We just had an earthquake
 

it was a 6.4 located down in San Simeon (south of San Francisco) but we felt it up here.:eek:

I'm in LoCal
 

And our building shook. We didn't evacuate, however.

I hope everyone is okay...

(See Steeltrap? Didn't I tell you Cali was going to fall into the ocean if he was elected? ;))

http://quake.usgs.gov/waveforms/heli..._20031222.html

live update

FYI
The Seismogram/graph that is posted on the website is located on the Mt that I live on.

How much time do you have...
 

...until your whole state falls into the ocean? I give you another 2 years... Get out while you can!!!

(I really like california though, I lived in Palo Alto for a long time, wonderful place...)

They did a voluntary evacuation of the top 7 floors of my building (I'm in West Los Angeles). We were swaying for about 5 minutes and I am still naseous. UGH!

It was quite a quake. I can't imaging how it felt up there when it felt so strong down here.

I felt it here in SF on the 7th Floor. When I looked out my office door I could see some the fixtures moving. Initially I thought someone just dropped a box down the stairs.

NinjaP did you feel the small Oakland one last week? I was in the East Bay for a depo and I felt it.


Shake, rattle and roll.... ;)

No, actually I didn't. Where was it centered?
FYI I'm on the 7th floor also.

The one last week was a 3.?, and it was centered in Oakland, near Jack London:cool:

People in Cal. Plan on being OTWs neighbor!

Buy land on the Western Slopes of Col!

Hell the Biggest Fault is waiting to Happen in SE Mo. The New Madrid Fault, When it goes, Chicago, Memphis, St. louis, Louisville, Cinnancitti, KC, and more than that! Punk Stuff!:o

Never talk about Tornados in Kansas!:(

Just Good Tho Hear That Everyone is OKAY!:)

At least 2 killed in todays quake
 

http://msnbc.msn.com/Default.aspx?id=3784234&p1=0

At least two killed in 6.5 quake in California
Damage, injuries reported near epicenter; thousands without power


BREAKING NEWS
NBC, MSNBC and news services
Updated: 5:59 p.m. ET Dec. 22, 2003

PASO ROBLES, Calif. - An earthquake rocked the central coast of California on Monday, killing at least two people, knocking out power to thousands and causing widespread but mostly minor damage near the epicenter.

The two victims were believed to have been found in the debris of a block of partly collapsed buildings in downtown Paso Robles, a city of 25,000 in San Luis Obispo County about 25 miles east-southeast of the epicenter. Other reports indicated that a third person had died, but they could not immediately be confirmed.

Several cars parked nearby also were crushed, and the landmark Clock Tower Building in the town of Templeton toppled. Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton reported treating 20 to 30 patients for minor quake-related injuries, said Lt. Steve Bolts, a spokesman for the San Luis Obispo sheriff's office.

At least one motorist called to report a rock slide on a nearby highway, California Highway Patrol Officer Ron Friberg said. The severity of the slide was not immediately known.

Kelly Van Buren, a spokeswoman for the San Luis Obispo Red Cross, said two houses were reportedly left uninhabitable.

The quake, which hit about 11:16 a.m. PT (2:16 ET), was felt as far away as Los Angeles to the south, the Central Valley in the east and San Francisco to the north. It was felt as a sustained but gentle rolling motion in downtown Los Angeles. In San Francisco, it rocked the 20-story federal courthouse, whose upper floors swayed for about 30 seconds.

But people nearer the epicenter said they experienced a series of jolts.

"It was pretty sharp," said Sharyn Conn, a receptionist at the oceanside Cypress Cove Inn in the coastal town of Cambria. "It really went on and on. I just got everyone under the door frames and rode it out."

The U.S. Geological Survey, or USGS, gave it a preliminary magnitude of 6.5 and said it was centered 10 miles north of Cambria. Cambria is in San Luis Obispo County, about 185 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The county has a population of around 250,000.

The epicenter is near San Simeon, William Randolph Hearst’s castle. The popular tourist attraction was evacuated as a precaution but reported no obvious damage. Roy Stearns, a spokesman for the state Department of Parks and Recreation, said a crew was preparing to go over its 150 rooms in detail.

Brian Lassige, a USGS spokesman, said the quake was relatively shallow, centered 4.7 miles beneath the ground, making it capable of inflicting greater damage than a deeper temblor. Although magnitude-6 quakes can cause severe damage in populated areas, damage is often much less in places with strong building codes.

The USGS recorded at least 30 aftershocks in the first hour after the quake, the largest of magnitude 4.7.

60,000 homes, businesses without power
John Nelson, a spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric, told NBC News that about 65,000 homes and businesses were without power. The utility was weighing whether to call in additional crews from Fresno.

The utility reported no major damage at its Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, which was being checked for minor damage. Another utility, Duke Energy, said there was no substantive damage at its two coastal power plants, Morro Bay and Moss Landing.

The quake struck on a series of faults that run parallel to the San Andreas Fault, said Lucy Jones, scientist in charge of the U.S. Geological Survey office in Pasadena.

"It's luckily on the coast — there is not very much nearby. That's a good thing," Jones said.

USGS geophysicist Ross Stein, who noted that a similar-strength quake hit the area in 1952, said Monday’s temblor would be expected to produce hundreds of aftershocks over the next days, weeks and even years but there was only a five to 10 percent risk that any of the aftershocks would be bigger than the initial quake.

“You put an earthquake like that under Los Angeles and you have tens of billions of dollars in damage. You put it out here in a relatively remote place and fortunately there are not many immediate consequences,” he said.

The collapsed buildings in downtown Paso Robles were the most substantial damage reported in San Luis Obispo County, said Gilbert Portillo, a spokesman for the fire department.

"Everything else seems to be little things, like medical aid and some gas leaking," Portillo added.

Sheriff's Sgt. Pete Hodgkin added: "It's the usual stuff, broken glass and stuff. Haven't heard anything serious. Some people are hurt at the Wildhorse Winery; some wine barrels fell over. I don't know anything more.”

Several fires were burning near the epicenter, possibly caused by ruptured gas mains, and a rockslide on was reported to have blocked a highway.

MSNBC's Mike Brunker, NBC's Kevin Sites in Paso Robles, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

That's scary stuff actually.. Hopefully, we get a little warning before said apocolyptic events occur.

In Oklahoma, I'm told we have earthquakes all the time. Live very near a fault myself. Never really noticed though.

WOW!!! I didn't feel a thing (although I'm in SoCal)...I'm happy to hear that none of us got injured.

I guess I'm used to thenm by now...I tend to sleep through them, or not feel them unless the earthquake is VERY strong and I'm near the epicenter (sp?) of it...

My prayers go out to the family of the deceased :(

update
 

http://msnbc.msn.com/Default.aspx?id=3784234&p1=0
NBC, MSNBC and news services
Updated: 10:31 a.m. ET Dec. 23, 2003


When the search was suspended Monday night, search and rescue crews in Paso Robles had combed all seriously damaged buildings and were confident they had found all the quake’s victims, though the owner of one car crushed in the rubble still had not been located.

“We’re out of rescue mode and now it’s just going to be general debris removal,” said Battalion Chief Scott Hall of the Ventura County Fire Department.
PASO ROBLES, Calif. - As authorities in California toted up the damage from a strong earthquake that everyone agreed could have been far worse, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday was to tour the downtown area of Paso Robles, where two women were killed when the temblor toppled an historic clock tower.

Earlier in the day, the bodies of Jennifer Myrick, 19, of Atascadero, and Marilyn Zafuto, 55, of Paso Robles, were found on the street outside a dress shop, police Sgt. Bob Adams said.

“It appeared as though they were trying to get away,” he said. Citywide there were reports of about 40 minor injuries, said Adams.

Officials inspected more than 80 downtown buildings and all remained off-limits Monday night. More than 40 structures in San Luis Obispo County suffered damage in the 6.5 magnitude eathquake.

10,000 homes and businesses without power

About 10,000 homes and businesses remained without power in the coastal area of central California area, said John Nelson, spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric.


Authorities said the building that partially collapsed in Paso Robles – the two-story Acorn Building -- was constructed of wooden framing and unreinforced brick. Such buildings tend to fare worst in quakes, and many California cities banned unreinforced masonry in new buildings after a massive temblor struck Long Beach in 1933.

Centered downtown and overlooking a park, the building constructed in 1892 housed a jewelry store, dress shop and storage space.

A local law requires Paso Robles buildings to be retrofitted by 2018, said Doug Monn, a city building official.

The 11:16 a.m. quake was the state’s first deadly earthquake since the 6.7-magnitude temblor that hit Northridge in 1994, and the most powerful in California since a 7.1 quake struck the desert near Joshua Tree more than four years ago. No one was killed in the 1999 quake.

At least 50 aftershocks
The main shock Monday was centered in a sparsely populated area about 11 miles north of the coastal town of Cambria. By early Tuesday, it had been followed by at least 90 aftershocks larger than 3.0, the biggest of which was estimated at 4.7, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.


The state Office of Emergency Services said there was a 90 percent or greater probability that aftershocks of 5.0 magnitude or greater would follow in the next week.

The quake shook the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, the estate of the legendary publisher William Randolph Hearst. The castle — a particularly popular tourist attraction this time of its year because of its Hearst family Christmas ornaments — reported no injuries and no immediate signs of any serious damage but was evacuated as a precaution. It was scheduled to be open Tuesday.

The quake also shook the federal courthouse in San Francisco, 165 miles to the northwest of the epicenter, and sent the building’s upper floors swaying for about 30 seconds. People in downtown Los Angeles, 185 miles southeast, felt a sustained rolling motion.

Paso Robles hardest hit
Paso Robles, a town of 25,000 people about 20 miles east of the epicenter in a region dotted with wineries and horse ranches, bore the heaviest damage.

“My roof basically jumped onto the street and landed on cars with people in them,” said Nick Sherwin, 61, who operated Pan Jewelers in the Acorn Building. The cars were “crushed like little toys, nothing left.”

Marilyn Curry watched the buildings collapse from her law firm across the street, then ran to a city park where people were frantically searching for others they knew.

“There were people shouting outside ’Oh my God, Oh my God,”’ she said. “Everybody was just shaking, then we were all just grabbing onto each other.

“There was a lot of hugging going on. We were all just accounting for each other: ‘Have you seen so and so? Have you seen so and so?”’

The smell of sulfur also quickly filled the air: The quake had ruptured a capped pipe that used to deliver artesian well water to mud baths for which Paso Robles was once famous.

Damage appeared minor elsewhere in the region. Several people were reported hurt by falling barrels at a winery, San Luis Obispo County authorities said.

The quake opened cracks on Highway 1, and state crews were checking cracking and buckling on Highway 46, but both routes remained open, the Highway Patrol said. A rock slide closed a rural road.

Felt at nuclear plant
The quake was felt in the control room of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant operated by PG&E. Nelson said that there appeared to be no damage to the plant and that it was functioning normally, but officials would conduct a “walk-through” to be sure.

The quake struck in a known fault zone on a series of faults that run parallel to the San Andreas Fault, said Lucy Jones, scientist in charge of the U.S. Geological Survey office in Pasadena.

Monday’s quake was the state’s most powerful since 1999, when a nonfatal magnitude-7.1 temblor struck the desert near Joshua Tree. The last one of a similar size in the area was in 1952, said Ross Stein of the USGS in Menlo Park.

The 1994 Northridge quake hit a densely populated area near Los Angeles and killed 72 people, injured 9,000 and caused an estimated $15.3 billion in insured losses.

NBC's Kevin Sites in Paso Robles and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

I felt it and I live about 35 miles south of LA...it felt weird down here. Man, I hate these things, and I have been living here my whole life!