So I was sitting in my apartment around 3:39 or so when I noticed a swaying motion. At first I wondered if I was getting sick because it felt like being dizzy. Twenty seconds passed like this before I noticed that the whole place was starting to sway and I realized it was an earthquake. It was a gentle rolling motion, not strong at all... it just went on for well over a minute... possibly the longest quake I have ever felt and I've lived in southern california my entire life. So as it was going my boyfriend hopped online and checked the usgs website, which listed the quake hitting down in baja california, mexico... around mexicali to be precise. Preliminary reports said it was a 6.9 and later deemed a 7.2. I live in Long Beach, Ca right near LA and we felt it all the way up here| it has also triggered several smaller quakes along the san andreas, which they expect will continue for awhile.

You felt that to? I had the same reation tell my mom yealed earthqueke. But It wasent 6.9? The news dident seem to report that.

It was about an hour later that they upgraded it to a 7.2, and last I heard one guy in Mexicali died when a house collapsed on him. Don't know if any more have been found.

I felt it too because I thought I was about to fall asleep until I realized everything looked sideways and I didn't move my neck. I wasn't expecting an earthquake until like, a few months from now.

It happens. The fault line has been very active lately... all of them have I'm noticing. It's good to get the pressure released though.

True. I just hope it doesn't kill us all in the process anytime soon.

Well, it seems soon (not in our lifetimes, but in the next 1000 years), we shall form into the supercontinent again, because of all of the shifting of the plates causing earthquakes and the islands to push into the land.

From what I've heard, Cali will get torn from the west coast and float to an area near Alaska. Thats just a theory though, but I expect to see some major changes soon. Lots of quakes and weather changes going on lately.

Thats true as soon the earthquake was over it began to rain (not much though.) But later at night It rained realy hard.

Everything is getting so messed up lately, with so many storms and quakes and weird weather things. Earth is trying to finish us off before we completely destroy her with global warming. Will 2012 happen if everyone on earth is dead already? Idk.

Anyways, I hope everyone is okay, and that there isn't too much damage D: I live on the west coast too, and we get the aftershocks of those quakes sometimes. Never anything too bad, but hopefully there won't be any quakes anymore, since the earth might've relieved the plate pressure by now since there's been so many quakes.

Wow, was that any scary for you? I have never personally been in an earthquake, so I would not know...

Originally posted by Elara

---

It happens. The fault line has been very active lately... all of them have I'm noticing. It's good to get the pressure released though.

---

I have heard a theory that earthquakes can indicate increasing amounts of pressure in an area leading up to a large earthquake rather than an actual release of pressure. Although I think it's more likely that this release of pressure will prevent more earthquakes for a while.

The idea though is that if the pressure is increasing quite quickly then the release from a single earthquake isn't enough to stop a really large earthquake from happening. I saw it on discovery channel or something.... it's just a theory though.

The general theory of geologic though, at least when I took my geology classes, is that the earthquakes are a release of pressure and you get bigger ones when there has been significant movement or there hasn't been a release in awhile for that zone. You have to remember that the San Andres Fault, while quite large on it's own, is not the only one in the area. In fact there are dozens of side faults that split off from it that run all throughout the region... I nearly live on top of one right now (look up the Long Beach Quake). While it is true that the release from one quake will not prevent a large one, it might lessen the severity if it is close enough. Instead of one large one, you get a series of lesser ones (four or five 3-4s instead of a 6 or 7). Often though you will get one big one that triggers little ones, like we are seeing right now. Luckily the epicenter was not in a major population zone so it was not as bad as it could have been (like Haiti was).

I have heard that there have been casualties down in Mexicali, I forget what the current toll is. But again, not nearly as bad as it could have been.

For my personal experience, because I was so far away from the epicenter it was incredibly gentle. Picture the ripples in a pond, the farther away from the start the lower the waves get but the wider they are. That is what happens with quakes. The stronger jolts are felt closer to the start, but being hundreds of miles away it was a gentle swaying motion that I can really compare to being on a boat in relatively calm seas. It was the nicest quake I've ever been in. Ones like the Northridge Quake that hit when I was a kid were way scarier... I think I was about eight or nine when that one happened. There have been ones I have felt that were a quick strong jolt and that was all. Really, quakes are not that scary if you know what to do... and living here you get that taught to you at an early age. Don't run outside, stay away from things that might fall, get in a doorway or under a table, and stay calm. I'm sure our other California residents would say much the same thing.

yeah, but from what this guy was saying (again, it's his theory, not sure how extensive it is) an earthquake of that size may be a like a pre-explosion of a volcano... the pressure built up enough that a smaller earthquake occured and then 2-3 days later the real eruption occurs. It's a similar idea... except with earthquakes it could be a year later the real "eruption" takes place. Not saying that this is in any way true in this instance... just that some geologists follow this way of thinking in relation to some areas of the world that have frequent earthquakes.

There were some pre-shocks leading up to this quake, so there is some evidence to support this. I believe there was a 3.4 and a 4.3 in the 24 hours leading up to the 7.2, so in this case I believe the 7.2 would be the eruption.

Yeah, the sudden slipping motion of the plates is what causes the earthquake, so pressure is released all at once until it can find equilibrium once again. However, it's only a matter of time before a disastrous earthquake strikes California again, similar in size to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake... and that's whether or not there are smaller earthquakes preceding it. It's just the way of the Earth.

I didn't feel it because I am in San Francisco which is far away from Baja California. Also there could be a large earthquake in the future, so be alert that it could happen anytime.