To those who have experienced an earthquake..what does it feel like?

[NY Disney fan]

NY Disney Fan, just curious, why are you asking?

Because I'm a disaster junkie and I have never experience one so I want to be prepared.

 

[bumbershoot]

Well, I haven't felt one in quite awhile now (I think the last was when hubby and I were both at amazon....so...very early '01? late '00?), but I grew up in CA and live in WA so I have experienced them. And I feel that they are always different, there's always a moment of "what's that?" Some people figure it out quicker...I was in high school and we had a really long earthquake while I was in Math class...the one girl who wasn't quite given many "smarts" spent the *entire* time yelling at the guy behind her to stop shaking her desk, even while others around her were talking about the big earthquake going on. I remember that one just shook, let some giant was just shaking the place. Of course, it being a CA school, that would be impossible b/c it was a bunch of connected buildings with outdoor corridors (unlike my mom's Schenectady school which was a tall single building that looked like a jail, LOL).

And others are rolly.

Most of the time, though, in CA you only notice them when you wake up in the morning and have to straighten the pictures. Again.

 

[Imzadi]

Because I'm a disaster junkie and I have never experience one so I want to be prepared.

Do you know something the rest of us should know about?

 

[*BTMRR*]

In my experience they're all different. Sometimes it's like the house got hit by something. Sometimes it's like being dizzy. Sometimes it's rolling, sometimes it's rocking.
But what impresses me is that (other than with the very very small ones) there is always a noise. If you're outdoors you can often hear the noise coming toward you. That is very disconcerting.

 

[Boxley]

Hm,I was sitting on my bed at the last one, so it feels like someone is shaking the bed really hard and you hear your pictures and other things moving and sometimes the sound of something breaking. Then a little bit after the quake there is a strange calmness and then you just ask "What was that?" even though a part of you already KNOWS that you went into the quake. Sometimes, a quake could feel like some moved your house roughly to the side.

 

[Maridw]

Lived in So Cal for many years and felt quite a few. One of the ones that I really remember was when I was pregnant with my DD. DH (at the time) woke me up and asked me what it was. We were in a waterbed and I just said, "It was an earthquake", rolled over and went back to sleep.

After moving to FL, I have always said, give me earthquakes over hurricanes. I hate the waiting and wondering. Earthquakes you have no warning and they are done and over with before you know it.

 

[Val]

Growing up in the Seattle area I went through several - including the 1963 earthquake that did quite a bit of damage. I remember parts of my school fell down, our dishes fell out of our cupboards and our lamps fell over and broke. My mother made us all kneel down in the doorways and say hail marys, then we got in the car, saw the broken roads, and went to see the fallen school....and that's how I remember it as a very young child! No fear, just amazement.

(Okay, all physicists and geologist, stop reading here...I am going to use bad science descriptions here, bear with me for the sake of analogies).

There are essentially two "kinds" of earthquakes- shakers or rollers (depends on how the plates are shifting and where you are in relation to the plate shift/fault line). Rollers are just that- the ground moves in a wave like form and it feels like surfing or rolling. These can get pretty big without damage as long as the waves are far apart and gentle. Shakers twist, so to speak, and thus can really torque a building. Think of grabbing a building by opposite corners and shaking it back and forth and twisting- even small shakers can do some damage (and a big one can do lots of damage).

An earthquake can also be a shaker and a roller at the same time, depending on where you are in relation to the fault line, what kind of "base" you are sitting on (sand, gravel or rock), and how deep the quake is.

Animals sense the quakes before we do because many can "hear" the ultrasonic or subsonic sounds of the earth movement before we do- thus they don't predict it, but just react to it sooner!

Last year we had a 5.0ish quake here in the midwest. I remember it being about 5 AM, and thinking, "oh, no problem, just a little quake", and rolling over, then realizing "what the #$$Q#$....I am in ILLINOIS not SEATTLE!!!!!"....sure took me by surprise. We had several aftershocks during the day and my university students would actually scream when the building shook----wimps!

All that being said, as a transplant to the midwest for the last 22 years- give me a good earthquake ANY day over these gosh darn tornado things! I still get terrified at the tornado warnings, but I kind of enjoy a good 4.5-5.5 tremblor!!!!

 

[Lassie Lynne]

I also lived in the Seattle area in my childhood and went through many earthquakes. The one I remember the most was when I was washing dishes with my grandmother.....we started to hear the rumble...and then the house started rocking and the dishwater was sloshing (it was only half full) out of the sink. We just stood there, grabbing the sink to hold us. After those, you could usually see an extra crack in the pavement and sidewalks and had to re-arrange the pictures on the wall.

I remember one time when I was in Baton Rouge my family and I were eating out and all of a sudden this big "BOOM" sounds and the whole building shakes. I never saw people darting under the tables so quickly and yelling "EARTHQUAKE". My dad and I (both from Seattle) just look at each other, kept eating and we agreed it was probably Exxon blowing up, which it was actually, a storage tank exploded. The rest of our family thought we were nuts, just sitting there and eating .

 

[Lassie Lynne]

But what impresses me is that (other than with the very very small ones) there is always a noise. If you're outdoors you can often hear the noise coming toward you. That is very disconcerting.

Yes, the rumble is unmistakeable.....the shaking I can handle, but the noise can be the worse.

 

[minnieandmickey]

I remember the 89 earthquake in SF, I lived about 60miles north of SF. I was on the phone with my dad when it hit, it felt like the floor was rolling underneath my feet.
I've been in one that has shook. One last year that felt like someone came up and pushed the bed real hard.