Earthquake 5.9 in Smith Valley 3:50 pm.

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

A friend called from Modesto saying she just felt a strong quake asking if we had here on the Monterey Bay area.
Didn't feel anything here.
But reports of shocks in Markleeville,Dardanelles area.
Rock slides over 395 around Bridgeport. 395 closed detour to 182.

Epicenter located Smith Valley Nv.

Frank

 

[craig333]

Some felt it here in Sac. Not me.

 

[camelracer]

It was also felt in Shaver Lake.

 

[teledork]

The epicenter of this quake was less than two miles from my house in Walker, in Little Antelope Valley. It was rather shallow.

I was in Emigrant Wilderness. I felt the quake while sitting by a lake along the crest of the Sierra - like I was lifted (but not dropped) and then shaken. While John Muir was quoted as referring to "a noble earthquake " my commentary was a bit more base and will not be repeated here. My housemate (who experienced the Loma Prieta quake and said this was more violent) - while amazed and pleased that this early sixties slab built house survived the beating - has not slept much in the past several days. I got home midday today and the aftershocks, which apparently are accompanied by a loud rumble, and have been 4s and 5s as well as smaller, have tapered off. I have not experienced one - yet.

Lost some terra cotta pots on a shelf in the greenhouse and there are some new cracks in the walls. The tile floor is probably a good advertisement for underlayment - all good.

That was not on my bingo card.

 

[teledork]

also - muddy, stinky well water, a weird dust that hung in the air from the ground up about 4 or 5 feet (even in the house) and these crazy acting bugs that appeared in mass and then disappeared again and when my housemate told me of stepping on one and tiny worms squiggled away I told her she needed to stop watching Twilight Zone re-runs

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Glad you are OK.
I was about 2 miles from the Loma Prieta quake sitting in my car
waiting for my daughter to finish with dance class. Lots of shaking and
breaking glass from inside homes.Very interesting experience.
I live about 8 mikes from the fault so we get some shakers once in a while.
Frank

 

[ski3pin]

Julie and I were in the Sierra Nevada high country 20 miles to the west northwest of the epicenter walking up a small hill back to camp at 3:49 pm. We did not feel the 6.0 magnitude quake nor did we feel the 5.2 magnitude quake one minute later. We did feel the two low 4 magnitude aftershocks around 10 pm that evening when in our camper. I am very surprised we did not feel even a hint of the two quakes as we were so close to the epicenter.

Here is a an interesting article on the Walker Lane Fault Zone.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Thanks for the info.
Always interesting to read about the earth faulting.
Frank

 

[teledork]

just got a 4.0 aftershock, short, the first I've felt since I got home - don't want to imagine 20 seconds of that (which apparently seemed longer because of the almost immediate aftershock)

Here is a an interesting article on the Walker Lane Fault Zone.

Yes - an interesting article

 

[teledork]

And a week later the aftershocks keep on keeping on. Apparently I am getting good at sleeping through up to a 3.0 - provided they are quiet. The rumble that often precedes the shaking just makes it worse. I yelped out loud when a 4 came a rumbling and banging while I was having my tea this morning. I am not sure how many aftershocks there have been but I suspect we are into a thousand something now and many of the epicenters are less than a mile from my house. I was born and raised in the SF bay area and have never felt anything like this.

This valley, like much of the Walker Lane seismic zone, is chock full of little faults. I suppose it is like trying to sleep in a dog pile - when one dog moves everyone else has to adjust as well. It is exciting but also exhausting. My housemate leaned against a closet door and it moved and made a noise and we both jumped. Or a truck on the highway down the hill is loud and I brace. And here I am whining - she has been here the entire time while I just got home on Monday.

After the past year - fire (lost 1/3 of the community) blizzard (6 feet of snow paralyzed this community and closed Hwy 395 for a week) and winds that drop tree limbs on the roof and kick up lightning holdover fires we now have the earth shaking. I have been singing this song since I felt the quake while sitting by a lake in the backcountry:

"That's great it starts with an earthquake birds and snakes and aeroplanes - Lenny Bruce is not afraid
Eye of the hurricane listen to yourself churn world serves it's own needs don't mis-serve your own needs (etc)
It's the end of the world as we know it --
(my favorite line - Birthday party cheesecake jellybean boom)


REM - End Of The World As We Know it

here is a photo of the Slink Fire approaching my house last year

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Tetedork you sure have gone through a lot and with covid on top.

I remember the 89 quake we had a lot of large aftershocks and we live only 6 so miles from the fault.

It can get pretty fearful when they come on a multi daily basis.
Stay safe.
Frank

 

[ski3pin]

Julie and I were in the Sierra Nevada high country 20 miles to the west northwest of the epicenter walking up a small hill back to camp at 3:49 pm. We did not feel the 6.0 magnitude quake nor did we feel the 5.2 magnitude quake one minute later. We did feel the two low 4 magnitude aftershocks around 10 pm that evening when in our camper. I am very surprised we did not feel even a hint of the two quakes as we were so close to the epicenter.

Here is a an interesting article on the Walker Lane Fault Zone.

Now that we are home I questioned a couple of friends about feeling the quake here. The said it was a really good one that had them wondering if and when the shaking would stop. Still such a surprise we didn't feel a thing.

 

[teledork]

Now that we are home I questioned a couple of friends about feeling the quake here. The said it was a really good one that had them wondering if and when the shaking would stop. Still such a surprise we didn't feel a thing.

So you were off Hwy 4 - right? I wonder if the type of rock in between has a different capacity to carry the waves. It is always fascinating to see the maps of where an earthquake was felt.

 

[teledork]

Tetedork you sure have gone through a lot and with covid on top.

I remember the 89 quake we had a lot of large aftershocks and we live only 6 so miles from the fault.

It can get pretty fearful when they come on a multi daily basis.
Stay safe.
Frank

I heard the 89 quake over the phone. My sister lived in SF. I had called her to inform her Oakland was the better team.

 

[Foy]

So you were off Hwy 4 - right? I wonder if the type of rock in between has a different capacity to carry the waves. It is always fascinating to see the maps of where an earthquake was felt.

While studying for my geology degree 45 years ago seismology was never my primary interest, but I learned enough to understand that different types of rock transmit P waves and the various types of S waves differently. The S waves (shear waves) are the slowest and the last to reach a seismograph and can only move through solids. P waves are compression waves and can move through solids and liquids.
My youngest sister was at a baseball/softball complex in the Santa Cruz area when the Loma Prieta quake struck in '89. She saw S waves flash across the broad open area following the initial shock of the P waves.

Foy

 

[teledork]

My youngest sister was at a baseball/softball complex in the Santa Cruz area when the Loma Prieta quake struck in '89. She saw S waves flash across the broad open area following the initial shock of the P waves.

Foy

My housemate said her car looked like it was driving over speed bumps and the gravel in the parking area was bouncing in this quake.

edit to add - awakened at 2:49 this morning - 3.5 exceeded my sleepability

my housemate said aftershocks from the Loma Prieta went on for six months

oh joy

 

[teledork]

It seemed to have quieted down lately but I guess I am getting used to the aftershocks - maybe. We had a swarm of them last night around the dinner hour that I barely noticed but the 4.6 woke me shortly after I had fallen asleep. Then, apparently, I slept through several other 2.5 - 3.3 quakes before midnight and again around 3:30 am. And then awakened before 5 this morning. These latest epicenters are in the Sweetwater Mountains above Desert Creek - a new location!

 

[Lighthawk]

also - muddy, stinky well water, a weird dust that hung in the air from the ground up about 4 or 5 feet (even in the house) and these crazy acting bugs that appeared in mass and then disappeared again and when my housemate told me of stepping on one and tiny worms squiggled away I told her she needed to stop watching Twilight Zone re-runs

Do not adjust your television.

Wow. That is a strange series of events. Well water turbidity too.
After this week's local fire, I'm keeping a sharp eye out for murder hornets.

 

[Lighthawk]

Now that we are home

Yay!

 

[Ted]

Yay!

Ski posted that over a month ago. They are still at our place. Julie had a successful knee replacement yesterday and will be rejoining us today.