Never in my life have I felt an earthquake. I thought I was freaking out, similar to the room spinning feeling. It happened here about 2:50 AM. My computer shook, the house creaked and it felt like rolling waves under my feet. The strange thing is my cats were acting very peculiar right before it happened. I still can't believe it! My initial feeling was "Wow, this just might be the big one if we can feel it all the way over here!"

-- Julie (Wonder@Woman.wow), October 16, 1999

Answers

Julie,

I am on the southern coast of California and was up when it hit. Turned on the radio to get reports. People called in from all over, Bakersfield, Las Vegas, San Diego, LA of course, and Mexico.

Many of them said the same thing as you about their cats. They were acting very strangely just before the quake hit. It was a fairly long one for around here, which told me that there was a big one somewhere. Sure enough, a 7.0 hit the desert around Joshua tree.

We were all lucky that it was a rolling quake instead of a jolting one, so no damage or injuries have been reported yet except one rumor that it might have derailed a train. No confirmation yet on that. Woke us all up over here. Arizona is not that far from Joshua Tree so that is why you felt it. You are actually closer than I am over here by San Diego.

I grew up here so this is normal, yet always reminds us of the bad ones we have been through and the "Big One" that is due any day now. I am just glad to be out of LA!

Looks like you will have to start preparing for earthquakes now!

Take care, Lora

-- Lora (artemis45@hotmail.com), October 16, 1999.

Julie & Lora, glad you're OK! Isn't it a weird feeling?

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), October 16, 1999.

Felt it as far north as Santa Barbara. Just a 10-15 second hiccup here, though. Rolling, windows and lamps rattling. Woke me but I imagine a lot of people slept right through it.

-- redhead (seajoyce@aol.com), October 16, 1999.

[Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only]

http://www.newsday.com/ap/rnmpne0d.htm

Earthquake Strikes Southwest U.S.

By ANTHONY BREZNICAN Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A magnitude-7.0 earthquake centered in the Southern California desert shook buildings from downtown Los Angeles to Las Vegas early today and knocked an Amtrak train off its tracks. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries or major damage.

Amtrak said its Southwest Chief en route from Chicago to Los Angeles derailed in the Mojave Desert near Ludlow, a community more than 125 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The passenger cars remained upright.

There were 155 passengers on the 25-car train and none were injured, said an Amtrak official at the Wilmington, Del., operations center.

Passenger Sharon Kososinski said there was no panic on board.

``Most people were sound asleep,'' she told CNN. ``It was rocking and rolling, back at the sleeper cars ... That's the part of the train that's completely off the tracks.''

She said one passenger dislocated her shoulder. Amtrak said it planned to take the passengers to Los Angeles by bus.

Karen Kahler, a seismologist at the California Institute of Technology, said the quake hit at 2:46 a.m. and was centered 32 miles north of Joshua Tree, 100 miles east of Los Angeles. There were multiple aftershocks.

The earthquake was felt across hundreds of miles of Southern California and at least as far away as Yuma, Ariz. Between 5,000 and 10,000 people lost power in Los Angeles and there were reports of transformer explosions. Downed power lines started small brush fires near Palm Springs.

``That was a bad one. Things are bouncing around all over. But we are all right. I have to go and call the kids,'' Lucille Manning said from her home in Chino, east of downtown Los Angeles.

The earthquake woke up tourists in Las Vegas, more than 150 miles from the epicenter.

``I wasn't sure what it was,'' said John Fabian, who was staying on the 18th floor of the Mirage Hotel. ``My wife hit me and said we've got to get ... out of here.''

Fabian's wife, Michele, added: ``The whole place was shaking like crazy.''

Authorities in Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area said there were no reports of serious damage or injuries. The few calls authorities received were mostly from frightened people who were awakened by the quake and were curious about damage.

``Most people just slept right through it,'' said Lt. Rich Paddock of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. ``It shook everything pretty good, but that was about it.''

The effects of the earthquake were more pronounced in the lightly populated region around the epicenter.

California Highway Patrol dispatcher Joe Serrano in Barstow said a bridge on Interstate 40 was heavily damaged but the freeway remained open.

Jacob Naylor, night manager at the Joshua Tree Inn in Joshua Tree, said the structure lost power but there was no sign of damage.

``Twelve guests, all definitely awake. A couple in from Holland, definitely shocked. A couple in from the U.K. asked me, `Is this normal?''' Naylor said. ``They're all taking it rather well, kind of excited. Vacationers, new experiences, what can I say?''

In Yucca Valley, the Hi-Desert Medical Center was relying on emergency power, as was the San Bernardino County Sheriff's station in Joshua Tree.

Gerri Hagman, owner of the Homestead Inn bed-and-breakfast in Twentynine Palms, near the epicenter, said she had a lot of broken dishes and things thrown off shelves. She couldn't see any structural damage.

``I'm a native Californian and I've been in a lot of them; this was a whopper,'' Hagman said.

In Ridgecrest, a small community about 250 miles north of Los Angeles, groceries toppled from shelves and awoke residents, but officials said there were no reports of damage or injuries.

``I was asleep and shaken out of bed,'' said Rachel Holden, an editor at the Ridgecrest Daily Independent.

On Jan. 17, 1994, a 6.7-magnitude quake struck Northridge, near Los Angeles, killing 72 people and causing an estimated $40 billion in damage.

``The level of shaking is comparable to what was experienced in Northridge,'' said Lucy Jones, a seismologist with U.S. Geological Survey at Caltech. ``The good news is that there are fewer people out there.''

AP-NY-10-16-99 0902EDT

Copyright ) Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), October 16, 1999.

California resident here. Very little damage, no reported deaths, and few injuries. Looks like we got very lucky, it was in a low pop area. If thats downtown LA, life is ugly. Still scared the crap out of me and my family.

Whew.

-- shakin (rolling@cali.com), October 16, 1999.

Glads you guys are okay!

The rolling kind I can handle. It's the sharp spikey kinds that catapult you out of bed and across the room, as in the Northridge quake, that get to me.

Diane

Global Seismic Monitor (great map) ...

http://www.iris.washington.edu/seismic/60_2040_1_8.html

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), October 16, 1999.

WOAH!

Look at that map! The first time I've ever seen the symbol on it in two places... one in Alaska... that says "Earthquake Of Special Interest."

What the heck does THAT mean?

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), October 16, 1999.

Julie,

Could you indicate roughly where in Arizona you felt the shock?? I did not feel anything here just north of Phoenix. I was awake. First I learned about it was here on this forum.

-- K. Stevens (kstevens@ It's ALL going away in January.com), October 16, 1999.

I live in Vegas, and it was enough to wake my entire family out of a deep sleep..although not big enough to break anything or even know anything over....it was trippy thought. Only my second earthquake. The other one i was in was the "Spring break Quake" Up in Oregon several years ago.

For those of you who haven't ever felt an earthquake under your feet, its an extremely unsettling feeling. You realize very quickly how insignificant you are.

just my .02

-- Cory Hill (coryh@strategic-services.net), October 16, 1999.

To K. Stevens~

Yes, I felt it here in Tempe, AZ. You know, home of ASU? On the radio this morning, many people felt it in Scottsdale, Glendale, and even Gilbert. Lots of reports about cats, no dogs, acting in the same manner mine did. One guy said that maybe it's because "cat people" are usually very in tune with their pets.

-- Julie (Wonder@Woman.wow), October 16, 1999.

Northern San Diego area: Herself and I woke up at 2:50AM. Rattle-rattle-rattle goes the room.

She said, matter-of-factly (like the SoCal native she is), "Earthquake."

I said, "Yep."

We waited for a few seconds. It subsided. We went back to sleep.

It seemed more like a "sheer/slip" type (up-and-down) than a "roller" (shifts side-to-side). I've noticed that SoCal folks seem to have many terms for different kinds of quakes, much as Inuit people have many different names for "snow".

Some of our neighbors haven't lived here long. They were definitely buggin' about it.

We figure the preps will come in very handy if the epicenter of the next one moves south and west a bit.

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.hid), October 16, 1999.

Gotta say that I'm glad I wasn't out there for this one. We were living 45 miles from the epicenter of the 1992 Landers quake and only 30 Miles from the Big Bear quake only 2-3 hours later. Waking to the initial jolt and then having to worry about what's going to fall on your head during the shaking is NO fun.

I'm hearing lots of stories about "no damage" and "minimal damage" on the media. But as I recall, in 1992 the media looked to see if downtown LA was still standing and it took several days for news of some families being completely cut-off out in the desert areas.

No power, phone or running water with dwindling supplies and your path out cut by chasms tens of feet wide is a serious situation. Better not need to get to the hospital. I hope that any "desert rats" out there are Y2K prepared, cause they sure might have a chance to put their preps to the test.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), October 16, 1999.

Great site for alot of info on quakes in California,click on index to seismic hazard zone maps.

www.consrv.ca.gov/dmg/

-- Maggie (aaa@aaa.com), October 16, 1999.

Thanks Julie,

I must have been totally preoccupied or perhaps drifted off to sleep. My 12 year old son sleeps on the top bunk in his room. He told my wife that he awoke unexpectedly "around 3 am" but didn't unterstand why. I guess the quake was felt here just North of Phoenix.

-- K. Stevens (kstevens@ It's ALL going away in January.com), October 17, 1999.

Hi there Cory Hill, that Spring Break Quake is what got us really going on our preps :-)

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), October 17, 1999.

I can't believe I slept through a 7.0. : )

Mike

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-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), October 17, 1999.

We've been overdue for one,...a four-block area around my house including my house lost power for 12 hours. (N. Orange County) Helped me to adjust my thinking about batteries. More batteries. Never enough batteries....Transformers arced lighting up the sky like it was broad daylight. Awake again tonight, just 'cos, I supposed. Time to try to catch another hour before heading off to work.

--She in the sheet, upon the hilltop pondering the nature of fragility in the wee hours.

-- Donna (moment@pacbell.net), October 17, 1999.

Hi Donna. We haven't wanted to store fuel. But in our drills, those flashlights go dim so fast as to be worthless after 1 day. So finally, last night we bought on sale at GI Joe's a Coleman Propane lantern with case, less than $20 :-) Plus a box of 12 propane cannisters, extra mantles: big Y2K sale. Aiming for that redundancy. And we refuse to buy anything that we can't use for future camping trips or future earthquakes/floods!

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), October 17, 1999.