First earth quake experience

[rmonks]

Oklahoma had a 5.6 magnitude saturday night 10:50pm , I could not believe how the house shook. It was the sound of a train taking the slack out of the rail cars when it starts up. This sound could be heard coming in,  then it shook like hell and then that same sound could be heard going out and away. We also had one saturday morning at 2 am.

[Sbrem]

Oklahoma had a 5.6 magnitude saturday night 10:50pm , I could not believe how the house shook. It was the sound of a train taking the slack out of the rail cars when it starts up. This sound could be heard coming in,  then it shook like hell and then that same sound could be heard going out and away. We also had one saturday morning at 2 am.

We felt a 5.8 back in August here in Massachusetts. First time for me, and I'm on the 4th floor of a 101 year old mill building. Even the trains going by shake this place, but this was altogether something different. It gave me pause, so to speak.

[T Shirt1]

We had a 5.3 here in Terre Haute a year or so ago.  I too could hear it rumbling several long seconds before the shaking started - very, very eery.

[Donnie]

The first one I ever felt....but were Oklahomans and we're a tough breed.

[Fresh Baked Printing]

The first one I ever felt....but were Oklahomans and we're a tough breed.

I'm a native Tulsan to about 1978. I know that the Oklahomans have the fortitude and resolve to rebuild. My heart goes out to my Okie survivors.

[EnMartian]

That sounds a little scary.  We had people reporting feeling a shockwave of an earthquake earlier this year in N. Michigan,  but it wasn't anything major.   I'm not sure I'd enjoy it if I experienced a major earthquake.  Pretty much the worst that happens here is we get snowed on a lot.   

[ftembroidery]

We are fortunate enough to provide embroidered goods for the USGS, however, that does not make me a geologist.  It IS my understanding though that the country EAST of the Rocky Mtns and the Sierra Madres is much older and more compacted or solid in comparison to here in Calif.  That translates to an earthquake being felt (or having an effect) over a much larger area than here in the "softer" land in Calif.  We may only feel an earthquake for 20-100 miles around the epicenter, but East of the Rockies (and especially on the East Coast) a quake can be felt for many hundreds of miles.

[Gabe]

at 5.8 earthquake my cellphones vibrates more than that

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

What ever kind of cell phone do you have!?! Ha!

I was lying on an air mattress in Wichita and at 144 miles away from the epicenter, any shaking at all was a mind blower for this Kansas boy. Tornadoes, oh yeah. Hail the size of softballs, rare but yes.  Wind, oh baby we get winds! Heat cold and ice, check check and check. We got 30 inches of rain in a 3 week period once and my middle son saw 7 twisters in one day, in one county. (*Some* driving...)

But, Earthquakes??? Naw. That was my first in 57 years. I am learning that they DO happen here, but the lions share couldn't be felt if you were watching the quake-o-meter... and holding your breath at the same time.

My airbed moved like it was floating in a still swimming pool, with a belly flopper on the far end. Just 1 (One) wave, no more. But my wife felt a rumble for several seconds on a couch...perhaps 30 seconds or more. I only felt the ONE wave, and saw a hanging picture moving. We both heard a rumble, like something BIG had blown up several miles away. Like a grain elevator, or a propane tank explosion 10 miles away, the latter of which I've experienced.

Damage or no, it "left a mark" on me--not unlike hearing of the 9-11 attack. (The indelible memory part, nothing more.) If I'd have grown up in Cauly-Fornia, it'd have merited less than a yawn.

A 5.6 will destroy property apparently. It's just that the population density is waaaaay different than California. It'd have been perhaps dozens of ruined homes in say...Orange County CA.

[Gabe]

i got a samsung phone
i experienced  a 8.0 earthquake in my youth
that one really changed the lives of an entire nation

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

i got a samsung phone
i experienced  a 8.0 earthquake in my youth
that one really changed the lives of an entire nation

That WOULD tend to leave a mark, no? Where was that one?

I watched in horror at the Japanese videos during that whole catastrophy.  There are few words that really suit...

This Sparks Oklahoma event, though mild by any comparison to an 8.0, has served as a wake up call for me. In the big picture, "safety" is a bridge too far.

(I was kidding about the phone, but you already knew that)

[Gabe]

it was in mexico city 1985 actually was 8.1 magnitude
experts believe that a 10.0 magnitude quake can be felt worldwide

[Donnie]

There was quite a bit of structural damage around the epicenter just east of OKC which included fallen chimneys, numerous homes with wall cracks and a very old Catholic College building suffering extensive damage.