Major Earthquake in San Diego

Is the iPad safe?

@JNOV: Safer than this one…

So, local TV is back to infomercials until their regular newscasts, and the local paper is just posting the AP bulletin right now. Nothing to report at the moment.

Nojo ShakeMeter: Almost as fun as the 6.0-ish desert quake some ten years back, when I was living in a mountain village above San Bernardino. I’m on solid ground by the airport, and it rolled through hard.

LA Times reports “skyscrapers shaking in San Diego.” Didn’t know you had any.

@nojo: In a couple of aftershocks to the Northridge quake, I could see the ground rise and fall as the waves moved through. Beyond weird.

@nojo: And this one.

@Dodgerblue: I lived in Temecula during Northridge — it was looong.

Women’s basketball Final Four on now. Go Cardinal! And the Baylor-UConn game will be a match-up to see.

@Dodgerblue: Cluster of tall buildings downtown, as you know, but no, “skyscrapers” doesn’t come to mind to describe them.

Silent Creative Partner grew up north of here in Encinitas, and he describes a ground-roller from his youth. (He’s not in town right now, so he missed all the fun.)

@JNOV: I was thinking of the Tosh Kick when I saw the other video today. But Tosh didn’t pay five hundred smackers for his.

@nojo: True. And he didn’t have to wait for it to come via Alaska. I still can’t believe they never turned it on.

Local rag:

No immediate reports of damage but San Diego police report that the quake set off several alarms and the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department is responding to several calls, a dispatcher said.

None in my neighborhood, thank god.

@nojo: On behalf of the homosexuals who no doubt are at fault for this quake, I extend my deepest apologies.

CNN has better coverage than local stations…

@homofascist: A shake like that, Jesus damn well better be coming out of the cave.

@nojo: The comments on local rag are pretty intense.

ADD: I used to live out Telegraph Canyon Rd. Seems like CV is having a lot of aftershocks.

Bunch of aftershocks reported, one larger than magnitude 5.

@Dodgerblue: I’ve noticed two, the second of which would be interesting in its own right.

@JNOV: Strangely, I haven’t heard anything — and I live by the freeway. Sirens aren’t unusual around here most days.

@nojo: The rolling tweetfeed has already dubbed it the Easter Earthquake.

I blame my chuckling at Nixon’s ghost after watching “Frost/Nixon” last night.

@JNOV: I’ve been in Sandy Eggo almost eight years, and while an occasional butt-wiggler isn’t unusual — similar to a truck passing by — this was one where you could hear the timber creaking. First time I’ve ever headed for a doorway.

Ed, roll the numbers!

SEVEN-POINT-FUCKING-TWO!!!

What the world needs now…

@nojo: Yeah — the weird thing is that if the commenters on local rag are to be trusted, the aftershocks don’t seem like aftershocks; they seem like earthquakes with more northern epicenters triggered by the Baja quake. There is a difference, right? My understanding is that aftershocks occur at the same epicenter. This seems to be something different.

And, yeah — I wasn’t troubled by any SD earthquakes except for one in 1990/1 when a file cabinet drawer opened and almost hit me in the head.

Damn. Take a few hours off for the Easter dinner thang, and goddam!

BTW, BOLO for a desert rat/theater tech friend of mine ’round these parts. I told him to stop by and look around sometime.

@JNOV: I don’t play a geologist on TV, but I think aftershocks are considered a consequence of the original quake — they don’t need to be in the same place.

Local CBS affiliate newscast now underway — still no reports of damage in this corner of things.

Apparently also felt in Arizona. Jamie?

@nojo: Yeah — you’re right:

Most aftershocks are located over the full area of fault rupture and either occur along the fault plane itself or along other faults within the volume affected by the strain associated with the main shock. Typically, aftershocks are found up to a distance equal to the rupture length away from the fault plane.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aftershock

@JNOV: fault rupture

I thought that said fault rapture, and quickly looked outside to see whether anyone was floating up.

Depth updated to 6.2 miles.

@nojo: Heh. That would be an easy way to snag a new car/home/boat…

Nothing notable in the past hour, but more fun surely to come.

Coincidentally, I was going to be involved in a major website migration this afternoon, but they delayed it Friday. It would have been happening right at that moment…

Comparative Wrath Chart:

Haiti: 7.0
Chile: 8.8
Today: 7.2

@nojo: CNN says there was a 4.1 quake up in Santa Rosa 9 minutes after the one in Baja. Hope they’re not moving up the coast…

@JNOV: Then again, we may have to split the difference — local geologist calls the aftershocks “triggered events,” meaning they’re not on the original fault.

@Mistress Cynica: Nothing noticeable here for about ninety minutes. Mapped aftershocks don’t necessarily reach perceptible levels — only two have caught my attention. Brief table wiggles don’t count.

@nojo: You got a bug out bag?

Interestingly enough, two of my female NDN law school classmates are in/near SD right now and posting on the FB. One was on the 16th floor of the Omni hotel when it hit, which freaked her out.

@nojo: Hmmm…a domino theory that (unfortunately) might be based on fact.

@nojo: Brief table wiggles don’t count.

Are those cheaper than table dances?

@redmanlaw: I keep the requisite five gallons of water on hand, and some day I’ll remember to buy a portable radio. No point worrying about bugging out — in a real crisis (pause for wiggle) the freeways would be packed solid.

Local weatherman: “In case you didn’t hear, we had an earthquake take place.”

Jury’s out whether he’s being ironic.

@nojo: And can I start my obligatory rant about the fucktards who bitch about the socialized guvmint regulating their buildings in California and driving the bid-ness away (as if the Field Act* is the reason why we have a high unemployment rate)…and the fucktards who want to dismantle the Field Act, or get loosen the regs.

*Field Act – named for the sponsor in the California Legislature after the Long Beach earthquake of 1933 destroyed a bunch of schools (luckily the EQ wasn’t during school hours). It requires that all schools – except UC and CSU system – and hospitals in the state meet super high seismic standards. Safest place to be in CA during an EQ is a school or hospital…and I experienced my strongest earthquake to date on the next to top floor of the UCSF hospital.

@SanFranLefty: I remember some documentary from a lonnnnnng time ago showing teflon pads included as part of LA skyscraper construction. They’re built to wiggle.

Best local news can muster is a broken water main and shattered glass at the SD Sports Arena.

@nojo: KQED used to gift those hand-crank radios to folks who donated the requisite amount. I was never prepared for an earthquake. Glad you have the water. The most I ever did was keep the beds/crib away from the windows and bookcases, and I kept hard-soled shoes next to the bed. My son and I spent the Northridge quake sitting in the hall (me wearing my hard-soled shoes).

@nojo: I didn’t feel anything so I was kinda surprised when I heard about it when I got home. At the time, I was at my mom’s house, dealing with her dog and mine. The EQ would explain why the puppy started barking like crazy, after being previously being pretty quiet and submissive around my dog.

I remember the one you mention from 10 years ago. I felt that one but didn’t realize it at the time. I was asleep in my apartment and felt the bed move. I didn’t know WTF was going on; I thought someone broke into my apartment and sat down on my bed. Needless to say, I was scared shitless.

ETA: The hospital mentioned in this article is about a mile and a half from my house so I guess I would have noticed it if I had been home.

@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: I was up very late that night (Sunday morning?), and it was quite a ride. And now, in comparison, LA TV does much better quake coverage than SD.

@SanFranLefty: The Navy used to have a hospital in Oakland called Oak Knoll — I was stationed there for a few months before heading down to Balboa.

The base was small yet beautiful, and there was this pretty white bridge that spanned a small, verdant ravine. To get from the hospital to the bar or from the bar to the barracks, you had to stumble across the bridge. (We were still allowed to have liquid lunches back then.)

The Navy was big on inservices and all sorts of mind-numbing training, but the Earthquake Preparedness training was quite informative. The little ravine was actually the Rosecrans (sp?) fault, and the hospital was not retrofitted. In case of earthquake, the first floor of the hospital would fall into the basement, and the wings would break off.

@NaBEEsko: You’re in Earthquake Land, too, right?

@redmanlaw: Harbor Island Sheraton evacuated — they’re waiting for an inspector to check the foundation.

Haven’t heard anything out of Mexicali, but local geologist sez it’s built on sand — effectively jello, for those who don’t live in quakeland.

@nojo: Oh man — love Harbor Island. This is like a trip down memory lane. There was some nightclub there that played non-Nojoesque jazz. Okay, Muzak. But it was in a beautiful location. I also loved The Green Flash, but I think they closed. Where were they — MB? Silver Strand. Sunset Cliffs. Cabrillo National Monument tide pools. ::sigh::

@JNOV: Tsunami area, not sure there any major faults here. I lived in the “Ring of Fire” for a few years, lots of wiggles.

@JNOV: No — it was Shelter Island. And the place was Humphrey’s by the Bay, I think. Please don’t hate me, Nojo. I was 24.

@NaBEEsko: Monsoons?

The Ethiopian Review has some details about damage south of the border.

@JNOV: Humphrey’s gets mentioned by the real jazz station here, so I guess it’s okay.

My God, that’s strong enough to knock Catt off his elliptical trainer!!! Has anyone heard from him?

@nojo: We almost stayed there for spring break a couple of years ago but we went to the Dana instead.

@Benedick: I can’t stop laughing!

@redmanlaw: Dana Point? They totally fucked up the break there, but it’s a sweet town.

That’s it! Once I figure out what to do with my son (waiting for the thick/thin envelope) and how I’m going to manage to hitchhike with three cats, I’m totally moving back.

@nojo: I’ve got a story about Humphrey’s that includes getting stood up, Naval pilots, baseball and complete strangers buying me drinks. Good times.

@JNOV: The Dana hotel, next to Sea World. Part is newish, and there’s an older section with a mid 60s-early 70s vibe where we stayed. We totally skipped the tourist shit in SD and just hung out over at Mission Beach, the beach, bike trails and amusement park there. Son of RML and I rode the roller coaster until we almost barfed. Dana Point is where the old light house is at, right? We also went to church at the Mission there. My current FB profile pic was shot at the National Park or Monument there.

@JNOV: Monsoons? Yep, upon which the agriculturalists live or die. Two seasons, actually, and if I’m lucky I’ll skate before the one in the summer months hit.

@redmanlaw: I don’t remember a lighthouse — Dana Point is north of Sandy Eggo near Oceanside. It used to be one of the sweetest surf spots until the town built a harbor and ruined the break. Tressles is beautiful. The water is like glass.

@NaBEEsko: Well, surf’s up!

@JNOV: It was at Point Loma in the Cabrillo National Monument.

http://www.nps.gov/cabr/index.htm

@JNOV: Well, surf’s up!

It’s the Indonesian rumbles that get the water moving out here; even the ’04 wave mainly affected the eastern and southern shores (I’m on the west), although the bathwater did leave a high water mark on the lower 40 of my current compound.

@Benedick: I was feeling up a go-go boy.

What? It was a $10.00 tip.

Everybody is ok, right?

CNN talks of aftershocks “rattling” the area, but the last significant aftershock was a 5.4 at 4:25 pm PT. Everything else is 4’s and 3’s, and I’ve barely noticed one or two in SD. We’re about a hundred miles from the original epicenter, so maybe it’s a tad more rattling a little closer.

@redmanlaw: Yeah — love the tide pools there. The monument, not so much, but supposedly it’s a good spot for whale watching. Never saw one myself.

@NaBEEsko: Carve thee an ark.

If Northern Mexico’s a-rockin’…

Altogether an inauspicious weekend. A friend had a building fall on him Friday (he just left the ICU this afternoon), I crashed the bike on Saturday (no damage), a fellow racer died while riding today (heart attack and/or crash), and now Baja’s cracking off and floating away? Fuuuck.

@JNOV: I saw four grays one afternoon in Oregon near Yachats. Someone brought binocs on a drive and I glassed the ocean for whales. We were there for a retreat with my old environmental law firm, which also had an office in Eugene.

Beisbol: Sox rally from being down 5-1 to beat Yanquis 7-9.

@IanJ: Dude, sorry to hear about your racer buddy. The crash didn’t cause the heart attack? Either way, total bummer weekend. Glad to hear you’re okay post-bike crash.

Separate from that I’ve had several pieces of inauspicious news today from the SEA-TAC area. Something is in the water up there.

@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: Wait, do you have a new puppy or do you use the word “puppy” to refer to your canine friend(s)? is this the doggie that used to be en el libro de las caras as your profile pic?

Just had a mildly interesting aftershock. The evening was too calm.

@SanFranLefty: Latest theory I heard is that he had a stroke while riding, which caused the crash, which didn’t make recovering from the stroke any easier. I’m actually kind of glad to hear that, because honestly, going out while riding a motorcycle on a race track is a pretty freakin’ awesome way to die.

@IanJ:
i experienced an earthquake once in my life in feltre, italy, bout an hour from venice. i was alone in a hotel room and merely thought the bed shaking was due to the magic fingers bed shaker. remember those? you put quarters in a little box and the bed vibrates? it wasn’t til all the stuff flew off the dresser i became hysterical concerned.
i agree…i don’t want to die in bed either.
glad you’re ok, sorry about your friend.

@Tommmcatt Loves The Giant Floating Head:
feeling up a go go boy…how many calories?

@Mistress Cynica:
you are so right. just looked at that picture of ratzi…total seig heil.
nice..the fucking POPE is a protector of pedophiles AND a nazi.

woody allen on science v religion:
“between air conditioning and the pope, i’ll take air conditioning”

@baked:
“feeling up a go go boy…how many calories?”

COTD

@SanFranLefty: My mom has a new puppy. She and my profile dog do not get along well so far but they’ve only had two meetings so far and my dog has about as much of a maternal instinct as I do.