Pair of Earthquakes
Two minor earthquakes struck in the Bay Area this week. Wednesday at 4:42am a 3.4 magnitude temblor occurred centered just north of Oakland, about 40 miles from where I live. This morning (Thursday) at 6:11am a 3.5 magnitude quake occurred in practically the same location. No injuries or damage have been reported as a result of these quakes. Example news coverage: CBS San Francisco article Jan 17.
Though these earthquakes are pretty much nonevents here, the news "Earthquakes in California!!1!1!" has lit up concern and overreaction thousands of miles away. I've had to reassure some of my relatives that, yes, we're okay.
For us these earthquakes were so mild and far enough away that we didn't even wake up for them. I see from searching my blog that the one time I've been awoken by an earthquake was a 4.7 magnitude shock a year ago. On the other hand, I slept through the 6.0 magnitude South Napa earthquake in 2014. That one was strong enough to cause damage near its epicenter- mostly in knocking things off shelves and collapsing a few wineries' stacked wine barrels- but was centered over 70 miles away from here so it didn't shake us strongly enough to wake up.
Quakes in the low 3 range I've generally felt if I'm already awake and they're nearby. I recall feeling a 3.1-ish earthquake from around 2010. For years prior to that I'd never actually noticed the shaking of one of the region's countless small earthquakes! Though, again, magnitude is no guarantee of experience. Just 9 months ago I didn't even notice a 3.8 that struck nearby because I was distracted by watching a freak hail storm.
Though these earthquakes are pretty much nonevents here, the news "Earthquakes in California!!1!1!" has lit up concern and overreaction thousands of miles away. I've had to reassure some of my relatives that, yes, we're okay.
For us these earthquakes were so mild and far enough away that we didn't even wake up for them. I see from searching my blog that the one time I've been awoken by an earthquake was a 4.7 magnitude shock a year ago. On the other hand, I slept through the 6.0 magnitude South Napa earthquake in 2014. That one was strong enough to cause damage near its epicenter- mostly in knocking things off shelves and collapsing a few wineries' stacked wine barrels- but was centered over 70 miles away from here so it didn't shake us strongly enough to wake up.
Quakes in the low 3 range I've generally felt if I'm already awake and they're nearby. I recall feeling a 3.1-ish earthquake from around 2010. For years prior to that I'd never actually noticed the shaking of one of the region's countless small earthquakes! Though, again, magnitude is no guarantee of experience. Just 9 months ago I didn't even notice a 3.8 that struck nearby because I was distracted by watching a freak hail storm.