Post by Leafs_Pam on Mar 11, 2011 19:01:27 GMT -5
Every morning when I am getting ready for work I take out 20-30 minutes to listen to the news. Today I got to see the devastation in Japan.
In 1989 the Bay Area Earthquake was 6.9 on the Richter Scale and was located near Santa Cruz in the Loma Prieta area. It was about 31 miles south east of me and about 65 miles south of San Francisco. Freeways collapsed in San Francisco and Oakland and 63 people died and several thousand were left homeless. They said it only lasted 10-15 seconds but I was there and I think it was more like 30 seconds or I couldn't have done what I did.
The 1994 Northridge (LA Area) earthquake was 6.7 on the Richter Scale (45 seconds long) and freeways all over LA area fell, and 62 people died.
The Earthquake we had in the San Diego area on Easter Sunday last year was 7.2 on the Richter Scale (90 seconds long) and was actually located over the border in Baja. It was so long it scared me to death.
This earthquake in Japan was 8.9 on the Richter Scale and lasted 5 minutes. I'm sure you have seen the Japan Tsunami footage by now. If a person has never been in an earthquake they have no idea how scary an earthquake is. The one in San Diego at 90 seconds last year had me so freaked out I was too scared to move. I don't even want to imagine how scary a 5 minute earthquake is.
Earthquakes are horrendous, but the Japan earthquake has taken horrendous to a new level. They expected the Tsunami to hit our Coast from Washington, Oregon, California and probably Mexico into South America. The San Diego ABC news this morning had a feed to San Francisco.
In California they were more concerned about the Santa Cruz Bay and Monterey Bay. Since Alan lives in Santa Cruz I sent him a Text Message and he said they were okay.
I was really concerned about my Family in Oregon as they are in the Tsunami Zone. 2-3 blocks from the ocean and my daughter a little inland between my family members. I was finally able to reach part of my family at 11:15am. The Tsunami warnings went off at 5am this morning so they went to the Emergency Center that is located on higher ground. My daughter works nights so they had to go over and wake her up. However, my grandson lives in a different town, the 2 blocks from the Ocean area, and they didn't know where he was. I left him messages on his phone but I won't feel better until I can reach him. All I can say is I had a really bad morning because I was so afraid for my family. They live almost at the top of the Northwest corner on the Coast.
I haven't forgotton about Japan. My heart goes out to all those people. I don't know how many have died but at 7am this morning they said 300 had been killed and they were buried under the mud. We have offices in Osaka and Tokyo. Tokyo said they are located about 100 miles from the earthquake area and though they felt it, none of them were hurt.
The thing about this earthquake in Japan is it could trigger earthquakes in other parts of the Ring of Fire from Japan to Alaska to Washington, Oregon and California, so only time will tell if it triggers any. On the news they said an earthquake of this magintute means the split in the earth had to be large. The Tsunami afterwards was so strong there was a whirlpool. Our beaches here in San Diego were receding into the ocean at 6:30am this morning even though the Tsunami wasn't expected before 8:40am. They shut down the beaches in the LA area and closed the schools on the coast. San Diego didn't close the beaches but they warned people to stay away until after the waves hit. They weren't supposed to be more than 4-6 feet here but the riptide they cause would suck a person in.
In 1989 the Bay Area Earthquake was 6.9 on the Richter Scale and was located near Santa Cruz in the Loma Prieta area. It was about 31 miles south east of me and about 65 miles south of San Francisco. Freeways collapsed in San Francisco and Oakland and 63 people died and several thousand were left homeless. They said it only lasted 10-15 seconds but I was there and I think it was more like 30 seconds or I couldn't have done what I did.
The 1994 Northridge (LA Area) earthquake was 6.7 on the Richter Scale (45 seconds long) and freeways all over LA area fell, and 62 people died.
The Earthquake we had in the San Diego area on Easter Sunday last year was 7.2 on the Richter Scale (90 seconds long) and was actually located over the border in Baja. It was so long it scared me to death.
This earthquake in Japan was 8.9 on the Richter Scale and lasted 5 minutes. I'm sure you have seen the Japan Tsunami footage by now. If a person has never been in an earthquake they have no idea how scary an earthquake is. The one in San Diego at 90 seconds last year had me so freaked out I was too scared to move. I don't even want to imagine how scary a 5 minute earthquake is.
Earthquakes are horrendous, but the Japan earthquake has taken horrendous to a new level. They expected the Tsunami to hit our Coast from Washington, Oregon, California and probably Mexico into South America. The San Diego ABC news this morning had a feed to San Francisco.
In California they were more concerned about the Santa Cruz Bay and Monterey Bay. Since Alan lives in Santa Cruz I sent him a Text Message and he said they were okay.
I was really concerned about my Family in Oregon as they are in the Tsunami Zone. 2-3 blocks from the ocean and my daughter a little inland between my family members. I was finally able to reach part of my family at 11:15am. The Tsunami warnings went off at 5am this morning so they went to the Emergency Center that is located on higher ground. My daughter works nights so they had to go over and wake her up. However, my grandson lives in a different town, the 2 blocks from the Ocean area, and they didn't know where he was. I left him messages on his phone but I won't feel better until I can reach him. All I can say is I had a really bad morning because I was so afraid for my family. They live almost at the top of the Northwest corner on the Coast.
I haven't forgotton about Japan. My heart goes out to all those people. I don't know how many have died but at 7am this morning they said 300 had been killed and they were buried under the mud. We have offices in Osaka and Tokyo. Tokyo said they are located about 100 miles from the earthquake area and though they felt it, none of them were hurt.
The thing about this earthquake in Japan is it could trigger earthquakes in other parts of the Ring of Fire from Japan to Alaska to Washington, Oregon and California, so only time will tell if it triggers any. On the news they said an earthquake of this magintute means the split in the earth had to be large. The Tsunami afterwards was so strong there was a whirlpool. Our beaches here in San Diego were receding into the ocean at 6:30am this morning even though the Tsunami wasn't expected before 8:40am. They shut down the beaches in the LA area and closed the schools on the coast. San Diego didn't close the beaches but they warned people to stay away until after the waves hit. They weren't supposed to be more than 4-6 feet here but the riptide they cause would suck a person in.
