California Earthquake

I just spoke to someone in Cambria. he says things
have been really rockin' and rollin', but no severe
damage at his place (a motel on Moonstone Beach
Drive).

"bbrr" wrote in message
...
I just spoke to someone in Cambria. he says things
have been really rockin' and rollin', but no severe
damage at his place (a motel on Moonstone Beach
Drive).


The BBC is reporting 3 dead in a magnitude 6.5 quake centred
near Cambria

Keith

Yes, there were some fatalities in a collapsed
building over the hill in Paso Robles. That is
some distance from Cambria.

I have been through two quakes of this size
and this is what happened both times:

The phones, and perhaps other utilities, don't
work at the center of the worst damage. So
the news doesn't get out immediately from
there. Thus the media goes first to the place
where there is damage or injuries AND the
phones still work.

It takes time for the info to trickle out, especially
in a fairly rural area such as this. There are
people and small communities in the mountains
near the epicenter that are yet to be heard from.

"Keith Willshaw" wrote in message
...

"bbrr" wrote in message
...
I just spoke to someone in Cambria. he says things
have been really rockin' and rollin', but no severe
damage at his place (a motel on Moonstone Beach
Drive).


The BBC is reporting 3 dead in a magnitude 6.5 quake centred
near Cambria

Keith

On Tue, 23 Dec 2003 00:09:15 -0000, "Keith Willshaw"
wrote:


"bbrr" wrote in message
...
I just spoke to someone in Cambria. he says things
have been really rockin' and rollin', but no severe
damage at his place (a motel on Moonstone Beach
Drive).


The BBC is reporting 3 dead in a magnitude 6.5 quake centred
near Cambria

At least two of the deaths are in Paso Robles.


************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

bbrr wrote:
I just spoke to someone in Cambria. he says things
have been really rockin' and rollin', but no severe
damage at his place (a motel on Moonstone Beach
Drive).

Luckily it didn't hit in a major population area but news said there was
2 deaths about 30 miles inland from epicenter. I visit that area often
while wine tasting. Beautiful countryside around there.

The latest reports are still saying a Richter magnitude of 6.5. That's
damn strong! I heard one report stating that it lasted sixteen
seconds, an eternity if you're experiencing it! According to the
United States Geological Survey, it occurred on the Hosgri Fault where
the Pacific and North American tectonic plates meet. The Santa Lucia
mountains might have gained a foot of altitude today.

If I transcribed the information correctly, at the moment there are 2
dead, 20 injuries, and fewer than 50 damaged buildings. The epicenter
seems to be about ten miles North of Cambria (well known in this forum
as the town to stay when visiting the Hearst place in San Simeon).

Paso Robles, almost exactly half way between San Francisco and Los
Angeles, where it appears most of the damage occurred, is about 20
miles inland, over the low Santa Lucia range, from Cambria. The 2000
census reported a population of 24,300.

Between Cambria and Paso Robles is Mission San Antonio (I think that's
the name), a quite large mission in excellent condition. I have heard
no reports regrding its current status.

The "clock tower" destroyed by the 'quake is (well, was) among my
favorite buildings there, around the main square. I heard one report
stating that the building was razed this afternoon. All of Paso
Robles' buildings are to be up to current construction reïnforcement
by 2018. Maybe those who haven't yet done the work will hop to it.

I shudder to think what a 6.5 'quake would have done to an equally
sparsely populated place in countries such as Mexico, Turkey, or
China. Deaths and destroyed buildings would probably have been in the
hundreds, injuries in the thousands, and damanged buildings also in
the hundreds.

Turkey, for example, has virtually the same building codes as one
finds in California. They do not have, to their regret, the
enforcement of those codes that we have, a price eventually paid with
dead bodies. I don't know about the building codes in Mexico or China
but presume they're similar to ours and Turkey's. We know what happens
when a temblor strikes them.

Because I was still asleep at 11:16, I didn't feel it. I'm surprised
it didn't awaken me as I'm quite 'quake-sensitive.
__________________________________________________ ___________
A San Franciscan in 47.335 mile² San Francisco
http://geocities.com/dancefest/ http://geocities.com/iconoc/
ICQ: http://wwp.mirabilis.com/19098103 IClast at SFbay Net

so far it looks like the damage to the area is scattered
over a wide area, and aside from the tragic deaths in
Paso, not severe by earthquake standards.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/san...al/7556176.htm

"bbrr" wrote in message
...
I just spoke to someone in Cambria. he says things
have been really rockin' and rollin', but no severe
damage at his place (a motel on Moonstone Beach
Drive).

On 23 Dec 2003 02:30:13 -0800, (Icono Clast)
wrote:

The latest reports are still saying a Richter magnitude of 6.5. That's
damn strong! I heard one report stating that it lasted sixteen
seconds, an eternity if you're experiencing it! According to the
United States Geological Survey, it occurred on the Hosgri Fault where
the Pacific and North American tectonic plates meet. The Santa Lucia
mountains might have gained a foot of altitude today.

Hosgir Fault, eh? Any news from the Canyon Diablo nuclear plant?


************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

Hatunen wrote
On 23 Dec 2003, (Icono Clast) wrote:

The latest reports are still saying a Richter magnitude of 6.5. That's
damn strong! I heard one report stating that it lasted sixteen
seconds, an eternity if you're experiencing it!

I just read a report saying it lasted THIRTY seconds. That's _really_
scary!!!

According to the United States Geological Survey, it occurred on the
Hosgri Fault where the Pacific and North American tectonic plates meet.
The Santa Lucia mountains might have gained a foot of altitude today.

Hosgir Fault, eh? Any news from the Canyon Diablo nuclear plant?

It was inspected and found to be fault-free. Looking at a
not-very-good map, it's about 20 miles from the closest point of the
Hosgri Fault (about East SouthEast) and about 40 miles from the
epicenter (about North NorthEast).

I'm sure you remember President Nixon ordered seat belts be in all
cars by a certain date and that President Reagan extended that date
resulting in many deaths that might not have happened (there was a
similar order about 5 mph bumpers and a universal bumper height that
Reagan, I believe, also rescinded).

Anyway, there was a regulation (probably Paso Robles or San Luís
Obispo County) that everything should have been retrofitted by a date
in 2002 that was extended to 2018 (I think that's the year I reported
yesterday). Obviously the two deaths and loss of the clock tower and
building might have not happened but for that extension.

Will the lesson be learned? I doubt it. But I did my house about a
decade ago.
__________________________________________________ __________
A San Franciscan in (where else?) San Francisco
http://geocities.com/dancefest/ http://geocities.com/iconoc/
ICQ: http://wwp.mirabilis.com/19098103 IClast at SFbay Net

On 24 Dec 2003 02:33:18 -0800, (Icono Clast)
wrote:

Anyway, there was a regulation (probably Paso Robles or San Luís
Obispo County) that everything should have been retrofitted by a date
in 2002 that was extended to 2018 (I think that's the year I reported
yesterday). Obviously the two deaths and loss of the clock tower and
building might have not happened but for that extension.

Will the lesson be learned? I doubt it. But I did my house about a
decade ago.

There was a TV series on PBS or Discovery or the History Channel
some years back, 1980 or so, about geology and such; the last
installment was about California earthquakes, and almost the last
imagery in the last episode was a shot of Palo Alto City Hall,
which, as you know, I am quite familiar with. The commentary
noted that the emergency service center was in the basement of
the building and the building was not considered seismologically
safe. The building is an eight-story vertical block designed by
Edward Durrel Stone.

I went to work there in 1987; the city had just completed a major
seismic retrofit of city hall, with huge new beams and steel
shear plates being added.

The day after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake I asked the city
engineer in charge of the retrofit what would have happened had
the retrofit not been made. He blandly replied it would have
fallen down.

************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *