Environment

Earthquake….

chino-quake-2.gif

11:45 a.m. Tuesday.

Alrighty then. Let’s just hope that was the quake, not any kind of foreshock.

Thus far it’s a 5.8. (Okay, actually Cal Tech says 5.8—USGS says 5.4)

It shook for five or six seconds. 29 miles, East/South east from Los Angeles, into the Chino area.

(I did what I always do. I held up the china cabinet.) It was felt as far as San Diego. (I got a call from an SD friend immediately.)

So far, according to LAFD, no reports of damage or injuries have come in.

12:05 p.m.

Circuit busy signals trying to call various places in LA. The disruption seems to be mainly to cell phones, less so to land lines. (So, all you people who dumped your land lines, who’s sorry now??? And corded phones. Never let go of your cordless phones. New rules: Don’t run with scissors. And keep at least one cordless phone in the house. Trust me. I know these things.)

12:20 p.m.

I just now spoke to guys up at California Institute for Men, the prison located in Chino, and so far they’re hearing no big damage or injuries. But, Chino’s so messed up already—no hot water in one part of the facility for more than a year, cracks in many, many of the cells that often let the rain in—so I’m not sure they’re the best bellwether.

(Secret reporter’s tip: Whenever there’s a disaster, call the guys in prison—-Try dialing random extensions until you get someone who will pick up the phone. Their stories are much more entertaining and much less PC than one gets elsewhere, I promise you.)

Aging water mains breaking at various points in the city.

12: 49 p.m. Kate Hutton, The Cal Tech chick is equating the quake to a bowl of JELL-O. I think this is supposed to be reassuring.

Okay, now everyone’s gotten their figures straight. Now it’s a 5.4

1:03 p.m. That’s it. Barring aftershocks, I’m back to work.

(But if you have your own anecdotes and/or quake tales, please post ’em.)

2:13 p.m. There is a theory now making the rounds that the quake was not fault-related at all, but rather a seismic reaction to the profound and terrible collective psychic disturbance occurring among those on Facebook who are deep into the throes of Scrabulous withdrawal. (I am not among this number, so I couldn’t say.)

13 Comments

  • I was in the library resuming my diatribes after a three day “tune-up” in the hospital and was in the middle of castigating those – like Woody – still whing over at Marc Cooper’s site about the election. Figured it was a fulmination from my favorite Georgian on the state of the nation.

  • (I did what I always do. I held up the china cabnet.)

    Celeste, please. Get in the doorway. We don’t want anything falling on your head. Be careful.

    I lived in areas beset with hurricanes (Miami), tornadoes (Huntsville, AL) and earthquakes (San Francisco). Tornadoes are the worst.

  • I wonder if Woody felt the earthquake? I think Richard needs to find another hobby besides battling Woody via the Internet. There are plenty of video games where you destroy enemies and actually feel relaxed afterwards.

    I was holding on to my top heavy 22″ LCD monitor and “saved” it during the earthquake.

    I hope the earthquake scared a few illegal immigrants, back across the border.

  • Make sure to watch T.V. and see the usual two ladies from Cal-Tech USGS showing the richter stip chart recorders and fancy colored maps.

  • Here’s a map that may help: USGS Glad everyone is okay.

    Do you think that it might have had anything to do with this, from the thread of the previous post?

    Woody Says:
    July 29th, 2008 at 11:29 am
    I think most of you need to read The Bible.

    Evan Says:
    July 29th, 2008 at 11:38 am
    I prefer nonfiction.

    Earthquake occurs at 11:42 am

    Coincidence?

  • Save the China cabinet…No! The big screen TV!

    During the last major earthquake up here, I finished making potato salad.

    Randy’s right about standing in the doorway, of course. (Tornadoes, you should go in the cellar, but it’s more fun to stand on the porch. And, yes, those are some scary sonsabitches.)

    After it’s all over, you’ve got the choice of calling your family in the “heartland” who still can’t figure out why you left for California and assuring them everythings okay…OR…dialing up some guy in San Quentin to get good quote.

    Earthquakes are surely God’s way of finding out what each of us is really about.

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