56 - SFist - San Francisco News, Restaurants, Events, & Sports

Where Was SFist During the Great Quake of '07

Brock Keeling — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 13:19:29 GMT

Readers responded with light speed and razor-sharp accuracy (more or less) when it came to detailing last night's devastating -- body-wash-plummeting-to-the-earth devastating! -- 5.6 quake. We will all look back on October 30, asking ourselves, where were we when the great 5.6 quake of '07 hit?

Well, after sending out the we-hope-you're-still-alive-and-kicking call to the SFist team at large, they responded. Here are a few of the shattering moments in the lives of some of your favorite SFisters, including Cedric's encounter with a slow-food movement hero in the form of a Michael Mina waiter.

-- Dan Johnson: "[I]t happened when I was on MUNI. Duh. The M-line would
cover up anything less than a 7.0"

-- Christopher Rogers: "I felt it VERY seriously in Oceanview, near SFSU. Of course, I'm on the second floor of a wood building. Biggest quake I've felt since
'89." However, he goes on to say, "two people I talked to in San Rafael (Terra Linda and Marinwood), both said essentially 'what's the big deal? Didn't feel anything.'"

-- Emily Cox: "Could totally feel it in Palo Alto... good times."

-- Julie Feinstein Adams: "...in a prenatal infant CPR/first-aid class at Alta bates in
Berkeley...all the big preggie mommies were happy to be in a hospital, just in case."

-- Leanne Maxwell: "We didn't feel it here in the TenderNob."

Your Earthquake Review

Brock Keeling — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:00:46 GMT

Either under the table for protection or hiding from someone sporting a fiendish fannypack-khakis combo, Catherine Kilkenny of San Jose's Willow Glen looks scared as all hell, doesn't she? Many people were. Last night's 5.6 earthquake, which we didn't feel but hear the majority of you did, tore nerves to shreds, shook the ground, and sent magazines flying to the floor.

In a little over 12 hours, it managed to cause quite the stir. Some people were in the middle of dinner when it happened. Others blogged about it. Some from a faraway land called Walnut Creek broke down local media coverage of it, and liqufaction was threatened.

But it's all over. For now.

-- For more safety information about emergency on tips surviving an earthquake, here are some handy do's & don'ts.

-- For free training in disaster and emergency response, visit NERT -- Neighborhood Emergency Response Team

-- Tips on making your pad safer, go to Quakeinfo.org.

-- Federal Emergency Management Agency, 415-923-7100

Whew, That Was Fun

Matt Baume — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 20:05:55 GMT

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.