Hi,

Sorry if a bit off topic, but since in this subforum you're all from California or Las Vegas I hope you can inform me a bit about following:

I am from Europe and gonna visit LA soon and some other places in California and some day will perhaps move there. What i wanted to know is how many earthquakes I can expect to feel cause it scares me a bit to be honnest cause we don't have that over here.

Is it true that there are earthquakes all of the time in LA and San Fransisco and even in Las Vegas Nevada which seems far away from the coast? How many per year do you actually feel and is this different from where you live in CA?

Where do you feel them the most and where the least? Perhaps mention where you live.

Is it true that as low as 3.0 EQ's to 3.9 you will feel a bit and above 4.0 things indoor will start shaking on your tables and above 5.0 most likely damage to buildings. I read that there are alot of 3 and 4 eq's.. does that mean you feel them alot and alot of times things will be shaking on your tables and fall off?

If you're in bed sleeping.. is it true that as low as a 4.0 will push you out of your bed on the ground so you can get hurt?

Finally.. in case I ever gonna live in California.. are there places not too far from the coast in California that for some reason DON'T have any EQ's at all or almost unnoticable or is this the same for the entire West Coast and even the entire state of California?

Thanks for all good info guys!

Last edited by Dance123 on Aug-23-2010 at 16:48

Seismic activity probably occurs quite frequently here on the west coast. I'm pretty sure most of them are so small that no one can really feel it. Occasionally, like once every couple of months, there is a tremor that you can feel. Luckily our improved infrastructure helps to prevent any disasters that may result from these ones that we feel. But living in California, we all await the BIG ONE

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quote:

Originally posted by 72hrpartyanimal Seismic activity probably occurs quite frequently here on the west coast. I'm pretty sure most of them are so small that no one can really feel it. Occasionally, like once every couple of months, there is a tremor that you can feel. Luckily our improved infrastructure helps to prevent any disasters that may result from these ones that we feel. But living in California, we all await the BIG ONE

aww i was expecting a funny ass billy post! something along the lines of "only everytime i fart!"

When you come visit, stop by the Taco Bell Discovery Center in Santa Ana. They have a pretty accurate earthquake simulator.

Quite honestly, you get used to them after a while. I wouldn't worry about any earthquakes unless it's bigger than a 5.5. Anything smaller is no biggie. Unless you're pretty close to the fault, you'll rarely feel anything smaller than a 5.

Does where you live in CA play a role how much you feel it or does every eq have a different location cause i read there are many faults under CA?

Can you also tell a bit more what happens if a 3-4 or 4-5 occurs when you're in traffic for example.. isn't that dangerous?

What do you feel below 5.0 cause these happen on almost a daily basis, am I right? Can you describe that?

And when and how often start things shaking in your house or on tables that you have to clean up? What measures do you take?

If you're driving, you won't feel anything below a 5. You'll rarely feel a 3-4 earthquake even if you're just sitting down in your living room. You might feel a 4-5, but that's rarely. You'll have to be close to the epicenter. You'll definetely feel anything above a 5.

I'm gonna take this a step further and scare you even more. lol

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqscanv/

That's all the earthquakes we had this week. And guess what? I haven't felt a single one of them.

I moved here the first week of May this year and I haven't felt an earthquake yet.

Well, there was one time in my apartment that I might have felt one, but it was just like having a big, rumbling truck drive by outside for a few seconds. I don't even know if it was an earthquake.

quote:

Originally posted by bigperf aww i was expecting a funny ass billy post! something along the lines of "only everytime i fart!"

you know what? i actually had that all written down but i figured since he's moving here i'd better give him the correct response.

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Jaded, old fart is me.

quote:

Originally posted by Dance123 please all mention where you live cause CA is rather big

Studio City, in Los Angeles.

Depends also on how high off the ground you live. My apartment is basically on the 4th floor and I feel the earthquakes much better than some of my of friends/coworkers who live on the 1st or 2nd floor. I definitely feel the quakes of 3-4 and things get knocked down and fall off my shelves on anything over 5 (I'm not falling off the bed though ) When I lived in San Diego I didn't feel nearly as many quakes as I have since I moved to LA but I think that's just a coincidence. I don't think SD is any safer than LA. We're all doomed here

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quote:

Originally posted by 72hrpartyanimal Seismic activity probably occurs quite frequently here on the west coast. I'm pretty sure most of them are so small that no one can really feel it. Occasionally, like once every couple of months, there is a tremor that you can feel. Luckily our improved infrastructure helps to prevent any disasters that may result from these ones that we feel. But living in California, we all await the BIG ONE

Thanks for all the replies!

So only every couple of months you will actually feel something in LA.. otherwise not (much)? What does a "tremor" feel like. Will things fall from your tables indoor?

Also, are there parts of LA that are notorious for feeling the eq's the most and others which are known to have less impact? After all, LA is more an area then a city.

Which by the way are the nicest parts of LA to live where you don't feel them too much? Santa Monica, Santa Barbara? Apparently has to do where the San Andreas fault runs through the city or is that the same all over LA?

If movement happens at the San Andreas, you'll feel it everywhere in SoCal regardless. If you're really afraid of earthquakes, than I would avoid the Imperial Valley. lol That's far from everywhere, but it's where all the recent activity has been happening. Who would wanna live there anywhere? lol

You're pretty safe everywhere in LA, OC, SD counties. The only thing I'd be scare of is a 6.5 or higher.