TurquoiseB wrote: > It's just like real estate -- location, location > location. Looking up facts on the Agadir quake > yesterday so that no one would nitpick my ass > off if I got the Richter level wrong :-), I > discovered that the thing that made it so devas- > tating was that it was a "shallow quake," mean- > ing that it occurred close to the surface, as > opposed to a fault shift deep below the ground. > > Also, it all depends on the nature of the earth > that the waves have to travel through. In Cali- > fornia and Japan and other countries along the > "ring of fire," where quakes are frequent, the > structure of the earth itself has become frac- > tured by all the small quakes, with the result > that the waves of a big quake don't travel as > far as they would in an area with fewer quakes. > True, there have been some deep quakes on coast lately that didn't do much of anything. Also the coastline of India is very seismic. So I had some concern staying at a high rise hotel on the "Bhadra Reclamation" in Bombay (shades of the Marine District in SF). > >> I was sitting watching a DVD >> and this big bang like a train going through my living >> room occured and I dropped to the floor for safety. I >> experience lots of 1's all the time around here and >> they're never listed but they will shake a little. >> Nothing like the fun of living in a seismic area. >> > > It teaches one non-attachment. Heck, it can > teach your whole *house* non-attachment. :-) BTW, dropping to the floor in my case is what you want to do rather than run for a doorway. If the roof fell it the chair and other furniture would have held it up creating a survival space. This was a tip from an earthquake rescuer. Doubtful though this roof would fall in because the construction is too good but a really big one who knows.
When I installed the TV mount recently at my sister's house my brother-in-law wanted to know what would happen if it fell off during an earthquake and given the way it was strongly anchored to the stud I replied "look for a new house." :)
