Hesperia..a dangerous earthquake zone? (Wrightwood: living, area, building)

[twista6002]

Yes it's pretty close to the San Andreas fault.

[DesertDog2]

Earthquakes are just a reality of living in California. Most of us that were born and raised here, do not dwell on them. Most of them, you never feel, the ones you do, are usually sort of fun. A 7.0 or larger would certainly cause damage if you are near it. Some deaths occur occassionally do to California earthquakes, but usually these are from major structure failures - large buildings, freeway over passes etc, not residential.
During a big quake, a large part of damage in residential areas are due to subsequent fires.

Do the sensible things like making sure your water heater is properly secured. I have installed a seismic valve on my residential gas supply line, which turns of the gas during an earthquake - just common sense.

Another danger in quakes is things falling, televisions and bookcases can kill or injure you if the fall on you, so, if you are worried - secure them with straps. Think about where you sleep, can anything fall on you while in bed? Windows can break, so you might position your bed away from a window. Little things like this can go a long way to preventing problem in the statistically unlikely event that you will be in a major earthquake.

I have been hearing that the big one is coming all of my life, I am 57 years old. It may be coming, but it might not be in your life time, don't be overly anxious, but be informed.


That diagonal red stripe in the lower left, is the San Andreas Fault that everyone always talks about. It had a major quake around 1680 near the Salton Sea, in 1857 it had one Northeast of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, and again in 1906 north and south of San Francisco area. Look at how many other faults there are though!
Now with California having so many faults, more than are shown on that map (talking about earthquakes, not all of our other faults), there have only been 24 earthquakes which are considered significant, since 1857, in Southern California.

I'd suggest getting ahold of the pamphet entitled "Putting down rots in earthquake country". It can be downloaded or read online. You can also order a free printed copy.

[dogmom]

As a native southern Californian, I have seen more than my fair share of earthquakes, I'm still alive and breathing..

The Northridge quake in 1994 sent us for a loopy doop ride in Covina, no damage, just rattled nerves and a few things on shelves that 'walked' nothing even fell. My husband worked for Pac Bell in Pasadena and he immediately was called to work and I didn't see him for a couple days. Sent him out to Calabasa, no electricity, etc..

One thing, each subsequent earthquake seems to get infrastructure more
retrofitted....I don't worry about my home..the house we are buying is in Desert Hot Springs...we will be a few blocks from the San Andreas...big deal, if the BIG ONE lets loose, its gonna be bad no matter..be prepared, bolt down what you can, keep a wrench near the gas to turn off if need be and enjoy life. It could happen tomorrow, or in 200 years...

[LQQKOUT]

Originally Posted by adykstra

I've been living in the Hesperia area at about 4000 foot elevation for quite a long time. Daytime Summer temperatures average in the 90's but humidity is low. Winter temps are usually in the low 50's during the day and in the teens at night. Yes, the wind does blow but for the most part, it's not all that bad.
Regarding the subject here, we are about 12 miles from the San Andreas where it passes through Lone Pine Canyon. Hesperia is on the Continental Shelf and very solid Bedrock. This lends it self to more stability and less intense shaking during earthquakes. The Pacific Plate side of the San Andreas, is the part that is moving, so I suspect the intensity of shaking would be much more severe on that side and the soils on that side are more Aluvial Fan material ground water much closer to the surface. That would tend to present higher risks of liquefaction than what we have on our side of the fault.
I say, buy the house, prepare for the quake by having food, water and cash on hand since you will likely ride it out just fine up here but services will be heavily burdened.

What this poster is stating is that the High Desert will have ocean front property in the next 30+ years. The earth shakes in California no matter where you are. Live on!!!

[LQQKOUT]

Originally Posted by dogmom

As a native southern Californian, I have seen more than my fair share of earthquakes, I'm still alive and breathing..

The Northridge quake in 1994 sent us for a loopy doop ride in Covina, no damage, just rattled nerves and a few things on shelves that 'walked' nothing even fell. My husband worked for Pac Bell in Pasadena and he immediately was called to work and I didn't see him for a couple days. Sent him out to Calabasa, no electricity, etc..

One thing, each subsequent earthquake seems to get infrastructure more
retrofitted....I don't worry about my home..the house we are buying is in Desert Hot Springs...we will be a few blocks from the San Andreas...big deal, if the BIG ONE lets loose, its gonna be bad no matter..be prepared, bolt down what you can, keep a wrench near the gas to turn off if need be and enjoy life. It could happen tomorrow, or in 200 years...

Northridge was a rolling quake, I remember it. I remember seeing the apartment complex leveled and the freeway over pass just drop off. Wow I remember that.

There is so many homes, businesses, schools built on the San Andreas fault. It ran right through my middle school in the High Desert. Yes the schools were built on the edge of the mountain range.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

There is not always a correlation between ground shaking intensity and distance from any given epicenter. For example, my place is on bedrock about 8000 feet from the San Andreas. Wood frame, with seismic retrofits. No shaker will be able to bring it down. Meanwhile, places on unconsolidated alluvium 25 miles away may get badly hurt in any big shaker. If in doubt hire a geologist. They will provide a detailed report of all geological risks of any given property.

[tomfirst]

I would worry more about the idiots up in Sacramento than quakes. They will kill us long before a quake does. Every place in the USofA has one or another or more dangers to contend with. If the right one don't get ya... the left one will (ya load 16 tons.... whataya get..another day older and deeper in debt). Thanks for that one Erine......hope its better up there. One benefit of the high desert is we will be the first to meet our Master....... since we are higher up.....right?

[Donn2390]

Originally Posted by tomfirst

One benefit of the high desert is we will be the first to meet our Master....... since we are higher up.....right?

That's only oif you're going up, what about those going the other direction...?

[LQQKOUT]

Ocean front property in the High Desert, anyone going down the hill will be shark bate.

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by tomfirst

One benefit of the high desert is we will be the first to meet our Master....... since we are higher up.....right?

Well, yeah, if you believe in those fairy tales.