The Guardian Does Not Want You Driving, or Parking
Scene from Today's Pro-Life Protest On Van Ness
Fisher Pulls Museum Out of the Presidio
Day Around the Bay
O Noes! Vicodin and Percocet to Be Banned?
9:30 Update: Things seem to be settling down. We're going to move the bulk of this post behind a jump. The only really big news at the moment is that there's a 30% chance of a strong aftershock in the next week, and a 5 to 10% chance of another strong earthquake.
If you were lucky enough to feel The Great San Francisco San Jose Alum Rock 5.6 Back-and-Forthing of 2007, please continue to send in reports. We especially like links to blog posts about the earthquake, such as Greg's.
Finally, a headline's gone up on KRON's site; but the headline links to a story about the Berkeley tree sitters. Ha! Hey, we wonder if they got rattled out of their perch? Macherena reports that KRON's just been showing a static shot of a seismograph. Bet it sure would be handy to have a reporting staff right about now.
9:10 Update: Cranky reports that MTV is showing reruns of A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila.
Regarding aftershocks, the USGS says:
... the probability of a strong and possibly damaging aftershock IN THE NEXT 7 DAYS is approximately 30 PERCENT. ... there is a small chance (APPROXIMATELY 5 TO 10 PERCENT) of an earthquake equal to or larger than this mainshock in the next 7 days. ... approximately 15 to 40 SMALL AFTERSHOCKS are expected in the same 7-DAY PERIOD ...
So there.
Here's where some of the aftershocks have landed -- as you can see, they're pretty small:
BART's running its trains slowly, but with no apparent problems; PG&E reports no utility disruptions. Some broken water pipes reported near San Jose.
9:00 Update: Plug1 reports an orange glow in the east bay sky. We can see nothing out of the ordinary from home at the top of St Mary's Heights (at Fulton/Stanyan). It sure is foggy tonight.
Sunnyside residents report shaking; Tendernob residents report nothing; Elihu in the Loin reports lengthy shaking; Nob Hill reports some panic. Spencer in San Jose reports that it was "scary as shit." Potrero Hill and SF State report feeling nothing; but then someone else in Potrero Hill reports normal shaking.
So now, it would appear that the situation is as follows: there was a big earthquake. It was scary. Everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?
8:50 Update: CBS5 reports that chances are good that there'll be a 6.3 in the next 3 days. But Plug1 your mom observes that they can't even get the weather right, so whatever. So far, there've been a few small aftershocks, all under 2.0.
We are unmoved by reports of "things falling off of shelves." Missionite's account of a perturbed cat, however, gave us goosebumps.
A quick survey of San Jose webcams shows nothing terribly awry: the city's not in flames, at least. SJSU; Tech Museum; CBS5. Here's CBS's live seismograph. CBS's live spirograph has apparently gone offline.
Still no news on KRON's site: all is well in San Francisco! Now, here's Jan Wahl with an new hat.
8:40 Update: Commenters report feeling like a jello mold; it sure was a long one, wasn't it? More nit-pickery over how much the north bay suffered, and about liquefaction and landfill and how a quicksand drowning beats living in the Sunset. Brock and Martin report that phone lines are clogged and calls aren't going through. Please don't test that; just trust that it's true for now, and hold your calls until things settle down a bit. Do email your parents, though.
8:35 Update: Local news stations are getting around to reporting that there was an earthquake. Who knew! No new information. CBS5; NBC11; KTVU. SFGate was hanging for a while but now has the same blurb as everyone else. Everything's hunky dory at KRON; no earthquake news at all.
8:25 Update: There was a 2.9 near Concord around 1pm today. Suckafree reports that his dog predicted it. Mariconsoy is already so drunk he's misspelling the brands in his emergency alcohol kit.
8:20 Update: Sangfroid nails it with a guess of 5.0 -- turns out it was a 5.6. None of the local news websites have any info up, but it looks like SF made it through things pretty well -- some shaking, no major damage reported yet. Craigslist is abuzz. Get your mind off the shaking by watching some near-misses with tornadoes.
8:15 Update:Recent earthquake activity is logged by the USGS here. Looks like this one is the one we felt. In case you're wondering where Alum Rock (close to the epicenter) is, check the Google map. Very close to San Jose. Some SFist staff report minimal shaking in the north bay; commenters say substantial movement in Corte Madera.
8:05 Update: Is everyone okay?
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http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/Quakes/nc40204628.html
You mean that wasn't a semi driving by? Sheesh. I'm so desensitized.
So that was what, a 5.0?
talk about live bloggin'
I was about to post my take on the MUNI/BART Non_Halloween Kerfuffle and....
http://www.njudahchronicles.com/
Frakkin aY!
The biggest I've felt since '89. Went on for a long time.
My roommate said there was a tremblor in Orinda this morning.
I never feel that sort of rocking in North Beach. Wine glasses clanging and windows rattling. Strange that it is taking so long for USGS to rate that one.
Alum Rock, CA - 8 km (5 miles) NNE (31 degrees)
Milpitas, CA - 11 km (7 miles) E (91 degrees)
San Jose City Hall, CA - 15 km (9 miles) NE (45 degrees)
Sunol-Midtown, CA - 17 km (11 miles) NE (45 degrees)
Coordinates
37 deg. 26.0 min. N (37.433N), 121 deg. 46.5 min. W (121.776W)
Depth 8.8 km (5.5 miles)
Oh yeah, nothing like a foot massage
whole lotta shaking going on in marin - corte madera to be exact.
Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.
Wow, first quake I've actually felt all year. Seems like up until now they've all been in the East Bay and down here in Ingleside I never felt anything.
Certainly long enough.
Nice to know that SFist and Craigslist are the first places I go.
Sounded like a bunch of crap fell off my roof. Probably just leaves and sticks. So much for dogs knowing about earthquakes a few second before humans. Oh yeah! You're barking now.
Loooooooooooooooong
still anyone who was here for 89, esp. those of us in Santa Cruz saw the shit go down...not to be all "bay area'er than thou" but....c'mon bein' here before 2000 has to count for something..
my golden was going nuts right before it. he definitely knew it was coming, no shit.
it rolled under us here in south beach and then shook us up.
kinda scary.
5.6 seems low.
if you are on landfill, it'll feel worse than if you're not...
That was a small quake, but I activated my emergency safety plan and unbolted a bottle of Kettle One from the supply vault.
Eh Marin didn't shake *that* much.
Okay, i had one -- ONE! -- cocktail, and failed to feel it. Man.
Anyway, hope you're all safe.
Suckafree-
It might be time to find out about liqufaction - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:SFBALiqufactionMap.jpg
Oh! They didn't tell you about that when you bought/rented the place? Odd ...
god is angry that dufty canceled halloween, me thinks.
Mad props to mattymatt for bein first on the scene less than a minute after the quake. Now thats journalism damit. And jeezum-Crow that was a long quake.
Brief rolling in the Castro. Felt like what I imagine being a jello mold is like.
Also, anyone elses cellphone not workin?
nice map bishop. keep telling yourself the sunset is worth living in after the big one. not for me, sorry. i'd rather suffocate in quicksand.
I was here in 1989... still waiting for the dreaded monster quake known as "The Big One." Every few years, the local media will run scaremongering stories about how we're due for "The Big One."
That's a good emergency plan mariconsoy, reminds me that I should stock up on Wild Turkey...
Channel 5 just said the possibility for something around a 6.3 in the next 72 hours is good.
way to sound the alarm, KPIX. sheesh.
Snoopy just fell off his dog house in "The Great Pumpkin" on ABC. Lucy and Linus also complaining that they cant get their calls thru to Shroeder or Charlie brown. Woodstock is no where to be found, most likely he was the one hit by the BART train @ Powell.
How tragic.
The timeline has an omission. 8:08 p.m. I wrote "Earthquake!" in the comments for the previous post. Donde esta ma mad props? Oh and Chanel 5 can't even get the weather right, so I'm not loading up the Bentley just yet.
Chanel 5 can't even get the weather right
Truer words were never typed.
my cat was going crazy about ten minutes prior. Otherwise quiet and demure, she was crying non stop for at least a couple minutes. I asked her WTF but I don't speak cat so I completely missed the run-for-your-life message and just assumed she was having a self pity moment. Next time I'll give her a little more credit.
for the drunks and crackheads on the corner, this was the only time they could stand in one place
The earth was just having unsanctioned gaiety, so there might be a bus re-route. I wonder which ones?
in all seriousness, there is an orange glow coming from the east bay sky. that stupid UCSF building is in my field of vision so i cant tell exactly WTF is going on.
(from the bottom of potrero hill)
ps. fizzandpop made the channel 5 sucks at weather comment.
not that im saying they dont. b/c they do.
I just felt another bump, or should I just HAVE another bump?
I'm down in San Jose - like 3 miles from Alum Rock and that was scary as shit.
It went forever....
Whoa....
actually, my cat cried, too. i thought it was because he was confined for a while, but it could have been the quake.
Jan Wahl with a new hat? God IS mad at us.
My dog is useless. She only wanted dinner and I could barely get her out of the house. I fear the house will fall on me. It had the '89 length -- it just kept goin' and goin' and goin'
But all is well. MTV is showing reruns of A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila.
I'm in the Tenderloin, and It felt like it the damn thing went on for at least 45 seconds.
I was in my office down in Potrero Hill, old warehouse building converted into nifty spots for tech companies, a sperm bank and a gay porn studio.
The sound of the quake was truly awful, like waves crashing over the roof. I was the only one there, so I lodged myself in a door frame then ran out when things settled.
No damage as far as I could tell, though I did shut my computer down the "wrong" way. We'll see what my spreadsheets look like in the morning. :)
Super scary!
I was on the M line, coming back from the Sunset. I was probably in West Portal when that sucker went down, and the rocking and rolling of the train covered it up. Darnit - I kinda like quakes in the fives.
It wasn't that big here in Oakland, but it was weird, what with the length and the way it seemed to start up again after it stopped. I can't remember a quake that did that...it's like it had a mind of its own.
KRON 4 has been showing a computer screen with the same seismic graph for about 45 minutes. What happened to location crews? I want to see cans off the shelves and startled Starbucks workers.
Oh Matty Matt -- you have the Tila Tequila love. It should really be called A Shot of Penicillin Because of Tila Tequila.
The earthquake made CNN and Soledad O'Brien (she's really still on?)
Only felt a tiny bit in central SF, and heard the windows shaking in their frames. A bit of a follow on shock maybe. Nada mas. Hooray for Victorians built close to bedrock!
There was an initial jolt (that we thought was the neighbors dropping something) then it kinda stopped, then the shaking started. You could see the floor move and roll. The sliding glass doors were moving and I was standing between the bedroom and bathroom in the doorway with my wife.
It was intense.
I was naked - All I could think about was - shit, I don't want to run outside naked...
Just how much more of this live coverage on TV needs to keep going? KRON is trying to bleed this thing out as long as they can than the other stations.
this was my second earthquake. it definitely felt stronger than the last one a few months back (i'm on 18th st at collingwood)
Carl Harris
I was on a Pittsburg/BP train going through the newly-reopened Powell station when we stopped longer than usual (although given today nothing is unusual, I guess) and the operator told us we had to stop for structural inspection because there'd been an earthquake. What's funny is the reaction was more exasperation than panic. I called my roommate, my mom, and a friend, all in various parts of the Bay Area, and the consensus was it wasn't scary and more just slow and kind of noisy. Then again, none of them were in the South Bay.
Wahoo! I felt like Slim Pickens riding a hydrogen bomb to earth.
And I blogged about it, too.
I was sitting in a wobbly chair; took me a few seconds to realize it wasn't the wobbly chair's wobble I was feeling!
SO was on the Powell BART train involved in the suicide earlier today. Crazy day around here...
Funny assessment here: http://www.ibabuzz.com/unscripted/2007/10/30/bay-area-earthquake/
It makes me glad that I signed up for the fire department's free Neighborhood emergency response team (NERT) training in Bernal Heights on November 10th and 17th, 8am - 5pm. I'd suggest all y'all sign up if you can spare the time ... Unlike the surprise disaster in New York in 2001, we know darn well there will be a disaster here in San Francisco, and we can prepare now to mitigate the damage by learning what we should do to prepare ourselves and to help out our neighbors when it happens rather than getting in the way of first responders and slowing things down (as happened at other disaster sites in the past).
Read more if you care ... http://www.sfgov.org/sfnert
Spencer, did you go to my high school?
Kenny, MSJ class of '99
Oh, I was eating dinner with my parents. It didn't shake that violently, but the ground was rolling for a long time.
Just watching the news now. It's the great pickle jar holocaust of 2007!
caught me at dinner at Postrio
My parents live about a block and a half from the entrance to Alum Rock Park. They're fine, but they said it was more intense than the '89 Loma Prieta quake, which is saying something. That quake is one of my most vivid memories ever: looking out the window and watching a wave roll down the street, headed north.
I'm kind of bummed I missed it. I was in SOMA in the practice spaces above Rocker Guitars, and the walls are always shaking in there.
But having lived in the Bay Area pretty much my whole life, I feel like the cutoff for a major shake is around 6.0 or 6.5. And it's a little unsettling how rare those are recently. I remember they used to be fairly common when I was growing up. I just took a look over at the USGS:
http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/info/cahist_eqs.html
Here a quick breakdown of 6.0ish quakes by decade:
50s: 27
60s: 6
70s: 5
80s: 24
90s: 19
00s: 3
Over at the CGS, they define destructive quakes as "6.5 or that caused loss of life or more than $200,000 in damage."
http://www.consrv.ca.gov/cgs/rghm/quakes/Pages/eq_chron.aspx
I almost forgot: 72 Hours, My Earthquake Kit
http://www.onmylist.com/category/miscellaneous/72_Hours_Our_Earthquake_Kit_1
This is interesting: Major earthquakes by month:
http://www.consrv.ca.gov/cgs/rghm/quakes/Pages/eq_calender.aspx
It looks like April, October, November, and December are the the most popular months. Probably a good time to get that earthquake kit together. Cior's kit? awesome.
How did I guess the earthquake as a 5.0? Because I followed Your EssEff Guide to the Richter Scale. It goes like this:
1.0 = No such thing. It's like the number zero. It lives only in theory. Scientists say it exists, but whatever.
2.0 = Please. Don't waste our motherfucking time.
3.0 = A cough. A burp. A hiccup. Same difference. Except without the noise.
4.0 = Was that a ...? No. Yes. Undetectable to travelers in cars, buses, subways. The chandelier shakes, but does not swing.
5.0 = The chandelier swings. People act like shit happened, but nothing really happened. KRON runs multiple clips of disorderly supermarket aisles. Was that a car alarm?
6.0 = Shit happened. Ruptured water mains. Minor looting in the Mission. Tenants of One Rincon Hill soil themselves. Why, O why did the city fathers build directly on top of a fault line? Surely the Ohlone knew this land was cursed. But the views!
7.0 = Loma Prieta redux. How's that bridge repair going? Not so speedy? Too bad. FEMA can't help you now, bitch. The barter value of bottled water, candles and board games increases by a factor of five. Persons with smart phones have the power of feudal lords.
8.0 = Behold, the Wrath of God. Old Testament comparisons to Sodom become painfully apt. Witness undulating waves of earth. Aftershocks last for days. The Marina and the Embarcadero have liquefied. What was once "Nob Hill" is now just "Nob". Life resembles the worst kind of Japanese apocalyptic anime. Half of your Facebook contacts are dead.
9.0 = What San Francisco?
I was in Mountain View having dinner and we felt it pretty good. First a jolt then some rolling. One person in the group started to duck under the table.
Had planned to take Caltrain home at 8:29 pm. They kept announcing that trains were moving but very slowly. The train finally arrived Mountain View after 9:30 (over an hour late). We pulled into 4th and King after 11:30 pm. They said it was 3 hours 25 minutes from San Jose to San Francisco on that train. Ugh.
If you want quick coverage of quakes, KCBS-AM 740 was on it immediately (as they always are), with the anchor stopping mid story to say "Looks like we're having an earthquake here." It seems that their staff people have standing orders to call in whenever they feel an earthquake, plus they take calls from listeners, so you can find out how widely felt the shaking was. It's also one of the emergency broadcast stations, so they'll be the official source of info when the big one happens.
I second the guy who talked about NERT. You learn how to earthquake-proof your home, fire safety, how to help others, what to do when a bad quake happens and you get to actually practice things like using a fire extinguisher, shutting off the gas at the main shutoff, rescuing someone from under a pile of crap, and looking through a trashed area for people in need of help without becoming one yourself. At the end, they give you a yellow hard hat, an orange vest, a pair of work gloves and a flashlight in addition to your official NERT photo ID and a Certificate of Achievement.
A lot of it is common sense, but I'm confident that you'll pick up things that you didn't know and/or didn't think of, unless you're a firefighter yourself.
Was at Last Supper Club in the Mission. Felt it. Looked around, no one in restaurant looking around. Asked date (who is from Virginia and never felt a quake) if he felt something. He said no. Pointed out moving light fixtures to him. He blames on MUNI line. Ask server. She says building shakes all the time...I maintain its an earthquake. no one believes. Go have other drinks. Forget about earthquake. Come home. Look up. Happy I am right. I rock. (Actually the fault rocks and I feel it)
Didn't stop me from imbiding tonight, but it DID wake me up from a Disco Nap I was taking to prepre for the evening. Quite rude.
I'll tell you this much, my Earthquake Kit is getting an updating. Spam (a good source of protein that lasts a longtime), and Jack Daniels (a good source of fun that last a long time).
A few cartons of cigarettes (new world order currency).
BUT, you don't want to make your kit too nice, less your neighbors will loot and murder you. That's just and 'FYI'
If only SF allowed assault weapons, I would put some Baked Lays in my kit. As it is now, I would just be asking for trouble.
Bridgeandtunnelasian - YES, it's me...
Jeremy_ofSF - Wow - your parents were close. I thought it was as long and big as the 89 quake as well, glad to hear someone else thought so too.
It was pretty intense.
To brighten up everyone's day:
Yesterday's quake was relatively small, and the epi was 45 miles south of here. It was not on the two baddie faults, so pressure was not released on the Hayward nor the San Andreas.
When the Hayward fault pops [depending on strength] up to 100,000 people will be displaced, and tens of thousands will be killed. Sf will have damage, but few resources will be available because the feds will focus on the East Bay.
Remember that there are public building, hospitals, schools and homes built DIRECTLY on the fault.
East Bay BART eleveted track will crack and fall, and the major water line to SF and San Mateo runs directly on top of the fault.
Prepare to be on your own for a couple of weeks, althought the official line is 72 hours.
Have a nice day.
Not surprisingly, those of us at Colma Bowl did not FEEL the Earthquake, but were able to deduce that it happened when I bowled an actual Strike in the 8th frame.
My husband felt it. He said "why is the freaking bed shaking?" (we were sitting on it watching tv). I didn't feel it at all. This sucks. When am I gonna feel an earthquake??
I've got my camp stove, all my candles and canned food. And it's just sitting there, useless.
this is what really happened.
hope you enjoy.
just kidding. this is my unemployed ass's take on what happened.
enjoy.
Bad link dude!
Bad link dude!
Cior, comment of the week. I love it.
I just posted this in the newer quake link too. Worth a double:
-----------------
This is one of the best fright map sites I've found.
It has multiple hazard maps [various shake models, historical info, landslides, tsunamis, fires...] and allows you to zoom in, even to a specific address.
Spend some time at the site for a truly scary Haloween:
http://www.abag.ca.gov/bayarea/eqmaps/mapsba.html
let's try this again.
http://imhappierwhenimbroke.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/earthquake/
http://imhappierwhenimbroke.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/earthquake/
A few minutes after the shaking stopped, I commented to a friend how much it felt like the '87 Whittier quake. Sure enough, it was almost the same magnitude and same distance away. Very fortunately, unlike the Whittier quake, no one died.
ah man, I take a year break from the Bay Area and you guys go and have a fun earthquake whilst I'm gone. So jealous!