Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Los Angeles
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 08-10-2007, 03:01 AM
 
Location: Northridge/Porter Ranch, Calif.
24,463 posts, read 33,147,114 times
Reputation: 7596

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by greggd View Post
I believe the worst damage out in the valley was to buildings that had tuck under parking and ones that were not shear walled/plywood paneled on the framing.
You're right. Those are the buildings which have a "soft-story." The parking spaces are on the bottom level and the only support are the surrounding walls and a few partition walls. This is nowhere near as strong as a real first story and many times the whole building shifts during an earthquake.
A book I own called "Peace of Mind in Earthquake Country" devotes many pages to this.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-10-2007, 09:12 AM
 
Location: Sherman Oaks, CA
6,588 posts, read 17,498,791 times
Reputation: 9462
I was unemployed at the time (anyone remember what the economy was like back then?!), and one of my first jobs afterwards was as a temp, typing up earthquake inspection reports. It was clear that apartment buildings with a soft first story (parking garage underneath) were the worst hit. Ever since, I would never live in such a building. Mine does have the "tuck under" parking, but my apartment is on the solid side on the top floor, so I'd only lose my car. My neighbors, though, would not be so fortunate.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-10-2007, 09:16 AM
 
Location: in drifts of snow wherever you go
2,493 posts, read 4,371,409 times
Reputation: 692
Remember, you don't want to stand in a doorway during an earthquake. You want to kneel next to something big and heavy like a desk or a couch. This way if the ceiling collapases, the desk will absorb the pressure and you'll get a bit of airspace next to it. If you hide under a desk or doorway, it'll just fall in on you and kill you.

greenie
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2007, 09:19 AM
 
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
1,482 posts, read 5,162,169 times
Reputation: 798
I was at work (hotel night manager) during the quake. Before I decided to seek shelter I was mesmerized by the way the glass walls of the office were rippling like water. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Moments after the quake, the switchboard lit up. Nearly every room either had the phone off the hook or were trying to make a call all at once. As I picked up the first call the power went out and you could see little flashes of light all over the place as transformers popped off. What followed next was almost surreal. People came running out of their rooms and jumping into their cars. Most were still in their underwear others were stark naked with clothes in hand flailing behind them. There were two crashes in the parking lot but the people involved were too freaked out to even stop to sort it out. They just flew out onto the street. I remember watching all this and thinking that nobody got hurt in the quake but they're going to kill themselves on the road. After a little while it became incredibly silent. No people, no phones, not even the usual birds chirping at the coming dawn. It was really quite creepy. When I left I took my usual route home. I was on a health kick at the time and was riding a bike. The power was still off but the sun was up. All of the traffic lights were out but people were flying along the roads doing well over the speed limit not even bothering to slow down for intersections. There weren't many people on the road but it was nerve wracking all the same especially after this guy came within a few feet of me doing at least 80 (in a 45) as I was going through an intersection.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2007, 09:59 AM
 
Location: In a house
21,956 posts, read 24,212,227 times
Reputation: 15030
That's what concerns me about having a really biig earthquake in a very populated area. People just totally freak out. By the time they are running around like chickens with their heads cut off the earthquake is over. I do understand the fear but people have got to use some common sense.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2007, 10:21 AM
 
Location: Sherman Oaks, CA
6,588 posts, read 17,498,791 times
Reputation: 9462
This is precisely why I didn't go anywhere in the first few hours after the Northridge quake, and I was in Glendale! People panic unnecessarily. Besides, don't they realize that the worst thing they can do if they're inside is to run outside and vice versa? In some office buildings, the windows shook out and shattered to the ground many stories below. Imagine if people were standing around right underneath during an aftershock?!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2007, 11:41 AM
 
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
1,482 posts, read 5,162,169 times
Reputation: 798
Not to mention... where the hell do they think they're going? I mean it's a hotel. Most of these people are from out of town. They don't know the area. Are they going to drive home to Nebraska or wherever they're from? Do they know if the road/freeway overpasses are safe to drive on? Earthquakes don't hit just one building. They have no idea if where they're going is worse hit than where they were.

And half or less dressed? If there is glass they're going to slice their feet up or even fall in it. Unless the building is actively falling down one really needs to get dressed and take stock of the situation. If the building is damaged or your vehicle you have no idea how long you're going to be outside.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2007, 06:20 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles
652 posts, read 2,798,840 times
Reputation: 472
Quote:
Originally Posted by ImRandy View Post
I was at work (hotel night manager) during the quake. Before I decided to seek shelter I was mesmerized by the way the glass walls of the office were rippling like water. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Moments after the quake, the switchboard lit up. Nearly every room either had the phone off the hook or were trying to make a call all at once. As I picked up the first call the power went out and you could see little flashes of light all over the place as transformers popped off. What followed next was almost surreal. People came running out of their rooms and jumping into their cars. Most were still in their underwear others were stark naked with clothes in hand flailing behind them. There were two crashes in the parking lot but the people involved were too freaked out to even stop to sort it out. They just flew out onto the street. I remember watching all this and thinking that nobody got hurt in the quake but they're going to kill themselves on the road. After a little while it became incredibly silent. No people, no phones, not even the usual birds chirping at the coming dawn. It was really quite creepy. When I left I took my usual route home. I was on a health kick at the time and was riding a bike. The power was still off but the sun was up. All of the traffic lights were out but people were flying along the roads doing well over the speed limit not even bothering to slow down for intersections. There weren't many people on the road but it was nerve wracking all the same especially after this guy came within a few feet of me doing at least 80 (in a 45) as I was going through an intersection.
Which area was the hotel located?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-12-2007, 02:10 AM
 
Location: San Diego, CA
213 posts, read 821,290 times
Reputation: 99
I wish I wasn't too young to remember this.


Quote:
Originally Posted by GreenMachine View Post
Remember, you don't want to stand in a doorway during an earthquake. You want to kneel next to something big and heavy like a desk or a couch. This way if the ceiling collapases, the desk will absorb the pressure and you'll get a bit of airspace next to it. If you hide under a desk or doorway, it'll just fall in on you and kill you.

greenie
I wonder why teachers make their students practice hiding under their desks for earthquake drills then.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-12-2007, 05:13 AM
 
9,725 posts, read 15,117,072 times
Reputation: 3346
What I remember about the Northridge earthquake:

I remember being violently shaken awake AND LAUGHING! Mostly because I had gone through the Landers/Big Bear earthquakes out in the desert a year before and everyone I worked with laughed at me for being so afraid of them. Northridge was mild compared to Landers!

My business in Sherman Oaks was totally destroyed, but I still laughed because Northridge seemed so mild compared to Landers. (Sorry, but as someone who went through both, this is true.)

Landers earthquake, to me, set the bar. The Northridge earthquake was just a funny thing that happened afterwards. The Landers earthquake was so much more powerful and the Big Bear quake that followed it a couple of hours later really punctuated it. What everyone seemed to miss (with Northridge) was all the strong aftershocks (over 5.0) that punctuated the Landers quake leading into the Big Bear quake.

Anyway, Northridge seemed like a joke after that. And I actually was able to laugh at all the people who criticized me over my reaction to the Landers quake. They didn't seem to find that itty-bitty Northridge quake so funny.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Los Angeles
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top