7.0 earthguake hits Seattle area

[OuTpaTienT]

10-15 seconds is long time for a quake that strong. 45 seconds is insane!

The soil at your sisters location may have been the right consistency to continue reverberating the quake for a short time after it was over. That would explain a longer sensation. Because I know a 6.5 to 7.0 quake in Seattle with a duration of 45 seconds would do major damage.

[jad1097]

CNN said the quake was 30 miles under the surface.


Is everyone OK?

[This message has been edited by jad1097 (edited 02-28-2001).]

[Mykex]

Us Geological reports a 6.8 with a depth of 45km or 28to30miles making it somewhere between average and deep for the area. I have recieved Email from Seattle stating it was a rumble followed by a long rolling shake. A shallow quake at this magnitude and duration would have been devistating.

Hope everyone is Ok there.

[Warthog]

I also heard 7.0 on CNN....but they probably just rounded the number because it would be "more exciting"

http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif
Warthog

[FrozenLiquidity]

Hey, I was in the vicinity, and I think it was a pretty weak quake. Of course the people are going to panic, its unavoidable.

Heres a dialog that took place in my classroom right before the earthquake, I think that it is pretty close to what happened...

Teacher: Alright class, I'll be coming around to collect your homework, and Henry please stop thumping on the floor with your feet.
Hillary: Is that you Henry? I can feel it all the way over here too!
Brandie (who is sitting at the other end of the room): I can feel it too. What is that shaking?
(the fact dawns on them)
Teacher: it's an Earthquake! Everyone get under the desks NOW!
Moments later the intercom blares on and a shaky female voice tells everyone to get under the desks, and duck, cover, and hold.

All in all, it was pretty lame, and I think people are getting way too carried away with it. Its not like it was unexpected, I mean we have been told for years now that a big earthquake will hit our area sooner or later. It's not like its unexpected or scary, maybe sudden, but we live in a earthquake prone area. It's only a matter of time...

FrozenLiquidity

Edit-> http://news.excite.com/news/r/news/news-quake-seattle-dc

Now this is a load of BS unless I am totally missing all of this. I have not seen one instance that can prove this. And if this is true, our state is in need of great help. What if this quake (not guake, Tex http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif ) had been the big one that we have been told, could hit any day? Total Devistation, thats what. I think that they need to beef up their buildings if a smaller quake like this can do this much damage to them, IMHO.

[This message has been edited by FrozenLiquidity (edited 02-28-2001).]

[Nighthawk]

Lately most of the news places have been showing lots of the same pictures.

The quake was low enough that it really didn't do much damage in Bellevue (again, where I live), but mom in Redmond (further away) said that the ground was really moving there and at the state capitol in Olympia (close to the epicenter) apparently the main dome has a big crack in it now and could have come down while Congress was in session.

A UW geologist dude was on TV talking about how since this was a deep quake odds are that there won't be aftershocks and that if it was shallower we would have all been screwed (he didn't put it that way, but that's basically what he said).

(side note)
in chemistry, we were taking a test. I was done, but the teacher invited people to take their tests under the desks with them if they wanted because the shaking was so weak.

[OuTpaTienT]

Hey, I used to live in Redmond. On Avondale Road. I liked it up there.

[socalgal]

I saw this on the news... 7.0 is a major earthquake. 45 seconds is an extremely long time - it must have seemed to go on forever!

It seems much of the minimal structural damage is due to the quality of the their engineering, which says alot about their city's planning. But the TV reports I saw did show some damage - which would be unavoidable for a quake of this magnitude.

I hope everyone is OK!

[This message has been edited by socalgal (edited 02-28-2001).]

[big_block_buick]

my brother and his family live in vancouver,and this is their 1st experience.my nieces were scared stiff.but all is ok i guess..

[Bob The Great]

I had a little bit of rumbling. Nothing bad though.

About CNN and the "7.0" earth quake. from what I've heard, the difference between a 6.9 and a 7 is about ten times the power! It would have been extremely devistating. The San Fransisco earth quake was a 7.1 (only a little greater then the 7), and that was devistating! So what CNN did was messed up (or I have my facts wrong and I'm messed). It was more like a 6.5

[araaraara]

I live in Maple Ridge, BC. My brother's new elementry school was damaged a bit. Cracked wall and pillar. My school was fine. I hardly felt the quake. I just saw stuff swaying. Only lasted like 30 seconds max. Too bad. Could've missed that math test. I heard from 2 US and 2 local new channels that it was 6.8

[Tex_Gex]

No much info yet, Check the web or your local news for more info. First reports are of no injuries and it was centered about 30 southeast of Seattle. The Quake appears to be from deep within the earth so there will be no aftershocks.

[This message has been edited by Tex_Gex (edited 02-28-2001).]

[Nighthawk]

Um.. news sites around here are saying 6.2, and here in Bellevue it wasn't really that bad.

The floor was slightly swaying around for 10-15 seconds, and we had to stay in class a little while longer.

Some places around here lost power, but I think the main damage was in downtown Seattle and I heard something about a crack in the capital roof in Olympia.

[digital_d_17]

Not much damage here, but it was a 6.4 (some places are now reporting 7.0) earthquake, with reports that it "was felt as far away as Salt Lake City." More details on http://www.king5.com http://www.kirotv.com and http://www.komotv.com (if they aren't already clogged up the wazoo)

King 5 has a full story now as their front page.

-Digital D.

[This message has been edited by digital_d_17 (edited 02-28-2001).]

[GroundZero3]

cnn says 7.0

Jason

[Szech]

I was right about to e-mail my sister, and she beat me to it. She's okay, but a little shaken up. She said that it was more like 45 seconds, but hey, I wasn't there.

[OuTpaTienT]

The US Geological Survey HQ in Colorado initially pegged it as a 7.0 but shortly after that they downgraded it to a 6.8.

It seems that it was indeed a long quake however. I'm hearing anywhere between 40-60 seconds. 45 seconds seems to be the consenses. That is an extremely long time for a quake. The '89 Loma Prieta Earthquake that tore us up here in the SF Bay Area only lasted 20 seconds. Just hope you never get one of these: Prince William Sound, Alaska 1964 (http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/USA/1964_03_28_pics.html) - 9.2 on the Richter for a duration of 3 minutes!


[This message has been edited by OuTpaTienT (edited 03-01-2001).]