I feel the earth....move....under my feet.....

[Kamuelamom]

Holy smokes! We had 3 earthquakes tonight!! They weren''t too big but they scare me nonetheless. I''m scarred from the ones I went through as a child.

 

[AGBF]

I have little experience with earthquakes; the ones I experienced in New England were very, very mild. Certainly the world is currently aware of the devastation an earthquake can wreak, however! Was your house built to certain specifications so that it will withstand earthquakes? (I know little about such construction; what I have heard is from friends in California.)

What *were* your experiences as a little girl?

Deb

 

[Kamuelamom]

Deb, here the building codes mainly specify provision for withstanding hurricanes. They seem to have forgotten that we live on an island where volcanoes are still very active, and earthquakes *will* happen.

In ''73 I was a 5th grader and we were in the courtyard of our school watching a Beefeater''s concert. It was a glorious day. Then the earth began to shake. And rumble. I distinctly recall looking up at our cafeteria and seeing it swaying from left to right. My classmate was on her knees screaming and praying. It was chaotic for the moments during the shaking, but even moreso afterwards as we were all in shock and stunned. It was one of those that didn''t seem to end. It measured 6.2 on the richter scale.

Then came 1975 when we had an even bigger one. I was a middle schooler and this hit during the dark hours early in the morning. Big Island Earthquake record. My dad was out of town and my mom had to deal with her 3 remaining, very frightened children. My oldest sister had already moved away. We were on tsunami alert that day. I recall anticipating aftershocks for weeks on end.

I''ve never been the same since. When I feel the ground shaking, no matter how slight it seems, I''m always preparing to brace myself for it not to end.

Last night when the earthquakes struck, my kids were just getting ready for bed. I was upstairs and after the first bump I began heading downstairs (in a panic of course

). My 9 y/o was excited and was yelling "the ground is shaking!" while my other son was yelling "get under the doorway" and my daughter was on the floor under her blanket. Devin, the oldest later said, "at first mom, I thought it was you running in the house."

Kids. Moments to remember forever.

 

[AGBF]

I cannot imagine living somewhere where one might be likely to be hit by hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, *and* volcanoes. I guess one has warning for both hurricanes and volcano eruptions, but earthquakes are just not so predictable. How prevalent *are* hurricanes there? I do not asociate Hawaii with hurricanes, but I have to admit to knowing very little about Hawaii.

In the begining of the coverage of the earthquake and tsunamis in the Indian Ocean I kept reading that the tsunamis could have been predicted and everyone evacuated had there been a warning system. In other words, one might not have been able to anticipate the earthquake, but one had four hours in which to prepare for tsunamis after the quake.

I have not read about this lately. Have you?

At any rate, I am sorry you had that scare. One reason I never wanted to move to California was the likelihood that a big quake had to come at some point. It is one thing to visit an area that has quakes; the chance of the big one hitting while one is visiting is slim. It is another thing to choose to live where one knows for sure that a huge quake *WILL* be coming...sooner or later. (I studied Physical Geography at Berkeley one summer and the professor scared me out of my wits and back to Connecticut!)

Deb

 

[Kamuelamom]

Deb, we are so vulnerable living on an island. Nature is often unpredictable, and extremely precise. Take hurricanes. The most devasting to the Hawaiian islands was Iniki in '92. We are just micro specs in a huge ocean. In '82 Iwa hit Hawaii, and the island of Kauai took the brunt of that. Then 10 years later Iniki hit the islands and once again, Kauai took it smack to devastate them. I was working in the resort industry at the time, and folks (coworkers and guests alike) were stranded there for days if they didn't get out before hand. There was no way to get to and from the island during the week following the storm. Being so remote, help was difficult to reach there as well. My girlfriend, who lives there, said the eye of the storm passed over the area she lived. Things got quiet and eery while the surrounding areas were being slashed by wind and rain. How precise is that?

I remember living in Honolulu, Oahu (state's capital city) during Iwa, it was Thanksgiving weekend and all we could do was stay indoors and wait for it to pass. many cooked their turkeys on grills because power was lost in many areas. No hurricane would dampen the holiday spirit!

We've also had our share of tsunamis in Hawaii and particularly on the Big Island were I live and grew up, though none were related to the two large earthquakes I mentioned. The worse one was the 1960 Tsunami on Big Island which wiped out the downtown portion of the town that I was born in. I was not born yet. My parents lived through of the 2 major ones in her lifetime. In the 1946 tsunami, she and my aunties talk about it as if it were yesterday. The saw children get swallowed by the ocean as they were watching the fish jumping out of the receding waters.

 

[BLINGQUEEN]

How scary!! I''m glad ya''ll are okay, physically anyway. I know emotionally is another story. In the world today, everyones guardian argels are working overtime

.Don''t ya just love the way children think sometimes. Just keep reminding yourself that one day your kids will have kids

 

[AGBF]

Gosh! I came home to Connecticut for the weekend and couldn't find this thread anymore. I didn't *THINK* my changing my geopgraphical location should affect the whearabouts of a thread (and I surely knew no one had said anything controvesial which would require this being locked down!). I decided to try here. Glad I did . Probably more people will see it here!

Deb

PS-I just realized many of you won't know what I am talking about. This thread was in "Real People" and it was moved to "Diamond Hangout" .

 

[Kaili]

Kmom,
I''m glad you are all ok! I am from California where earthquakes are common, but they always scare me no matter how many I''ve been through. I feel for ya

 

[cflutist]

Kmom, I am glad you are okay too. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I have felt my share of earthquakes too. The last big one was the Loma Prieta earthquake which occured on October 17, 1989, 6.9 on the Richter Scale which caused 63 deaths and
$ 5,900,000,000 in property damage. I still remember part of the upper deck of the Bay Bridge falling down.

 

[Kamuelamom]

I know DEb, I was alarmed too so I asked Leonid, who told me he moved it and directed me back here. I had the same thoughts as you.

Gotta wonder sometimes....just had to make sure I didn''t cross any lines, ya know?

 

[Kamuelamom]

Kaili thanks. And cflutist, I distinctly recall that one. Wasn't that smack in the middle of the world series? I just moved back home to the big island and DH (then fiance) and were watching the game and wondering what the heck was going on.......those images of the bay bridge going down still enter my mind........

 

[Jennifer5973]

Oops-duplicate post.

 

[hoorray]

I was in the Loma Prieta quake also, and, having been through lots of earthquakes before, was surprised at how much of a lasting impact that one had on me. I'd always been pretty casual about them, but after that one, everytime someone walked heavily enough to feel the footstep shakes, my heart stopped for an instant. One of my now good friends was the CHP officer who arrived first on the scene and crawled into the collapsed freeway to rescue the people trapped there.

I guess we all have some sort of natural disaster threat that we live with. It's surprising how many places actually have earthquake faults. It's much more widespread than just California! For example, I think the Seattle area is on a fairly large fault, but you certainly don't hear much about it.

Kmom, I'm glad you are all safe!

 

[Jennifer5973]

Date: 1/14/2005 3:23:56 AM
Author: Kamuelamom
Deb, we are so vulnerable living on an island. Nature is often unpredictable, and extremely precise. Take hurricanes. The most devasting to the Hawaiian islands was Iniki in ''92. We are just micro specs in a huge ocean. In ''82 Iwa hit Hawaii, and the island of Kauai took the brunt of that. Then 10 years later Iniki hit the islands and once again, Kauai took it smack to devastate them. I was working in the resort industry at the time, and folks (coworkers and guests alike) were stranded there for days if they didn''t get out before hand. There was no way to get to and from the island during the week following the storm. Being so remote, help was difficult to reach there as well. My girlfriend, who lives there, said the eye of the storm passed over the area she lived. Things got quiet and eery while the surrounding areas were being slashed by wind and rain. How precise is that?

I remember living in Honolulu, Oahu (state''s capital city) during Iwa, it was Thanksgiving weekend and all we could do was stay indoors and wait for it to pass. many cooked their turkeys on grills because power was lost in many areas. No hurricane would dampen the holiday spirit!

We''ve also had our share of tsunamis in Hawaii and particularly on the Big Island were I live and grew up, though none were related to the two large earthquakes I mentioned. The worse one was the 1960 Tsunami on Big Island which wiped out the downtown portion of the town that I was born in. I was not born yet. My parents lived through of the 2 major ones in her lifetime. In the 1946 tsunami, she and my aunties talk about it as if it were yesterday. The saw children get swallowed by the ocean as they were watching the fish jumping out of the receding waters.

Wow--Thank goodness you are okay!

I cannot imagine the challenges of living with such possibilities/conditions. It is amazing that a place so beautiful could be so vulnerable. But then again, it''s all so vulnerable when you think about the awesome power of Mother Nature. Control is a man-made delusion.

 

[chantal990]

Wow Kmom I am glad that you are ok. How scary it must be living with the threat of natural disasters. Nature is a very strange thing. We don''t really get earthquakes and tsunamis in Australia up north they get cyclones but where I live it''s bushfires that are the biggest danger. Every Summer there is at least one bad one last week there was one in South Australia and there were I think 15 deaths in total.

 

[cflutist]

Date: 1/16/2005 6:39

5 PM
Author: Kamuelamom
Kaili thanks. And cflutist, I distinctly recall that one. Wasn''t that smack in the middle of the world series? I just moved back home to the big island and DH (then fiance) and were watching the game and wondering what the heck was going on.......those images of the bay bridge going down still enter my mind........

Yes, I believe it was ... SF Giants vs Oakland As. My girlfriend was at that game. With the Bay Bridge down, it took her 7 hours to get home (normally 45 minutes). I also remember the gas main ruptures and fires in the San Francisco Marina district (had a another girlfriend who lived there).

 

[perry]

Kmom:

Just glad you are safe.

The fact is that the earth is changing, always. And we get many bumps along the way.

By the way your earthquake may have been a late residual from the big one that caused the tsuminie (spelling). When a big one hits in the earth - the vibrations often trigger events elsewhere for several weeks in locations that were getting close to "due" anyway.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the sunset this evening.

Perry

 

[strmrdr]

kmom thats gota be freaky
Stay safe.

 

[websailor]

Kmom,

Glad to hear that you and your kids are all okay! Hang in there!!!

It''s interesting that so many people think of Hawaii as a paradise and don''t realize that even "paradises" have their rough sides.

I''ve been thru a few earthquakes here in California (including the big ''89 one before I met cflutist). The vanpool I was in had gotten off the Bay Bridge only a few minutes before that and was just past the the area in Oakland where the freeway collapsed.

Every time there is a big earthquake anywhere in California, my mom from NY calls to find out if we are okay. So now, every time I hear there is a big snow/ice storm or terribly cold weather in NY, I call her to ask if she is surviving... LOL.

 

[Kamuelamom]

Date: 1/16/2005 8:12:58 PM
Author: perry
By the way your earthquake may have been a late residual from the big one that caused the tsuminie (spelling). When a big one hits in the earth - the vibrations often trigger events elsewhere for several weeks in locations that were getting close to 'due' anyway.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the sunset this evening.

Perry

Thank you all for the well wishes. They really were not a big deal, but it was for me since I am spooked by them.

Perry as far as them being residual, that may be a possibility, but it never even occured to me since we have our own exclusive earthquakes here

being on an island with live volcanoes. It's not uncommon here at all. That's interesting though.......

 

[Dancing Fire]

K-MOM
glad you are safe,hope there''s no damage to your new home.