But there was not question just now. The house shook for a few seconds, then there was a second jolt.
My favorite Anchorage earthquake experience was years ago. I was in my office, on the phone to someone in Eagle River. Suddenly the caller said, "There's an earthquake." I said, "Not here." Then about 15 seconds later I felt it.
It's hard to judge the magnitude because it depends on how close, how deep, and other factors, but I'll go out on a limb and say this was over 5 on the Richter Scale.
Update 10:39: KSKA just said it was preliminarily reported as 5.15, about 30 miles from Anchorage.
Update 11:30: Here's the map and details from USGS
Details
| Magnitude | 5.0 |
|---|---|
| Date-Time |
|
| Location | 61.227°N, 150.827°W |
| Depth | 60.9 km (37.8 miles) set by location program |
| Region | SOUTHERN ALASKA |
| Distances |
|
| Location Uncertainty | Error estimate not available |
| Parameters | NST=068, Nph=073, Dmin=26.8 km, Rmss=0 sec, Gp= 40°, M-type=local magnitude (ML), Version=2 |
| Source | |
| Event ID | ak10005518 |
Was that me on the other end of the phone?
ReplyDeleteNo, :). It was a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteOk, I do remembering that happening to me once... and my haunt is Eagle River.
ReplyDeleteHeck, a few times I have been in the same room with somebody and said there is an earthquake happening and people have looked at me funny... until the china rattled.
When Gene read of this last night, the first thing he said was, "Look how close the epicenter was to Anchorage. God must be angry with the veto." (smile)
ReplyDeleteI think he's right. Be afraid. Be very afraid, Anchorage. Your sins are known!
"Favourite earthquake experience"? It seems to be a paradoxon to me. Some eathquake cause no damage but they can be scarry for a person who is not got used to them. For example I have never had such an experience so at the first time I may need to check my underpants whether it is clean or not. :D
ReplyDeleteI hope that your stressed "NOT" in your comment wasn't a sign of being offended and I hope you really didn't want to fill in that. That's why I didn't name you, because I thought "ah, Steve is a serious guy, he wouldn't do it". To be honest I did it only because I didn't want to be rude to the sender.
It seems that building standards make a huge difference in whether most earthquakes kill people or not. A 5.0 or even a 6.0 does relatively little damage in the US, but much more so in countries without strict and enforced building codes. This whole quake lasted less than a 20 seconds I would say. And it was one short shake, pause, another jolt. But one tends not to look at one's watch when these things happen. They are common enough that people don't worry.
ReplyDeleteAnd, no, I wasn't offended. I was relieved. I don't like being targeted for such things or imposing them on others. But I understand they serve a purpose for many people.