Does California really get as much earthquakes as the media portrays?

Question

I really need to know. If anyone lives there in like berekley or downtown LA, san diego, tell me about how many earthquakes you've experienced.

is it worth living there? has anything dangerous ever happened to you guys during an earthquake???

Answer 1

I have lived in the Monterey Bay area for 12 years and I have probably felt about 12 earthquakes in my time here. But they are barely noticable and nothing even fell off of counters. Big ones, I hear are terrible, but I haven't been in one.

Answer 2

Actually there are hundreds of earthquakes throughout California yearly. Most are so minor that you don't even feel them. The USGS doesn't even bother reporting earthquakes that are less than 2.5 on the Richter scale. Most occur in unpopulated areas (California is a very big state). Even the moderate ones that you feel usually do not cause any significant damage. It just feels like a big heavy truck went by. The major quakes that do extensive damage seem to occur about every 15-20 years or so. I've lived in the Los Angeles area for about 45 years and can only remember 3 earthquakes that caused lots of damage during that time. What does a really big quake feel like? A few seconds before it strikes you will hear a rumbling noise. Then there will be one initial jolt followed shortly by a back and forth shaking motion that will increase and then decrease. Usually it's all over with in 15-20 seconds. By the way, there are only 3 states in the United States that have never experienced an earthquake. If I had to choose going through an earthquake, tornado, hurricane or a flood, give me an earthquake any day.

Answer 3

The UPS truck shakes this place more than anything else. The Northridge quake tore up the Valley. I was there the next day rescuing a friend and it looked like a cross between a war zone and ToonTown. (intentionally tweaked area of Disneyland.)...all the bricks were along the ground, streets buckled, apts condemned, people had to live in the park, scaffolding around businesses a shopping center was damaged big time.. Whittier quake did a number on a nearby shopping center. Some people's earthquake kits are hilarious. The same areas get earthquakes over and over...Big Bear, Yucca Valey, San Andreas

Answer 4

LA here... yes. We do get many earthquakes...usually one or two a day somewhere within the LA county region... California Institute of Technology keeps a running tab.... however, they are vastly overrated and overreported.

Most locals won't even get out of bed for anything less than a 5.0 on the richter scale. Even then, we lay there and try to determine just how long it will last.... and then turn over and go back to sleep.

In fact, most people don't even recognize or acknowledge or feel anything less than a 4.0...

I've lived here all my life - I've been through big ones (6.3) and little ones (2.2)... The last big one was the Northridge Earthquake in the late 1980s. Many people were displaced and homes destroyed. A freeway overpass was demolished...

I used to live in a house that sat right on top of the Whittier fault line. I have visited Portugese Bend in Palos Verdes where you can actually see the fault line and how the ground moves so much, they cannot put the gas lines in the ground - instead, have to lay them on top.

You can drive up Hwy 15 towards Victorville and see the San Andreas Fault line... and how the rocks have all piled on top of each other.

I would rather live in "earthquake" country where the odds of a "big one" are not as bad as the media portrays than live in a city where they have disaster SEASONS every single year... thank you very much.

But all of that said, it is wise to keep an earthquake kit ready... just in case. Extra water, flashlight, emergency radio, candles, enough food for three days, and a blanket or two. I keep one in the trunk of my car and one in my house.

Answer 5

I've lived in California all my life, have been through a couple of real big earthquakes and lots of little ones. Never had anything broken, even. Depends on where you are. I'm in Orange County which is between LA and San Diego. I don't mind earthquakes, I think they are fun. They are only not fun if you are in an old building that wasn't built to modern codes and it falls on you. I have never known anyone who got hurt in an earthquake, but of course it happens, remember the freeway that collapsed in San Francisco.

We haven't had a major one in a long time.

Answer 6

If you go to the USGS site and look at the earthquake maps, there's more than anybody realizes. But they're little micro-quakes that can't be felt. Last week alone there were 136 in northern CA. I live in the north bay area and have for over 3 years. I've felt two so far, and slept through 2 others that my hubby felt.

The worst thing that ever happened was that hanging wine glasses started clinking for no reason and my hubby fell off his chair. It was about a 4.2.

Answer 7

The last big earthquake was the one in San Francisco in "89" and I was in one in about "56". There was the one in So. Cal in Northridge. The big ones are far and few in between. There are a lot of small ones all the time 2 to 4 degrees that no one even worries about. They say the big one is coming, but you do don't see anyone worried about it. We just go on living our lives, you can't worry about things like that. The small ones you usually don't even feel. I would be more afraid to live in Oklahoma with all the Tornados than I do living in Calif. with the earthquakes. It's the Media that makes a big thing about it.

Answer 8

I have lived in San Francisco and currently live in Los Angeles. I was in SF in 1989 for the 7.1 earthquake. It was pretty intense! My apt. building was swaying 3 feet in each direction. My fridge walked about a foot, opened its door, and regurgitated all of the wine my roommate and I had bought in Napa and the home-made chili I had made an hour earlier for dinner. My bedroom bureau mirror went flying across the room. The "fake" gas fireplace went on automatically and caught a nearby newspaper on fire. It was a crazy time. There were tons of aftershocks for months afterwards. It was like living on a water bed. In Los Angeles, I have gone through a few, but nothing compared to 89. It is still worth it to live here. Most of the quakes are so subltle you never notice them. The occasional jolt is actually a little exciting.

Answer 9

I have lived through several earthquakes without a single scratch. Of course everyone talks about the 'big one' but usually it's just a bit of a rumble or the place shaking. Don't be afraid of something until it happens. You'll waste your life worrying about something that may never happen.

Answer 10

I have lived in the Monterey Bay area for 12 years and I have probably felt about 12 earthquakes in my time here. But they are barely noticable and nothing even fell off of counters. Big ones, I hear are terrible, but I haven't been in one.