1906 San Francisco Earthquake - Remembered

[Baak]

Saw that the 100th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake was this morning and remembered that my Grandmother, who passed away in 1989, told me stories of what it was like - she was a young girl at the time.

She said the strangest thing was seeing people in their nightgowns looking dazed and confused with the faces of the buildings they lived in gone - crumbled to the ground. You could clearly see into their apartments/homes. Was one of the oddest things she ever saw during her entire life.

She also remembered sleeping in the basement of her parent's French Laundry business that night and being awakened late as swarms of people streamed by overhead - Chinatown was evacuating as fire spread through the City.


I - like several of the OoH - was in the Loma Prieta quake in 1989. Funny, I was talking with my boss all day about earthquakes that day. I was house-sitting for my folks' house in the south bay and came home to the weirdest situation: the house was fine - other than a single facade that had crumbled (because they had not done that side to spec we found out later) - but the inside looked like a giant had shaken the entire house violently.

I had felt I should leave my Father's car outside that day before I left for work - something he never did - only to come home and find several dents and dings from things falling from the rafters of the garage onto it!

I remember smelling food coming through the front door only to discover the contents of the refrigerator scattered throughout the kitchen - some of it 10 feet away. Stuff had fallen out of cabinets above the stove and were now inside it - apparently the stove door had swung open to catch them and then slammed shut again! The mini grand piano had moved up and out of its 3/4 inch beveled glass coasters and all the remaining furniture was tossed around wildly. Interesting to me was the fact that not a single window had cracked.

Funny, since that day:

• I never park the car in the garage with the tank less than 1/4 full - usually never less than 1/2. That day I was caught with the gas tank almost empty and the electronic gas pumps were out for several miles - bad feeling.
• I always have one MagLite flashlite in the car with extra batteries and one in the house.
• We keep at least a week's supply of bottled water on hand at all times - and cycle it out.
• Same with food and all other essentials - we make sure we have a good week's supply of stuff.

We do this now mainly for the Winters here, since there are times when it can be tough to get out for a few days. Basically we have everything that people would raid the stores for in an emergency.


Somewhere we have a tape recording of the interview my Mom did with my Grandmother so many years ago. Funny I can still imagine those poor folks looking through their apartments into the open air of the early morning. Perhaps I'll go dig it out...

[Two Saks]

Nice recollections Baak! Find that tape of your Grandmother (she was an amazing lady!), I'd be curious to hear. They are doing alot of celebrating/memorializing out here, any excuse for a party me thinks. I think thousands gathered at 5:15am (?) in the city for somekind of event. I missed that one

One on my favorite hiking trails literally walks next to the San Andreas fault, with several jots crossing over. At points it's unmistakeable, can easily see the earth heaved up, sometimes several feet. Some very interesting ecology takes place at the subduction points as ground water is pushed up, forming ponds filled with cat tails and such.

Loma Prieta. Ayeiiii!!! I had rushed home from work to watch the world series - Giants vs A's. 5:04 pm, just cracked open a beer then all hell broke loose. I ran outside, dodging the swinging refrigerator door and out to the driveway. The metal roof of the entry arbor was being bombed by avocados from the courtyard tree, which sounded like a German blitz. ANd it kept going and going and going, at least so it seemed. Then finally, it stopped. I'm standing with a beer in my hand to the sound of every car alarm in the neigborhood going on in chorus. The beer was consumed rather quickly.

Same thing at my parents house, no structuaral damage but the inside looked like granades had gome off. glasses, pots, furniture all strewn on the floor.

The scariest thing was that night, with no power and aftershocks. Each one made you wonder...is this the Big One???

Gotta have that week+ supply of those essential provisions - food, water, myth II cd, the basics.

TS

[Baak]

Yeah it was to mark the exact time of the earthquake 100 years ago:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4917600.stm

The scariest thing was that night, with no power and aftershocks. Each one made you wonder...is this the Big One???

Oh man... I *so* remember...

I stayed at my then-girlfriend's parent's house in San Jose - much closer to downtown San Jose - and they had almost zero damage inside and out. Every single frickin' aftershock (and it seemed like there were dozens) had me out of bed and in a doorway before I even knew it!

I remember thinking if the Big One did come along (which was a real possibility as you know), her family's dogs would start barking first!


Funny when you mentioned the World Series - I recall my folks were traveling on a cross-country road trip and my Dad wanted to get settled in the hotel room to watch the game. The moment he realized what had happened (when they announced it on the TV) he was on the phone trying to reach me, but the lines were already completely swamped.

Another useful tip: Have an out-of-state contact point for family - someone everyone can call to "check in" - probably still good advice even with cell phones, etc., as they'd probably be overwhelmed too.


Man, we were in Oregon recently and spent a day or two at the coast. Two years ago when we were out there I noticed "Tsunami Zone" signs all along Highway 1. You'd see "Now Entering Tsunami Zone" with an International drawing of a guy running away from a HUGE wave (it was kinda funny actually), followed by a "Now Leaving Tsunami Zone" as you went up the next hill. I'd have to find the exact information on-line, but my recollection goes that it has only recently been determined that every so many years (and it's only like 300-500) a quake up to 9.0 hits an area off the Oregon and/or Washington coast that generates a massive tsunami that rips down the coastline!

I've read everything from a 30 to 100 (!) foot high wave! I believe the warning time is very short. Apparently the Japanese recorded the event that hit their coast the last time and there is evidence along the Oregon coast of a massive wave hitting before.

... dang, there are a lot of houses along that coastline - some on sandbars!

:: shudders ::


Still, this house and apartment tower in Mexico City truly take the cake imo for tempting the earthquake gods:

[Baak]

P.S. This guy looks great imo for 103!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4907774.stm

[Frumius]

As a California boy of 36 years (but born in Ohio 4 years prior, heh) I've been in a lot of quakes too. TS and Baak, yours take the cake as far as their spectacularitynessness. But I have two experiences worthy of not here.

Ever notice how you're usually inside when one hits? What's up w/ that? Have we locked ourselves so effectively outside of nature? Anyway, mb it's just me, but usually I'm inside. But one of the neatest quake experiences happened when I was outside. My friend and I were out on a day hike through the forests where I grew up here in Humboldt County, CA. We weren't following any trails, just hiking over the countryside we'd known for years. We were paused on a steep hillside in the hollow left from a fallen Douglas-fir's root ball, eating our lunch. It was summer and the ground was dry, but we were in the middle of an area that had been a good-sized mudslide the winter before, by the look of it. Other trees had fallen as a result of the slide as well, leaving it clear for us to see across the valley to the hillside across from us--probably a few hundred yards away.

Sitting in our little hollow as we were, our head level was just above the edge of the cavity. We could see the hillside across from us over the rim of our crater. In fact, after we had just engaged in a little inhalation of the sweet aroma known to the area, we were looking out across our foxhole at the other hillside when we noticed that it was moving from side to side relative to the rim of our pit. Wha? The trees over there were swaying strangely too! The whole damn hillside was going back and forth! Then we felt it. And it was a regular quake, but we were outside, we saw it coming, and we could just sit there and experience the amazing forces of nature.

The second time worthy of mention was a little more, well, titillating. I think it was 1989, I don't know if it was the same as the World Series Quake; I forgot whether we could feel that one up here this far north. I've been in so many small and moderate quakes that I am certain I've become too complacent. If it doesn't shake like hell right off, I don't do much except ride it out.

So when I was in the light trap of the Humboldt State University Art Department darkroom when this other quake began I didn't think much of it. Just the same ol', you know? But I happened to be in there with these two very cute East coast young women. I was younger then, too, and maybe they thought I was cute, too, or maybe I just like to think that, but however it was for them or me once that quake began those two cuties were suddenly clamped tight around me from both sides! Whoa! There we were in the dark room, only a faintly glowing red light, the walls shaking, the floor moving around underfoot, and me with these two young women hanging onto me as their hero! That was the best quake I ever had.



A tsunami did hit Crescent City in 1964 due to a quake off the North American coast somewhere. Here are a couple links:
Crescent City Tsunami
(A google image search for "Crescent City tsunami").

National Geographic on it:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... unami.html

More on it:
http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2005 ... 1local.htm

[Baak]

I was younger then, too, and maybe they thought I was cute, too, or maybe I just like to think that, but however it was for them or me once that quake began those two cuties were suddenly clamped tight around me from both sides! Whoa! There we were in the dark room, only a faintly glowing red light, the walls shaking, the floor moving around underfoot, and me with these two young women hanging onto me as their hero! That was the best quake I ever had.

Shwang!


I believe the Crescent City tsunami was from the Alaska Quake of 1964 - a 9.2 quake! That puppy shook for almost 5 minutes in some areas! I remember when we were in Seward they talked about the tsunami that came right up the inlet there - tossed trains inland like toys. Oh yeah, I bet that was fun! I remember seeing a film somebody took from a boat in the bay outside Anchorage - the sea floor dropped and after the camera shook they were filming a wave several stories high - dang, I'd like to see that one again...


Here's the Tsunami Warning Sign we saw on the Oregon coast (they are normally blue and white - this picture is black and white) - somehow it doesn't look like that little guy's gonna make it...


Some brochures on other sites I found mention a locally caused tsunami from Northern California to Vancouver, BC would hit the coast in 15 to 20 minutes - no time for an official warning. Have to move inland on foot asap. Said waves typically 20 to 45 feet at shoreline but could be up to 100 feet high or higher in some areas. That is NUTS!

Here's some info on the magnitude 9.0 Cascadia Quake that rocked the NW in 1700 - this is the one that generates the local tsunamis on the Oregon Coast. Said it shook so hard people couldn't stand up - and shook so long people were getting ill - YIKES!


I've got a couple videos from the Asian Tsunami that I couldn't find anywhere else - I'll get them posted on the OoH site somewhere so you can see them. There are a couple that just blew me away...

[Two Saks]

Frum...nice quake story! Now THAT's being prepared. I was just at the earthquake supply store and I couln't find two chicks anywhere. Dang. Bet you have recalled that memory more than a few times

This isn't quake related, but in the same vein. There was an incident in Alaska, 1950's maybe? Going off memory here. A HUGE part of a mountain collasped into a bowl shaped bay, caused by an erosion slide I believe. This displaced a huge amount of water quickly - like sitting down fast in a bathtub - and the ensuing tidal wave rolled across the bay, crashing into the opposite mountain side, ripping out large trees several HUNDRED feet up the steep slope. The real crazy thing is, some fishing boats were in the bay at the time AND RODE IT OUT. I'll look for a link, pretty amazing story.

This same phenomenom has occured on the Canary Islands, but a much much larger scale. Apparently there is evidence large parts of the island have broken off into the sea before. This of course would send a massive Tsunami across the Atlantic and into the U.S. East coast.

[Baak]

Yes! A Mega Tsunami!

Think the one that ripped down a channeled part of that bay was some 900+ feet high!

The Canary Island one is just plain nasty...

I also read somewhere that the impact of the meteor in the Yucatan Peninsula - the one that is believed to have killed off most of the dinos - created a wave some 2 to 3 thousand feet high (!!) and briefly emptied portions of the Gulf of Mexico (i.e. you could see the bottom!)...

Someone has calculated the water went all the way to the point of present-day Kansas City...

Damn. That'd be one helluva wave to surf on.