Earthquake
15 October 2006
On Sunday morning, 15 October 2006, 7:07am local time, there was a 6.6
magnitude earthquake 10 miles north of us. There were several
aftershocks including one measuring 5.8. This earthquake was large
enough and close enough to be significant.
Everything is fine here, no major damage or injuries. Things
certainly did shake quite violently during the earthquake. The
electricity, telephones and radio stations were out for a little
while. We had to spend about an hour sweeping up glass from all the
stuff that fell off the shelves. Our sliding screen doors all popped
off, I guess the door frames flexed enough, but none of the glass broke
and there's no structural damage to the house. More importantly,
my barn is still standing, no damage at all! All the
hurricane
straps I've added seem to work pretty good for earthquakes too.
For comparison's sake, the 1994 Northridge earthquake near LA was magnitude
6.7. We didn't live there until years later and our neighbors
still had plenty of stories to tell. Valerie and I did live
through the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake near San Francisco. It
was a 6.9 and it collapsed freeways, bridges, houses, etc.
Sunday's earthquake here was smaller but felt much larger to us because
we were so close. This was definitely the strongest feeling
earthquake I've ever experienced.
Most people think of California as the state with all the
earthquakes. Actually, every state in the union has experienced
earthquakes. California certainly has plenty but here in Hawaii
we've felt more earthquakes than we ever did in California.
That's not too surprising since this island is the largest mountain in
the world (sea floor to peak) and it has several active volcanoes on it.
With most earthquakes, by the time you get up and head for cover, the
whole thing is over. This time there was plenty of opportunity to
decide which cover to head for. I decided to head to the living
room to check on the kids. When I got there, they were already
hiding under the desk. They are fine. The only injuries
were a few minor cuts on my toes, I think from the falling glass.
One phenomenon I've noticed about earthquakes is that they always seem
worse in the news reports than they do in real life. During the
Loma Prieta quake the news showed what looked like entire blocks of
houses on fire. We visited the spot a few days later. You
had to stand in exactly the right spot to see the damage. If you
looked a little to your left or to your right, you'd see perfectly fine,
undamaged structures.
Sunday's earthquake did cause some damage. There were landslides,
closed roads and some structural damage here and there. Many
people went for quite some time without power and one friend of ours
was stuck at Honolulu airport for way too long. But here on the
farm it was a beautiful sunny day and, after picking up the mess, we
got right back to work with our regular farm chores.
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