Shakes and Sprinkles

The clouds are coming in, getting thicker, so I'm hoping we'll get more than just the few scattered sprinkles that we got today.  But, sprinkles are good too!

Caltech seismologists said there were two small foreshocks of the largest quake and there have been over 100 aftershocks, the largest one occurring today around 2:30.  It was a 4.1, but I wasn't sure until I turned on the news at 5 p.m. that what I had felt was actually another quake and not just my cats, who were thundering around the house at that time having simultaneous kitty fits.  Since the ones last night, we've felt nothing up here (until the tiny, brief trembling of the floor this afternoon).  My guess was right; it was felt over such a wide area of Southern California because it was so shallow, only one mile below the surface.  I've never understood how seismologists figure out what's a foreshock, an aftershock and the actual main earthquake.  It's not the magnitude of the quake, which would make sense to me, but some main quakes have been much smaller than the foreshocks and aftershocks. 

I feel so bad for the people of La Habra, which is the epicenter of the quakes.  Quite a few house were rendered uninhabitable by the quakes while other people are afraid to go back inside for fear of another aftershock.  I'm just so thankful that no one was hurt, even when a car was overturned by a rock slide that was caused by the largest quake. 

Hopefully, we're done with earthquakes for a while...

Earthquakes

Yes, plural.  We've had four earthquakes in the space of twenty-five minutes, the largest being 5.3 on the Richter Scale.  Here, the largest one felt like a giant stamped his foot, causing a big jolt, then it turned into a rolling, shaking motion for about 30 seconds which was accompanied by a rumbling sound.  It was felt over such a wide area of Southern California for a relatively mid-sized quake that I'm wondering if it wasn't a really shallow one; that is, one that's located relatively close to the surface of the earth instead of miles below.  Thank goodness, no reports of any one hurt, just a bit of damage to stuff being knocked off store shelves, etc.  All my stuff stayed put this time. 

Or, maybe that Acorn Woodpecker was just pecking a little too vigorously earlier! 

Rockin' and rollin' on a Friday night in So Cal...do we know how to have a good time or what? :D 

Updated at 10:20 - we've now had a total of seven earthquakes.  This makes me nervous, although I know it's not unusual.  Several years ago Palm Springs was having around thirty earthquakes a day, but they were very small in magnitude, under 2.0.  And, now Dr. Lucile Jones, with the USGS, is saying that we could have a much larger earthquake within a few hours or days.  I'm going to go 'round the house and check to make sure that the earthquake wax, a very sticky substance that's great for holding objects on shelves and pictures on walls during an earthquake, is still sticky enough to do a good job.  Especially that large painting over the bed.

Earthquakes, fires, floods, mudslides, tsunamis...if anyone ever discovers the original Native American name for California I bet the meaning of the name will be,  Don't Live Here!

Sunday Sunsets, Frozen Pipes and...

This is a sunset at San Clemente Beach here in Southern California.  It's been so horribly cold up here in the mountains I needed something that reminded me of warmer weather to look at here. Our  high temperatures for the past few days have been in the low to medium single digits, Fahrenheit. 

My poor husband has been outside all day in the sub-freezing temperature battling frozen pipes.  The raccoons had pulled off a little piece of pipe insulation from a tiny bit of pipe that exits the water heater closet and goes right back into the house.  Just that little exposed bit was enough to cause havoc. And, while he was doing this, he discovered hairline cracks in several pipes so he had to replace those pipes lest they burst.  Thank goodness he's done now: He's been at it since 4 this morning and it's now 5 p.m. 

Tonight our low will be well below zero (Fahrenheit) and there will be strong winds of up to 60 mph. I can't even begin to imagine what the low temperature will be once the wind chill is factored in.  My feral colony of cats have warm shelters to sleep in, but I'm very worried about all the other stray cats and dogs in the rest of these mountains.  I hope they can all find warm, safe, comfortable places to shelter.

Oh yes, I almost forgot...we also had a little earthquake today!  It was only a 3.7 on the Richter Scale, a teeny tiny one by California standards.  We didn't feel it, I heard about it on the news.  May the future ones all be that small...

A Little Kind of Day

A little sun, a little sleet, a little rain, a little fog, a little wind, a little earthquake...

Well, actually, the earthquake wasn't so little. It was a 7.2, but it was centered in Mexicali, a town just below the California/Mexico border. I was standing at the dining room table, clearing the dishes, when I thought I was having a dizzy spell...then the light that hangs over the center of the table tapped me gently on my head and I looked around to see other things swaying and shaking. As earthquakes go, it wasn't much of a big deal up here. I hope and pray the people and animals who are closer to the epicenter are all right. And, oddly, it was felt as far north as Santa Barbara, about 200 miles from here.

The strongest one I can remember was the Landers/Big Bear quake in 1992. It's magnitude was 8.0 and the epicenter of the Big Bear portion was just a few miles from me. It damaged the foundation of my little cottage, separated the third floor staircase from the wall, knocked things off walls, and knocked everything out of my kitchen cabinets. Well, the cabinets that faced north and south. The doors on the cabinets that face east and west didn't even open! I guess it all depends which fault line the earthquake is on. After I had that damage repaired, I had the cottage retro-fitted for earthquakes, which basically means they bolt the house to the foundation. It's supposed to make it earthquake "proof." I sure hope so...I live just a few miles from the San Andreas fault, one of the biggest in California. It's funny...I have a healthy respect for earthquakes, but they don't really scare me. Good thing, since we have so many here!