Aardbeving treft Zuid-Californië
Major quake shakes downtown Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An earthquake struck near Los Angeles on Tuesday, shaking tall buildings and was described by fire officials as a major seismic event.
There were no immediate reports of serious damage or injuries but a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department said that the quake was a "major seismic event."
The temblor was centered near Chino Hills, about 30 miles
east of Los Angeles, and witnesses reported feeling the shaking strongly in neighboring Orange County and as far south as San Diego.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake measured 5.8 magnitude after initially saying it was 5.6 magnitude.
Bron:Reuter
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An earthquake struck near Los Angeles on Tuesday, shaking tall buildings and was described by fire officials as a major seismic event.
There were no immediate reports of serious damage or injuries but a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department said that the quake was a "major seismic event."
The temblor was centered near Chino Hills, about 30 miles
east of Los Angeles, and witnesses reported feeling the shaking strongly in neighboring Orange County and as far south as San Diego.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake measured 5.8 magnitude after initially saying it was 5.6 magnitude.
Bron:Reuter
Aardbeving treft Los Angeles
Los Angeles is getroffen door een aardbeving met een kracht van 5,8 op de schaal van Richter. Dat meldt CNN. Ook in San Diego en Las Vegas was de schok te voelen.
De aardbeving vond plaats rond kwart voor twaalf plaatselijke tijd. Ooggetuigen zagen gebouwen heen en weer bewegen. Het epicentrum bevond zich op 3 kilometer ten zuidwesten van Chino Hills, op 50 kilometer ten oosten van het stadscentrum van LA en op 12,3 kilometer diepte.
Volgens woordvoerder Brian Humphrey van de brandweer in Los Angeles zijn er nog geen meldingen van schade of gewonden in die stad.
Bron:HLN.be | Gewijzigd: 29 juli 2008, 21:47 uur, door Kikimero
Los Angeles is getroffen door een aardbeving met een kracht van 5,8 op de schaal van Richter. Dat meldt CNN. Ook in San Diego en Las Vegas was de schok te voelen.
De aardbeving vond plaats rond kwart voor twaalf plaatselijke tijd. Ooggetuigen zagen gebouwen heen en weer bewegen. Het epicentrum bevond zich op 3 kilometer ten zuidwesten van Chino Hills, op 50 kilometer ten oosten van het stadscentrum van LA en op 12,3 kilometer diepte.
Volgens woordvoerder Brian Humphrey van de brandweer in Los Angeles zijn er nog geen meldingen van schade of gewonden in die stad.
Bron:HLN.be | Gewijzigd: 29 juli 2008, 21:47 uur, door Kikimero
Strong quake shakes Southern California
The temblor measured 5.4 and was felt from Los Angeles to San Diego
People wait outside a downtown Los Angeles building after an earthquake Tuesday
LOS ANGELES - A strong earthquake shook Southern California on Tuesday, and the jolt was felt from Los Angeles to San Diego, and slightly in Las Vegas.
Preliminary information from the U.S. Geological Survey estimated the quake at magnitude 5.4, centered 29 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles near Chino Hills in San Bernardino County. Ten aftershocks occurred in the next dozen minutes, including three estimated at 3.8, and the U.S. Geological Survey estimated the quake was about 8 miles below the earth's surface.
Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said there were no immediate reports of damage or injury in Los Angeles. San Bernardino County fire dispatch also had no immediate reports of damage.
The quake struck at 11:42 a.m. PDT. Buildings swayed in downtown Los Angeles for several seconds.
Workers quickly evacuated some office buildings.
"It was dramatic. The whole building moved and it lasted for a while," said Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore, who was in the sheriff's suburban Monterey Park headquarters east of Los Angeles.
In Orange County, about 2000 detectives were attending a conference on gangs at a Marriott hotel in Anaheim when a violent jolt shook the main conference room.
Mike Willever, who was at the hotel, said, "First we heard the ceiling shaking, then the chandelier started to shake, then there was a sudden movement of the floor."
Chris Watkins, from San Diego, said he previously felt several earthquakes, but "that was one of the worst ones."
Delegates and guests at a cluster of hotels near the Disneyland resort spilled into the streets immediately after the quake.
The 1994 Northridge earthquake under Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley was magnitude 6.7. It killed 72 people, injured more than 9,000 and caused $25 billion in damage in the metropolitan area.
The damage created by an earthquake depends greatly on where it hits. A 7.1 quake — much stronger than Northridge — hit the Mojave Desert in 1999 but caused only a few injuries and no deaths.
California is one of the world's most seismically active regions. More than 300 faults crisscross the state, which sits atop two of Earth's major tectonic plates, the Pacific and North American plates. About 10,000 quakes each year rattle Southern California alone, although most of them are too small to be felt.
Bron:MSN.bc | Gewijzigd: 24 april 2017, 10:09 uur, door Joyce.s
The temblor measured 5.4 and was felt from Los Angeles to San Diego
People wait outside a downtown Los Angeles building after an earthquake Tuesday
LOS ANGELES - A strong earthquake shook Southern California on Tuesday, and the jolt was felt from Los Angeles to San Diego, and slightly in Las Vegas.
Preliminary information from the U.S. Geological Survey estimated the quake at magnitude 5.4, centered 29 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles near Chino Hills in San Bernardino County. Ten aftershocks occurred in the next dozen minutes, including three estimated at 3.8, and the U.S. Geological Survey estimated the quake was about 8 miles below the earth's surface.
Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said there were no immediate reports of damage or injury in Los Angeles. San Bernardino County fire dispatch also had no immediate reports of damage.
The quake struck at 11:42 a.m. PDT. Buildings swayed in downtown Los Angeles for several seconds.
Workers quickly evacuated some office buildings.
"It was dramatic. The whole building moved and it lasted for a while," said Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore, who was in the sheriff's suburban Monterey Park headquarters east of Los Angeles.
In Orange County, about 2000 detectives were attending a conference on gangs at a Marriott hotel in Anaheim when a violent jolt shook the main conference room.
Mike Willever, who was at the hotel, said, "First we heard the ceiling shaking, then the chandelier started to shake, then there was a sudden movement of the floor."
Chris Watkins, from San Diego, said he previously felt several earthquakes, but "that was one of the worst ones."
Delegates and guests at a cluster of hotels near the Disneyland resort spilled into the streets immediately after the quake.
The 1994 Northridge earthquake under Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley was magnitude 6.7. It killed 72 people, injured more than 9,000 and caused $25 billion in damage in the metropolitan area.
The damage created by an earthquake depends greatly on where it hits. A 7.1 quake — much stronger than Northridge — hit the Mojave Desert in 1999 but caused only a few injuries and no deaths.
California is one of the world's most seismically active regions. More than 300 faults crisscross the state, which sits atop two of Earth's major tectonic plates, the Pacific and North American plates. About 10,000 quakes each year rattle Southern California alone, although most of them are too small to be felt.
Bron:MSN.bc | Gewijzigd: 24 april 2017, 10:09 uur, door Joyce.s
5.4-Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Southern California
LOS ANGELES — A strong earthquake shook Southern California on Tuesday, causing buildings to sway and triggering some precautionary evacuations. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The jolt was felt from Los Angeles to San Diego, and slightly in Las Vegas.
July 29, 2008: Customers exit a Big Lots store in Laguna Hills, Calif., following an earthquake.
July 29: Traffic is seen on a California roadway after a strong earthquake shook the southern part of the state.
July 29: The Los Angles skyline is seen after a strong earthquake shook southern California.
July 29: A strong earthquake shook Southern California causing buildings to sway and triggering some precautionary evacuations.
The 11:42 a.m. quake was initially estimated at 5.8 by the U.S. Geological Survey but was revised downward to 5.4. More than a dozen aftershocks quickly followed, the largest estimated at magnitude-3.8.
The quake was centered 29 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles near the San Bernardino County city of Chino Hills, and was estimated to be about 8 miles below the earth's surface.
"It will certainly cause cracked plaster and broken windows, but probably not structural damage," USGS seismologist Kate Hutton said.
The magnitude-5.9 Whittier Narrows quake in 1987 was the last big shake in that area. That quake heavily damaged older buildings and houses in communities east of Los Angeles.
The Governor's Office of Emergency Services had received no damage or injury reports, said spokesman Kelly Huston in Sacramento.
bron: foxnews | Gewijzigd: 24 april 2017, 10:10 uur, door Joyce.s
LOS ANGELES — A strong earthquake shook Southern California on Tuesday, causing buildings to sway and triggering some precautionary evacuations. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The jolt was felt from Los Angeles to San Diego, and slightly in Las Vegas.
July 29, 2008: Customers exit a Big Lots store in Laguna Hills, Calif., following an earthquake.
July 29: Traffic is seen on a California roadway after a strong earthquake shook the southern part of the state.
July 29: The Los Angles skyline is seen after a strong earthquake shook southern California.
July 29: A strong earthquake shook Southern California causing buildings to sway and triggering some precautionary evacuations.
The 11:42 a.m. quake was initially estimated at 5.8 by the U.S. Geological Survey but was revised downward to 5.4. More than a dozen aftershocks quickly followed, the largest estimated at magnitude-3.8.
The quake was centered 29 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles near the San Bernardino County city of Chino Hills, and was estimated to be about 8 miles below the earth's surface.
"It will certainly cause cracked plaster and broken windows, but probably not structural damage," USGS seismologist Kate Hutton said.
The magnitude-5.9 Whittier Narrows quake in 1987 was the last big shake in that area. That quake heavily damaged older buildings and houses in communities east of Los Angeles.
The Governor's Office of Emergency Services had received no damage or injury reports, said spokesman Kelly Huston in Sacramento.
bron: foxnews | Gewijzigd: 24 april 2017, 10:10 uur, door Joyce.s
5.4 Calif. Quake A Drill For The "Big One"
Despite Scaring Many Who'd Gone Years Without A Serious Temblor, Quake Was Just A Reminder
(CBS/AP) Despite shaking a large swath of Southern California, a magnitude-5.4 earthquake was not the "Big One" that scientists have long feared. Still, it rattled nerves, causing people to vow to step up their emergency preparations.
The quake, which rocked the region from Los Angeles to San Diego on Tuesday, caused only limited damage and minor injuries, and served as a reminder of the seismic danger below sprawling freeways and subdivisions.
The temblor's epicenter was located just outside Chino Hills, 29 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles in San Bernardino County, and it was felt as far east as Las Vegas.
Dozens of aftershocks followed, reported CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy, none with a magnitude greater than 3.8. Nonetheless, one building near the epicenter in San Bernardino County buckled, scattering bricks on the ground below. Even for Southern Californians, who are used to shakers, this one felt like it could have been a lot worse.
"We were really fortunate this time," said Capt. Jeremy Ault of the Chino Valley Independent Fire District. "It's a good opportunity to remember that we live in earthquake country. This is part of living in Southern California and we need to make sure we're prepared."
Chino Hills was incorporated in 1991, so much of the construction is newer and built to modern safety standards, city spokeswoman Denise Cattern said. There were no reports of harm in the city of 80,000, she said, although cell phone service in the area was briefly disrupted.
"We have all the latest building standards and that probably made a difference," she said.
The magnitude-5.9 Whittier Narrows quake in 1987 was the last big shake centered in the region. Scientists were trying to determine which fault ruptured Tuesday, but they believe it is part of the same system of faults. The 1987 earthquake heavily damaged older buildings and houses in communities east of Los Angeles.
As strongly as it was felt, Tuesday's quake was far less powerful than the deadly magnitude-6.7 Northridge earthquake that toppled bridges and buildings in 1994. That was the last damaging temblor in Southern California, though not the biggest. A 7.1 quake struck the desert in 1999.
Derek Black, a 19-year-old personal trainer, said it was the first large earthquake he remembered despite living in the area since birth.
Black said he was helping a client do pull-downs when the floor started to rumble. He grabbed onto a weight machine and turned toward the wall, which was covered in floor-to-ceiling mirrors.
"The mirrors were rippling all the way down," he said. "Seeing it in the mirrors was what made me realize, `Geez, this is huge."'
TVs suspended from the ceiling were swinging back and forth as people evacuated the gym. The mirrors buckled but didn't break, he said.
The heaviest shaking was northwest of the epicenter near suburban Diamond Bar, said Thomas Heaton, director of the earthquake engineering and research laboratory at Caltech. He said all buildings constructed in the region since the 1930s should withstand the kind of shaking felt Tuesday.
The earthquake had about 1 percent of the energy of the Northridge quake, he said.
"People have forgotten, I think, what earthquakes feel like," said Kate Hutton, a seismologist at Caltech. "So I think we should probably look at it as an earthquake drill."
The state Office of Emergency Services in Sacramento received scattered reports of minor infrastructure damage, including broken water mains and gas lines.
"I thank God there have not been any reports of serious injuries or damage to properties," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told a televised press conference. "People understandably are very nervous."
Minor structural damage was reported throughout Los Angeles, along with five minor injuries and people stuck in elevators, said City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, serving as acting mayor. She said there was flooding in one department store.
The jolt caused a fire but no injuries at a Southern California Edison electrical substation in La Habra, about 12 miles southwest of the epicenter, spokesman Paul Klein said. Damage there and to other equipment led to some power outages in Chino Hills, Chino, Diamond Bar and Pomona, he said.
To prepare for the "Big One," scientists and emergency planners in the fall will hold what is billed as the largest earthquake drill in the country. It will be based on a hypothetical magnitude-7.8 temblor. Earlier this year, scientists calculated that California faces a 99.7 percent chance of a magnitude-6.7 quake or larger in the next 30 years.
Bron:CBS News
Despite Scaring Many Who'd Gone Years Without A Serious Temblor, Quake Was Just A Reminder
(CBS/AP) Despite shaking a large swath of Southern California, a magnitude-5.4 earthquake was not the "Big One" that scientists have long feared. Still, it rattled nerves, causing people to vow to step up their emergency preparations.
The quake, which rocked the region from Los Angeles to San Diego on Tuesday, caused only limited damage and minor injuries, and served as a reminder of the seismic danger below sprawling freeways and subdivisions.
The temblor's epicenter was located just outside Chino Hills, 29 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles in San Bernardino County, and it was felt as far east as Las Vegas.
Dozens of aftershocks followed, reported CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy, none with a magnitude greater than 3.8. Nonetheless, one building near the epicenter in San Bernardino County buckled, scattering bricks on the ground below. Even for Southern Californians, who are used to shakers, this one felt like it could have been a lot worse.
"We were really fortunate this time," said Capt. Jeremy Ault of the Chino Valley Independent Fire District. "It's a good opportunity to remember that we live in earthquake country. This is part of living in Southern California and we need to make sure we're prepared."
Chino Hills was incorporated in 1991, so much of the construction is newer and built to modern safety standards, city spokeswoman Denise Cattern said. There were no reports of harm in the city of 80,000, she said, although cell phone service in the area was briefly disrupted.
"We have all the latest building standards and that probably made a difference," she said.
The magnitude-5.9 Whittier Narrows quake in 1987 was the last big shake centered in the region. Scientists were trying to determine which fault ruptured Tuesday, but they believe it is part of the same system of faults. The 1987 earthquake heavily damaged older buildings and houses in communities east of Los Angeles.
As strongly as it was felt, Tuesday's quake was far less powerful than the deadly magnitude-6.7 Northridge earthquake that toppled bridges and buildings in 1994. That was the last damaging temblor in Southern California, though not the biggest. A 7.1 quake struck the desert in 1999.
Derek Black, a 19-year-old personal trainer, said it was the first large earthquake he remembered despite living in the area since birth.
Black said he was helping a client do pull-downs when the floor started to rumble. He grabbed onto a weight machine and turned toward the wall, which was covered in floor-to-ceiling mirrors.
"The mirrors were rippling all the way down," he said. "Seeing it in the mirrors was what made me realize, `Geez, this is huge."'
TVs suspended from the ceiling were swinging back and forth as people evacuated the gym. The mirrors buckled but didn't break, he said.
The heaviest shaking was northwest of the epicenter near suburban Diamond Bar, said Thomas Heaton, director of the earthquake engineering and research laboratory at Caltech. He said all buildings constructed in the region since the 1930s should withstand the kind of shaking felt Tuesday.
The earthquake had about 1 percent of the energy of the Northridge quake, he said.
"People have forgotten, I think, what earthquakes feel like," said Kate Hutton, a seismologist at Caltech. "So I think we should probably look at it as an earthquake drill."
The state Office of Emergency Services in Sacramento received scattered reports of minor infrastructure damage, including broken water mains and gas lines.
"I thank God there have not been any reports of serious injuries or damage to properties," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told a televised press conference. "People understandably are very nervous."
Minor structural damage was reported throughout Los Angeles, along with five minor injuries and people stuck in elevators, said City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, serving as acting mayor. She said there was flooding in one department store.
The jolt caused a fire but no injuries at a Southern California Edison electrical substation in La Habra, about 12 miles southwest of the epicenter, spokesman Paul Klein said. Damage there and to other equipment led to some power outages in Chino Hills, Chino, Diamond Bar and Pomona, he said.
To prepare for the "Big One," scientists and emergency planners in the fall will hold what is billed as the largest earthquake drill in the country. It will be based on a hypothetical magnitude-7.8 temblor. Earlier this year, scientists calculated that California faces a 99.7 percent chance of a magnitude-6.7 quake or larger in the next 30 years.
Bron:CBS News
Earthquake strongly jolts "lucky" L.A.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An earthquake struck just east of Los Angeles on Tuesday, rocking tall buildings and rattling nerves across Southern California, but causing no serious injuries or major structural damage.
The quake hit at 11:42 a.m. local time (2:42 p.m. EDT) about 30 miles east of Los Angeles in suburban Chino Hills and registered magnitude 5.4 -- making it the strongest seismic event centered near America's second-largest city since the 6.7-magnitude Northridge quake in 1994.
It was followed in the next few hours by more than 50 aftershocks, the largest measuring 3.6, and geologists said there was a small chance it could be a foreshock to a larger earthquake.
"I think we were very lucky with this one," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told a news conference in Sacramento, adding he called his Los Angeles-area home to speak with his wife, Maria Shriver, immediately after the quake.
Magnitude 5 quakes are considered moderate but are still capable of causing damage. The U.S. Geological Survey said Tuesday's quake was shallow, about 8.5 miles deep.
Across Southern California, the temblor was felt as a strong jolt, swaying tall buildings in downtown Los Angeles and Orange County and sending office workers into the streets.
"I immediately went and stood under a doorway," said Rachel Feldman, a 27-year-old attorney who works in the 75-story US Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles, the tallest building in the western United States.
Sara Phillips, 28, also an attorney in the US Bank Tower, said: "I wasn't scared. The building is on rollers so it made me feel like I was going to barf." Continued...
Bron:Reuters
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An earthquake struck just east of Los Angeles on Tuesday, rocking tall buildings and rattling nerves across Southern California, but causing no serious injuries or major structural damage.
The quake hit at 11:42 a.m. local time (2:42 p.m. EDT) about 30 miles east of Los Angeles in suburban Chino Hills and registered magnitude 5.4 -- making it the strongest seismic event centered near America's second-largest city since the 6.7-magnitude Northridge quake in 1994.
It was followed in the next few hours by more than 50 aftershocks, the largest measuring 3.6, and geologists said there was a small chance it could be a foreshock to a larger earthquake.
"I think we were very lucky with this one," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told a news conference in Sacramento, adding he called his Los Angeles-area home to speak with his wife, Maria Shriver, immediately after the quake.
Magnitude 5 quakes are considered moderate but are still capable of causing damage. The U.S. Geological Survey said Tuesday's quake was shallow, about 8.5 miles deep.
Across Southern California, the temblor was felt as a strong jolt, swaying tall buildings in downtown Los Angeles and Orange County and sending office workers into the streets.
"I immediately went and stood under a doorway," said Rachel Feldman, a 27-year-old attorney who works in the 75-story US Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles, the tallest building in the western United States.
Sara Phillips, 28, also an attorney in the US Bank Tower, said: "I wasn't scared. The building is on rollers so it made me feel like I was going to barf." Continued...
Bron:Reuters
Californië blijft vrezen voor 'Big One'
De aardbeving in Californië van afgelopen dinsdag schudde de zuidelijke Amerikaanse staat weliswaar behoorlijk op, maar het was bij lange na niet de zogenoemde 'Big One', de grote klapper waar wetenschappers al lange tijd bang voor zijn.
De aardbeving, die een momentmagnitude had van 5,4 richtte niet veel schade aan. Natuurlijk schrokken inwoners er wel van. Maar volgens een seismologe uit Californië is dat niet zo erg. "Ik heb het idee dat mensen min of meer vergeten zijn hoe een aardbeving ook al weer voelt. Laten we deze maar beschouwen als een oefening."
In het najaar staat er in Californië een grootscheepse aardbevingsoefening gepland, de grootste ooit in de Verenigde staten. Bij die oefening wordt uitgegaan van een momentmagnitude van 7,8.
Ter vergelijking: de aardbeving die in 2004 voor de kust van Sumatra een aantal tsunami's veroorzaakte en meer dan 225 duizend mensen het leven kostte, had een magnitude van zo'n 9,2. Een andere aardbeving met een magnitude van ongeveer 7,8 was die in San Francisco, ook in Californië, in 1906. De stad werd er volledig door verwoest, vooral doordat gasleidingen braken en er brand uitbrak. Het aantal dodelijke slachtoffers van die ramp wordt geschat op drieduizend. Een aardbeving in Los Angeles in 1994 had een momentmagnitude van 6,7 en kostte aan 72 mensen het leven. Bruggen en gebouwen werden verwoest.
Wetenschappers berekenden eerder dit jaar dat Californië een kans van 99,7 procent loopt om binnen dertig jaar getroffen te worden door een aardbeving van 6,7 of hoger.
Bron:De Pers
De aardbeving in Californië van afgelopen dinsdag schudde de zuidelijke Amerikaanse staat weliswaar behoorlijk op, maar het was bij lange na niet de zogenoemde 'Big One', de grote klapper waar wetenschappers al lange tijd bang voor zijn.
De aardbeving, die een momentmagnitude had van 5,4 richtte niet veel schade aan. Natuurlijk schrokken inwoners er wel van. Maar volgens een seismologe uit Californië is dat niet zo erg. "Ik heb het idee dat mensen min of meer vergeten zijn hoe een aardbeving ook al weer voelt. Laten we deze maar beschouwen als een oefening."
In het najaar staat er in Californië een grootscheepse aardbevingsoefening gepland, de grootste ooit in de Verenigde staten. Bij die oefening wordt uitgegaan van een momentmagnitude van 7,8.
Ter vergelijking: de aardbeving die in 2004 voor de kust van Sumatra een aantal tsunami's veroorzaakte en meer dan 225 duizend mensen het leven kostte, had een magnitude van zo'n 9,2. Een andere aardbeving met een magnitude van ongeveer 7,8 was die in San Francisco, ook in Californië, in 1906. De stad werd er volledig door verwoest, vooral doordat gasleidingen braken en er brand uitbrak. Het aantal dodelijke slachtoffers van die ramp wordt geschat op drieduizend. Een aardbeving in Los Angeles in 1994 had een momentmagnitude van 6,7 en kostte aan 72 mensen het leven. Bruggen en gebouwen werden verwoest.
Wetenschappers berekenden eerder dit jaar dat Californië een kans van 99,7 procent loopt om binnen dertig jaar getroffen te worden door een aardbeving van 6,7 of hoger.
Bron:De Pers
Will Chino Hills earthquake shake L.A. out of complacency?
Experts hope the 5.4 quake will remind people to be prepared. A regionwide quake drill planned for November is already getting more attention.
Southern California has been hit by more than 90 small aftershocks from the 5.4 Chino Hills earthquake, an event officials hope will increase awareness about the danger of an much larger temblor to come.
The 5.4 temblor Tuesday caused little damage, but it was the first quake of its size to hit a metropolitan part of California since the much larger and more destructive 1994 Northridge quake. Quake-safety advocates believe this lull in seismic activity in heavily populated area has made it harder for them to push new laws and quake building standards.
"Any time you don't have an earthquake for a long time, people's concerns go elsewhere," said Kate Hutton, a staff seismologist at Caltech. "There's nothing like a good shake to their minds."
Hutton and her colleagues have determined that they usually have two days of a "teachable moment" to promote safety awareness.
"The attention will certainly go away," said Hutton, who caught four hours sleep and was losing her voice from doing so many interviews since the temblor struck. "We can only hope to get a little shake once in a while to remind us."
Lucy Jones of the U.S. Geological Survey said there's already been a positive effect of the Chino Hills quake. She and other experts have struggled over the last few months to advertise a regional earthquake drill in November called the Great Southern California ShakeOut.
Cities and businesses are being asked to sign up and participate.
"We were getting 10 to 30 registrations a day," Jones said. "Yesterday, we got 400."
Jones said she was not surprised.
"A lot of people think we've solved the problem" of earthquake preparedness, she said. "It's easy not to think about the work we have to do."
Most of the aftershocks were tiny. But one measured 3.8.
The quake struck hardest in an area of San Bernardino County that has seen massive growth in population and housing in the last decade. That meant that the buildings shaken the hardest were mostly built under California's strictest building codes, updated in 1997 in response to the 6.7 Northridge quake of 1994.
That kept damage to a minimum. Only minor injuries were reported, three at an outpatient medical clinic in Brea and five at a building in the Wilshire district of Los Angeles.
Although moderate in intensity, the quake rumbled up from a relatively shallow depth, making it feel sharper, stronger and scarier than its magnitude suggested, especially in areas close to the epicenter.
"It's the first time in my life I actually got under my desk," said Anaheim Police Sgt. Ken Seymour, a native Southern Californian. Robert Heded, 32, a Time Warner technician who lives in Culver City, was about 30 feet up a telephone pole at La Cienega and Pico boulevards in Los Angeles when the quake hit.
"I just sat there and waited, kinda rode it out," he said not long after Tuesday's quake as he bought an energy drink at a 7-Eleven, still dressed in his reflective safety vest. The lines were "swaying a lot more than usual, about four feet from side to side," he said. "I wasn't sure what was happening, if it was an earthquake or if it was me."
Heded said he finished up his work, still strapped to the pole in his safety gear. Then made his way down.
"It was bad," said Nirmala Dawson, the director of the Montessori School of Chino. She said the school performs frequent earthquake drills. "But at that moment, to be honest, we forgot them. We just evacuated."
No one was injured, she said, but a few children were frightened by the shaking. Then, after the quake, phones began ringing off the hook with calls from parents. That nearly universal instinct to call loved ones -- or someone -- strained the capacity of the regional phone network, perhaps instructive for officials planning emergency responses to the next massive earthquake. Verizon lost some phone service Tuesday in several quake-affected areas.
"We have some outages on our land-line side," said Jonathan Davies, Verizon spokesman. "We're not sure yet if it's physical damage or just due to high call volumes."
AT&T's cellphone service was spotty in some areas. Sitting in a Starbucks in Pasadena, Paul Roberts was able to get calls on his cellphone.
"But I am sitting here with my buddy, who has AT&T, too, and he can't make outgoing calls," said Roberts, a student at Art Center College of Design.
Bron:Los Angeles Times
Experts hope the 5.4 quake will remind people to be prepared. A regionwide quake drill planned for November is already getting more attention.
Southern California has been hit by more than 90 small aftershocks from the 5.4 Chino Hills earthquake, an event officials hope will increase awareness about the danger of an much larger temblor to come.
The 5.4 temblor Tuesday caused little damage, but it was the first quake of its size to hit a metropolitan part of California since the much larger and more destructive 1994 Northridge quake. Quake-safety advocates believe this lull in seismic activity in heavily populated area has made it harder for them to push new laws and quake building standards.
"Any time you don't have an earthquake for a long time, people's concerns go elsewhere," said Kate Hutton, a staff seismologist at Caltech. "There's nothing like a good shake to their minds."
Hutton and her colleagues have determined that they usually have two days of a "teachable moment" to promote safety awareness.
"The attention will certainly go away," said Hutton, who caught four hours sleep and was losing her voice from doing so many interviews since the temblor struck. "We can only hope to get a little shake once in a while to remind us."
Lucy Jones of the U.S. Geological Survey said there's already been a positive effect of the Chino Hills quake. She and other experts have struggled over the last few months to advertise a regional earthquake drill in November called the Great Southern California ShakeOut.
Cities and businesses are being asked to sign up and participate.
"We were getting 10 to 30 registrations a day," Jones said. "Yesterday, we got 400."
Jones said she was not surprised.
"A lot of people think we've solved the problem" of earthquake preparedness, she said. "It's easy not to think about the work we have to do."
Most of the aftershocks were tiny. But one measured 3.8.
The quake struck hardest in an area of San Bernardino County that has seen massive growth in population and housing in the last decade. That meant that the buildings shaken the hardest were mostly built under California's strictest building codes, updated in 1997 in response to the 6.7 Northridge quake of 1994.
That kept damage to a minimum. Only minor injuries were reported, three at an outpatient medical clinic in Brea and five at a building in the Wilshire district of Los Angeles.
Although moderate in intensity, the quake rumbled up from a relatively shallow depth, making it feel sharper, stronger and scarier than its magnitude suggested, especially in areas close to the epicenter.
"It's the first time in my life I actually got under my desk," said Anaheim Police Sgt. Ken Seymour, a native Southern Californian. Robert Heded, 32, a Time Warner technician who lives in Culver City, was about 30 feet up a telephone pole at La Cienega and Pico boulevards in Los Angeles when the quake hit.
"I just sat there and waited, kinda rode it out," he said not long after Tuesday's quake as he bought an energy drink at a 7-Eleven, still dressed in his reflective safety vest. The lines were "swaying a lot more than usual, about four feet from side to side," he said. "I wasn't sure what was happening, if it was an earthquake or if it was me."
Heded said he finished up his work, still strapped to the pole in his safety gear. Then made his way down.
"It was bad," said Nirmala Dawson, the director of the Montessori School of Chino. She said the school performs frequent earthquake drills. "But at that moment, to be honest, we forgot them. We just evacuated."
No one was injured, she said, but a few children were frightened by the shaking. Then, after the quake, phones began ringing off the hook with calls from parents. That nearly universal instinct to call loved ones -- or someone -- strained the capacity of the regional phone network, perhaps instructive for officials planning emergency responses to the next massive earthquake. Verizon lost some phone service Tuesday in several quake-affected areas.
"We have some outages on our land-line side," said Jonathan Davies, Verizon spokesman. "We're not sure yet if it's physical damage or just due to high call volumes."
AT&T's cellphone service was spotty in some areas. Sitting in a Starbucks in Pasadena, Paul Roberts was able to get calls on his cellphone.
"But I am sitting here with my buddy, who has AT&T, too, and he can't make outgoing calls," said Roberts, a student at Art Center College of Design.
Bron:Los Angeles Times
Blaze near Yosemite
Tony Teague of the Escondido City Fire Department turns away from a flare-up in Midpines, about 25 miles from Yosemite.
Uncontrolled flames roll over a hillside on the Telegraph Fire near Briceburg as the fire nears the west entrance to Yosemite National Park. The fire, which began on Saturday, has burned 29,600 acres.
A helicopter loads water from the Merced River while making water drops on the Telegraph fire outside of Mariposa, Calif.
Local residents watch flames of the Telegraph fire as it burns near Midpines, Calif., along the Merced River about 20 miles west of a Yosemite National Park entrance.
A California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection chopper works its way over a hot spot near a home in Mariposa. The Telegraph fire has burned 12 homes in Midpines and is threatening others in Mariposa.
Lynette Jackson, who works at Yosemite National Park, watches the flames from the Telegraph fire in the mountain town of Midpines.
Firefighters and tourists watch the flames at Midpines.
A helicopter heads out to drop water on the Telegraph Fire near Briceburg, California, as the fire nears the west entrance to Yosemite National Park.
A burned dryer sits near the foundation of a home on East Whitlock Avenue near Mariposa, one of the areas hit hardest by the Telegraph fire. At least 25 homes overall have been destroyed by the fire near Yosemite, at least 10 of which were around Mariposa.
Bron:Los Angeles Times | Gewijzigd: 30 juli 2008, 23:03 uur, door Kikimero
Tony Teague of the Escondido City Fire Department turns away from a flare-up in Midpines, about 25 miles from Yosemite.
Uncontrolled flames roll over a hillside on the Telegraph Fire near Briceburg as the fire nears the west entrance to Yosemite National Park. The fire, which began on Saturday, has burned 29,600 acres.
A helicopter loads water from the Merced River while making water drops on the Telegraph fire outside of Mariposa, Calif.
Local residents watch flames of the Telegraph fire as it burns near Midpines, Calif., along the Merced River about 20 miles west of a Yosemite National Park entrance.
A California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection chopper works its way over a hot spot near a home in Mariposa. The Telegraph fire has burned 12 homes in Midpines and is threatening others in Mariposa.
Lynette Jackson, who works at Yosemite National Park, watches the flames from the Telegraph fire in the mountain town of Midpines.
Firefighters and tourists watch the flames at Midpines.
A helicopter heads out to drop water on the Telegraph Fire near Briceburg, California, as the fire nears the west entrance to Yosemite National Park.
A burned dryer sits near the foundation of a home on East Whitlock Avenue near Mariposa, one of the areas hit hardest by the Telegraph fire. At least 25 homes overall have been destroyed by the fire near Yosemite, at least 10 of which were around Mariposa.
Bron:Los Angeles Times | Gewijzigd: 30 juli 2008, 23:03 uur, door Kikimero
Firefighters make progress in containing Yosemite fire
LOS ANGELES, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Firefighters continued to make good moves toward containing a destructive blaze near the Yosemite National Park in Northern California, authorities said on Thursday.
Nearly 4,500 firefighters continued to battle the fire, which claimed 21 homes and displaced thousands of people after it erupted a week ago, according to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS)
The blaze remained 40-percent contained Thursday morning, but authorities hope that number will rise as the day wears on and firefighters battle the last stubborn flames on the north side of the nearly 34,000-acre (13,770-hectare) conflagration, said USFS spokeswomen Suzanne Grin.
"I think we are feeling good," Grin said.
As the fire died down, rural residents began returning home to charred neighborhoods, but about 100 homes around the towns of Mariposa and Midpines were still off limits.
The destructive blaze has scorched 50 square miles (80 square kilometers) of Sierra terrain west of Yosemite.
An army of more than two dozen helicopters and aerial tankers has been dropping retardant on the northern edge of the fire, while hand crews and bulldozers construct firebreaks and prepare for possible back burns to halt the flames' advance.
"They're throwing everything they've got at the north side," said Sarah Gibson, a fire headquarters spokeswoman.
The blaze appeared to have begun late Friday when two men and two women went into remote woods to shoot rocks with a rifle, investigators said.
Bron:Chinaview.cn
LOS ANGELES, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Firefighters continued to make good moves toward containing a destructive blaze near the Yosemite National Park in Northern California, authorities said on Thursday.
Nearly 4,500 firefighters continued to battle the fire, which claimed 21 homes and displaced thousands of people after it erupted a week ago, according to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS)
The blaze remained 40-percent contained Thursday morning, but authorities hope that number will rise as the day wears on and firefighters battle the last stubborn flames on the north side of the nearly 34,000-acre (13,770-hectare) conflagration, said USFS spokeswomen Suzanne Grin.
"I think we are feeling good," Grin said.
As the fire died down, rural residents began returning home to charred neighborhoods, but about 100 homes around the towns of Mariposa and Midpines were still off limits.
The destructive blaze has scorched 50 square miles (80 square kilometers) of Sierra terrain west of Yosemite.
An army of more than two dozen helicopters and aerial tankers has been dropping retardant on the northern edge of the fire, while hand crews and bulldozers construct firebreaks and prepare for possible back burns to halt the flames' advance.
"They're throwing everything they've got at the north side," said Sarah Gibson, a fire headquarters spokeswoman.
The blaze appeared to have begun late Friday when two men and two women went into remote woods to shoot rocks with a rifle, investigators said.
Bron:Chinaview.cn
