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This is just good advice in general. Be prepared for disasters and unexpected events. If not earthquakes, there can be major storms or who knows. Especially in ID with it's remoteness, people should have a plan to survive for a couple of weeks.
No need to make it complicated. I prefer the pantry-rotation strategy: we keep the pantry stocked, use older staples first and replace with new. We keep a little extra flour, sugar, pasta, etc. on hand. Our camping gear doubles as survival gear, and we also stock up on a little extra propane for the camp stove and I keep a little extra water treatment drops (for backpacking) as well. If we really need it, I also keep extra freeze-dried backpacking meals on hand... they're good for like 50 yrs and I will eventually use them on backpacking trips anyway.
I also do the pantry play. It just is a safe guard. Storms and Quakes are not the only potential hazards. While unlikely, a food shortage or severe unrest could occur in future years. Those who are prepared will fare better. I am not a “build a bunker” type, but believe sensible preparation is never a bad thing.
Storms and Quakes are not the only potential hazards. While unlikely, a food shortage or severe unrest could occur in future years. Those who are prepared will fare better. I am not a “build a bunker” type, but believe sensible preparation is never a bad thing.
I've heard it's possible there could even be a pandemic one of these years...
Interesting topic. Just happened to see the thread title on the board while passing by.
Born & raised Bay Area-ite, here. Also lived in Seattle for quite awhile. Grew up with minor earthquakes. Routine minor ones are good; they release the pressure building up along the fault lines. I missed the Loma Prieta quake in Oakland. 1989.
But I remember the quake in the Seattle area in 2001, a 6.8 one. I was at home in the one room that had a cement slab floor. It felt like the floor was twisting on an axis parallel to the ground. No buckling type of motion, just a few seconds of twisting. But I was on the phone with someone in a downtown office building, who was 18 floors up. The entire building was swaying, and she was freaking out, so I ended the call. The minor quakes I felt at home in Berkeley when growing up felt like a little momentary light shaking, nothing more.
So as you can see, OP, how it feels to be in an earthquake depends in part on where you're situated at the time. I've never been in one that had auditory phenomena, like a couple of the reports here. That sounds scary.
One thing that's little known about the famous 1906 quake in the Bay Area, the "San Francisco earthquake", is that it actually had two epicenters. One was offshore of Golden Gate park in a section of the San Andreas fault that passes under the ocean. The other one is said to have been centered on Santa Rosa in the north part of the Bay Area. Geology books of CA point out a historic picket fence on a property in Marin County that was split in two by the quake. It's been maintained over the years, so you can still see it today. One length of the fence is 21 feet apart from the other, as a result of the quake. It's on land that now is a state park, so it's accessible to the public.
Tomales Bay in Marin County is right on top of the fault, extending along part of its length, and was created by recurring earthquake action. On a map, it looks like a section of Marin County (the area that included Pt. Reyes National Seashore and park) is being torn away from the North American continent. Some geologists expect that over time, it will become an island. https://www.tide-forecast.com/tidelo...ifornia.10.gif
'quake preparation is different from some other disasters, in that you don't know if your home or area will be habitable if there is a large one. Or if you can get to the survival gear you've stowed away. Even if you think your home is OK with some damage, building officials are going examine each home, and if they think yours is unsafe, they'll mark with some level of condemnation and you'll have to go elsewhere. Power and water will very likely be out for weeks. So a big part of useful 'quake prep is keeping gas in the car/truck, some cash, one ready-to-tote kit of important papers, maybe a portable laptop, and valuables, having a good communications plan with family or a place for all to try to reach if things like cell towers fail, and having a plan to head elsewhere.... and hope that enough roads held up OK. 'quakes are like tornadoes and hurricanes in that regard, except tornadoes don't typically tear up the roads, and you get a few days of warning anymore for hurricanes.
Modifying a home for better 'quake resistance can be involved and expensive. That type of upgrade is done in CA, typically with wall structures being stiffened for better damage resistance. And public spending $$ on disaster preparedness for a certain disaster in a given area can be involved and costly to be effective. Those are some reasons why seismic activity for each area is determined... as best as the geologists know. It is a guide as to whether such effort and cost is likely necessary for 'quakes. Boise is pretty much in the clear... so far, so good.
Actually, Boise seems like a pretty good place for those who don't like their daily routines disrupted. No 'quakes, little hail or snow, moderate winds, no hurricanes or tornadoes. If you can stand the dryness, you'll get your morning cup of coffee no matter what! Uh-oh, the secret's out...
Can you tell the recent poster how it felt? That was one of their questions. And let's assume that was a level 4.5 equivalent in your area, as Anythingoutdoors noted.
Typical stick frame homes have no special resistance to quake damage, as LeeHoLee's info illustrates. FWIW.... The determinant behind how a quake is felt in a specific locale, and the damage it causes to a specific building, is the characteristics of the local ground motion coupled with the specific building's characteristics. The ground motion on the Boise Bench can be very different in the same quake event versus what would measured over on the west side of I-84, where the underlying geology is different. This was seen in one of the SF earthquakes 30 or 40 years ago, where one particular area suffered uniquely severe damage due to ground 'liquifaction'.
So there is no universal answer to feel or damage in any area. It might be felt, and do damage, on the Bench very differently than elsewhere in the Treasure Valley.
For some perspective on other natural events and minor damage like this, and that the person with the question may relate to, being as they are from FL: Strong northeasters and low-end category 1 hurricanes will put cracks in walls. I've personally seen that multiple times on the Outer Banks of NC. Haven't seen doors 'sprung' but it would be expected in older homes there (with less structural reinforcement) and what with the house shaking that goes on in such events. You have no doubt that the wind is whacking the house! You can't stop hurricanes or quakes; most folks just live with it when it is minor.
In 1989 the Loma Prieta earthquake at 5:05 PM in SF felt like a slow wave movement. On the streets you could see the cars parked along the sidewalks shake back and forth-rocking motion. There was a dizzy feeling sort of like getting sick/motion sickness. Then again the Bay Bridge broke in half and in downtown water mains were broken and stores had broken glass.
I have posted this earlier on another site, but is anyone realizing that there has not been a major US quake in two decades? I certainly don’t wish for one but we are overdue. Preparedness is still essential.
I have posted this earlier on another site, but is anyone realizing that there has not been a major US quake in two decades? I certainly don’t wish for one but we are overdue. Preparedness is still essential.
I should amend this post to “major lower 48 US quake in two decades.” Alaska, as always remains very active with large earthquakes.
The Ridgecrest, CA quake in 2019 was 7.1, which was larger than the 1989 Loma Prieta quake. It just happened to be in a low population area.
The 2014 (6.8) and 2016 (6.6) Ferndale were offshore of Northern California, so also low population.
So it's not as if the faults are unusually quiet, we've just been lucky that the last few larger earthquakes have hit low population areas.
At some point, the major metro areas of the Bay Area and SoCal will get hit with another big one. It's only a matter of time, though no one knows when. Could be this year, or many years down the road. The Hayward Fault is one that many people are worried about.
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