How many earthquakes have you experienced, of which you truly realized and sense

1. 86

   tsmogposted 9 years ago

   How many earthquakes have you experienced, of which you truly realized and sensed as an earthquake?

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2. 37

   ChristinSposted 9 years ago

   2, but they are rare enough here it took me a moment to discern what was happening.  One was when I was a child. I was sitting on the couch with my mother and the whole room shook a bit and the widows vibrated.  We lived on a narrow dead end street and the initial split section reaction was who drove a semi down here? then a few seconds into it we realized what was going on. 
   
   The second time was just a few years ago.  It was maybe 4 or 5 in the morning and we were asleep.  I hear the brass handles on my dressers start jangling and banging.  First half asleep thought was if the wind is blowing hard enough to do that we need to get downstairs to the basement (lol it was Spring and I live in the Midwest) Then I woke up and realized the room was vibrating and that it was an earthquake.
   
   Both were nothing like folks in other regions have experienced I'm sure, but it was interesting.  There's a definite feel to it that's hard to describe, aside from the obvious vibrations and rattling - it's like you just know what it is even though your brain is trying to rationalize it as something more common.

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   1. 86

      tsmogposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      If you would like to pace off some time and ponder a bit and a byte try this site with a map of most recent earthquakes. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/ Living 1/2 hour from San Diego, CA - USA I am familiar with those critters.

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3. 72

   Sharp Pointsposted 9 years ago

   I can remember four or five large ones but I am positive that there are some I am forgetting about.
   
   I remember the last one I experienced was at my friends house and he had a gazebo outside with a couch. So I was smoking a cigarette and listening to music with my headphones on, and I feel the couch start shaking. So I took the headphones off and looked behind me because I thought it was my friend messing with me and shaking the couch. That's when I saw the entire structure shaking and I kind of just watched it for a few seconds.

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   1. 86

      tsmogposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Did you ever see the movie Phenomena where Travolta predicts an earthquake. I get a giggle + giggle with that scene thinking of here in the San Diego area. I experienced them frequently a few years when I lived in Palmdale, Ca especially back in '68

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4. 91

   Rochelle Frankposted 9 years ago

   15 --- 20?  I probably never thought to count.
   I have lived in California  for many decades. Some quakes have knocked things off of shelves or cracked a window. I have walked out of my front door and seen parked cars bouncing up and down.
   I have heard many  (non -Californians) say they would never live here because of the earthquakes...that is a good thing, we have enough people.
   Earthquakes may knock things down, but unlike tornadoes-- they don't send your stuff whirling into the land of Oz.
   My parents lived through a  California quake in 1933 ( Long Beach)-- that  did a lot of damage and prompted  strict building codes. I have a hub about it.

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   1. 86

      tsmogposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Living in CA a large portion of my life I remember the Borrego Mountain Earthquake of '68. It tossed me out of the top bunk bed. That is the 'first' earthquake I can remember. I was a freshman in H.S. that year. A creek not far away changed course.

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5. 60

   KEPitz1005posted 9 years ago

   Damn. I live in Southern California, so I experience earthquakes on a daily basis! In fact, I felt 3 teeny shakers just last week! The last biggie was on Easter Sunday a few years ago. I was in the bathroom and stepped onto the scale to see how much, if any, weight I'd lost. Then I start feeling my apartment start to tremble and went out to the living room, expecting the rumbling to stop pretty quickly - as it usually does... I saw my TV rocking quite a bit, so I went to steady it. Again, thinking it'll stop in a second... It did not stop! In fact, the shaking got stronger and seemed to go on forever. I'm pinning my TV against the wall, grabbing my computer monitor to keep it from falling, and listening to my kid and my neighbors freakin out in the parking lot outside & screaming for ME! By the time the trembling stopped, I was shaking myself... A lot more than that quake too! I went outside and my knees just turned to rubber & I collapsed on my balcony. Then I chain smoked as I pounded a bottle of merlot down in 15 minutes. On the upside, tho, I DID save the TV & the monitor! Gotta have our priorities in order. Am I right? LOL

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   1. 86

      tsmogposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Frightening. Was that the first experience or the first major experience? In elementary school during the early 60's in Barstow we had earthquake drills where we dove under our desks. I wonder if they have those today? I Jump in a doorway still today

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6. 95

   jansharesposted 9 years ago

   Earthquakes are so rare in the Washington, DC area, at least the ones you can actually feel. I experienced my first (and only significant) earthquake in August of 2011. If was felt from Virginia all the way to Canada. I see now why it's hard to describe. I was in session with a couple for therapy. It moved everything, stuff fell off the bookcases, we hit the floor after a few seconds of realizing what was happening. It was a weird sway, 2 or 3 in fact. I'll never forget that feeling. There was a lot of damage throughout the city but nothing serious.

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   1. 86

      tsmogposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      It is really odd how one feels the waves rolling along. I can share it is like being on a raft in the ocean. It has the same sensation as you feel the ground roll underneath you . . . really weird for sure. I bet the session had an interesting ending

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7. 73

   Babbyiiposted 9 years ago

   Like Rochelle, I never thought about counting either. Maybe 30  or more mild ones over 30 years. Handful of non-life threatening shakers. Like other states located on fault lines, Alaska has mini quakes every single day. Sometimes you feel it, most of the time you don't. At least a few times a year it'll be strong enough to move the floor beneath your feet and rattle and throw  things to the floor.  So far this year, just one has shaken things up enough to break dishes and knock products off of store shelves.

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8. 85

   Stella Kayeposted 8 years ago

   Three.
   
   One was in England and was very small. The handles on cupboards just rattled for a few seconds and that was it.
   
   Another one was also in England late in the evening whilst I was sitting at my computer. I hardly noticed to start with as my washer was on spin! Then the web cam on the top of the computer fell off and bashed me on the head and there was a sound like a plane landing in the garden.
   
   The third one was whilst I was on holiday in Kefalonia Greece and it was quite a big one. I was writing my postcards and I told the kids to stop shaking the table before I realised what it was. We all ran out of the villa but the owner said we should have stayed inside.

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