Remember the '94 Earthquake (Glendale, Santa Monica: house, school, live) - Los Angeles - California (CA) - City-Data Forum

James T · 08-09-2007, 02:33 AM

I lived right outside of Santa Monica, which was the epicenter for a simultaneous quake during the Northridge quake (The whole affair should have been called the 'Northridge and Santa Monica Quakes'). Scared the **** out of me. Thought I was going to die. I actually braced myself in a doorway, because if I hadn't been hanging on I would have been thrown to the floor.

James T · 08-09-2007, 02:40 AM

Remember all those aftershocks too? Holy moly, it was like a whole week of aftershocks. You could even tune into radio stations and hear them say, "Here's another one!", then a few moments later feel it, obviously if you hadn't already. You couldn't even leave glass on counters and such for fear an aftershock would send it crashing to the floor.

Fleet · 08-09-2007, 03:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James T

I lived right outside of Santa Monica, which was the epicenter for a simultaneous quake during the Northridge quake (The whole affair should have been called the 'Northridge and Santa Monica Quakes'). Scared the **** out of me. Thought I was going to die. I actually braced myself in a doorway, because if I hadn't been hanging on I would have been thrown to the floor.

I sure remember it. I live about 4 miles away from the epicenter (which was actually in Reseda).
I only recall one main quake (Northridge, 6.7 mag, 4:31 AM). Santa Moncia, along with Sherman Oaks, had a lot of damage because of the composition of the ground- the ground under those two cities amplified the shock waves.

Fleet · 08-09-2007, 03:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James T

Remember all those aftershocks too? Holy moly, it was like a whole week of aftershocks. You could even tune into radio stations and hear them say, "Here's another one!", then a few moments later feel it, obviously if you hadn't already. You couldn't even leave glass on counters and such for fear an aftershock would send it crashing to the floor.

Yeah, I remember. It was terrible. For a few days, it averaged one aftershock every hour. A lot in the 2s and 3s, but also quite a few in the 4s.

James T · 08-09-2007, 03:06 AM

That was the initial belief, though later it was found there was an entirely separate quake in Santa Monica simultaneously.

Fleet · 08-09-2007, 03:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James T

That was the initial belief, though later it was found there was an entirely separate quake in Santa Monica simultaneously.

Really? I haven't read that and I have a lot of books on earthquakes.
What fault was it on? What was the magnitude and the focus (depth)?

fairweathergolfer · 08-09-2007, 03:29 AM

Wow. Santa Monica huh? I wasn't familiar with that either. I definately will have to read up on that. Was there much damage? Were you north or south of there when it happened? What you two are saying about the Northridge/Santa Monica earthquakes is incredibly scary. I knew the main quake was very, very bad, but did not know there were aftershocks so frequently and for so long after.

I noticed the mercalli scale (for the Chatsworth Earthquake) is recording Santa Monica zip codes right next to me in Brentwood as being a level higher then my zip code and we are right next to one another. I wonder if what you said about the ground and its heighten response to shaking makes it respond to earthquakes further away more intensely as well.

Maybe this will help my property value in Brentwood!!

That should be our motto, "Move to Brentwood and have a smoother ride on Earthquake LA!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by James T

That was the initial belief, though later it was found there was an entirely separate quake in Santa Monica simultaneously.

Fleet · 08-09-2007, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fairweathergolfer

Wow. Santa Monica huh? I wasn't familiar with that either. I definately will have to read up on that. Was there much damage? Were you north or south of there when it happened? What you two are saying about the Northridge/Santa Monica earthquakes is incredibly scary. I knew the main quake was very, very bad, but did not know there were aftershocks so frequently and for so long after.

I noticed the mercalli scale (for the Chatsworth Earthquake) is recording Santa Monica zip codes right next to me in Brentwood as being a level higher then my zip code and we are right next to one another. I wonder if what you said about the ground and its heighten response to shaking makes it respond to earthquakes further away more intensely as well.

Maybe this will help my property value in Brentwood!!

That should be our motto, "Move to Brentwood and have a smoother ride on Earthquake LA!"

You do have a point. The ground is better (meaning less subject to liquifaction) than in Santa Monica.
Yes, that's why Santa Monica had so much damage even though it was nowhere near the epicenter... the type of ground. Sherman Oaks and Fillmore were also hit hard.

Yep, the aftershocks of the Northridge quake went on for months, just like after the '71 Sylmar quake (which I also experienced).

abstrak_tokatl · 08-09-2007, 03:39 AM

Me and my brother were on our way to school and a telephone poll nearley fell on us. It ****en ruled.

cynwldkat · 08-09-2007, 07:51 AM

Yep....we lived 5 miles from the epicenter. My hubby got cut on his head from flying glass and my daughter got her wrist deeply cut by items falling from her shelves. My house had blood everywhere. Very frightening. I had to drive my daughter to Glendale to the hospital because they were only taking "life-threatening" accidents in the local hospitals. Very scary driving those freeways to Glendale. My daughter ended up with 14 stiches. Oh how I do remember that earthquake!!!