquake, so I turned on the news and soon learned the epicenter was in La Habra (right next to our house in NW Fullerton... yikes!!). Then I learned it was only 5.1, so no worries, right? Wrong!! My big learning from this experience is that even small or moderate quakes can produce significant damage if you are unlucky enough to be right on top of the epicenter!
When we returned home, we were shocked. Opening the garage door, there was stuff all over the floor that had fallen off the walls and shelves. Lots of clean up required before we could park in the garage again! Here's what my office looked like.
OK, so I admit I don't keep my office super-clean and organized, but it never looks this bad! Even my computer monitor was face down on my desk. A large picture frame had fallen off the wall and landed right in my chair! Here's what my sons old bedroom (now a spare bedroom) looked like. That's a big, heavy chest of drawers that came down. I'm still amazed it fell over, and I can't imagine the amount of rocking and rolling that must have occurred to bring this big guy down! Thank goodness we weren't home!!
Lots of broken dishes and glass throughout the house. Every room had broken items. We have some fireplace damage (thankfully not major damage, although a number of homes in our neighborhood had major damage) and even the fireplace mantle pull away from the wall. Oh, and lots of drywall cracks throughout the house. Bottom line: No injuries, everything can be cleaned up and fixed or repaired, so I feel fortunate. However, even here in beautiful S. CA we have our problems. Most of us don't have to deal with polar vortex winters, frequent snow dumps, hurricanes or tornadoes. But we DO have to deal with earthquakes, wildfires, ridiculously crowded highways, and a high cost of living. So I guess it's a trade-off, right? No better or worse than anyplace else. Pick your poison!
Hope you're having a good week. Thanks for stopping by!
Yeah, was in a 5.5 here in Hawaii. We have Tsunami, Hurricane. . . . . . always something!
ReplyDeleteALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
=^..^= <3
At least no one was hurt as you said. I can see what 5.1 can do in a home.
ReplyDeleteOh no! You remind me of my memories of earthquakes when I lived in Pasadena. Glad no one was hurt.
ReplyDeleteHay. I know some households that looks like they had an earthquake magnitude 9 without a real one. Still its a disturbing event. Lucky you and your family are well and nobody was hurt.
ReplyDeleteWow. I think I'm glad I live on an old and stable plate - all I have to worry about about is fire and flood really. Interesting post.
ReplyDeleteCheers - Stewart M - Melbourne
That would have gotten your blood pumping if you had been there! The damage is bad enough!!!
ReplyDeleteGlad the damage wasn't any worse. We lived in Brawley during the 1979 earthquake - talk about damage! We lost our chimney completely - it took us well over a week just to clean things up in the house. We and the neighbors spent three nights sleeping in the yard - it is creepy when you are in bed and the aftershocks turn the lights on and off in the house because of wires touching inside the walls. But still - California is a magnificent place - I'll always miss it - but not those earthquakes - at least they don't happen often. Take care!!
ReplyDeleteYikes! So glad, too, that you weren't there when the quake occurred. You'll be busy for a while cleaning up all that!
ReplyDeleteWow, that is incredible. We're having numerous small quakes here in Oklahoma.
ReplyDeleteWell I do know how it feels. I was sat in a bath in a hotel while in Japan a number of years ago when there was an earth tremmor. The whole place shook. Looked out the door and no one tok any notice but it scared the s***t out of me. I also slept through another while in Tokio. My mate could not understand how I could. Glad your sorted and little damage done.
ReplyDeleteI heard about all those earthquakes up and down the pacific coast. Your den looks pretty riled up-- At first I thought somebody broke into your house and rummaged around. Nothing was stolen, right?
ReplyDeleteI was there for the Northridge quake, living down in Huntington Beach. All that rolling it really felt like I was sleeping on waves. Spooky! And that was only 4.5 I believe. I think thats the biggest one I've lived through. So yeah, be glad you weren't home!
That looks bad -- I'm glad you weren't home. The earthquake did make the news even here in Florida and I checked up on some relatives who lived in and around there. (One grown nephew said, 'either I just lived through an earthquake or I am very very drunk').
ReplyDeleteLife is full of compromises -- weather and otherwise. This is the time of year when we get ready to leave our FL cottage and hope it is still standing when we return after Hurricane Season.
Yes, we heard about it on the news. Apparently this fault line COULD be more dangerous than the San Andreas! Yikes! Glad you weren't home. I didn't feel it at all (I think I was on the road at the time), but hubby did.
ReplyDeleteCheryl Ann