What steps would you take?

[Allan at Wallan]

At our workshop tonight, 8.55pm, we got the fright of our
lives, when a 5.3 earthquake tremor rattled the premises.

It was like a train pulling up outside the door and the whole
building seemed to rock on it's already unsteady foundations.

I became an engineer instead of a wood turner as I made
a bolt for the door.

Big relief ... all ok but a few sets of undies going into the
washing machine overnight.

Allan

[chambezio]

Allan, on the Friday night of the Long Weekend (2 Fridays back) 9.30 pm half asleep in front of the TV.......that train you mentioned rolled from the north to the south and had quite an audible sound as it passed by and went in to the distance. Five minutes later its mate followed it and then half an hour later a smaller train rumbled past. It was 4.2 and centred 30 miles to our north west and was 17 km deep. It was the biggest I have experienced and the first for my 21 year old daughter who panicked because she couldn't recognise what it was and what she should do.
No damage reported even though it was only 5 km from a sizable dam (Keepit Dam).
Its amazing just how fast your brain works. I felt/heard it but for a few milliseconds thought "What the ****?" .......followed by earth tremor. Then followed...."Nothing to worry about, this is Australia, oldest land in the world earth quakes don't happen well don't do any damage Then "What about Newcastle 10 or so years ago.....extensive damage and loss of life".
The daughter took quite a while to calm down so she could go to bed
Just as aside note, we are in granite country with step hills with large room sized boulders balancing on them. I thought of these boulders when I went to bed......no it did take some time to nod off

[MICKYG]

Allan in answer to your question


Long ones and often.

I trust all is well in Victoria, pretty nasty stuff earthquakes.

Regards Mike

[AlexS]

Stolen from elsewhere....
Moe hit by earthquake. Millions of dollars of improvement.

[tea lady]

ABC news this morning said there were 40 or so after shocks over night. Didn't feel any of them. Maybe just rocked to sleep. My partner did mention something at one point. The first one was fun though. Freaked the dog out. She thought something definitely need barking at. My 9 year old son was completely oblivious.

[Jim Carroll]

We have glass doors in our lounge and the rattled, at first thought it was a heavy truck passing but soon realised it was going way too long for that.

It was a weird sensation.

Can now understand how the kiwis in christchurch feel everytime there is a rumble.

[olbassy]

All you jokers just made my day.........and yer all should be on the stage -with Berty Newton...yep........first stage coach leaving town!...........felt nuthin over here...but Mummy (turns 90 in a couple of months)......thought Dad had returned from his grave...in Castlemaine....more please!!!!!

[acmegridley]

Moderators obviously dont know what standard Ghurka marching time is:64 paces per minute.

[RETIRED]

[witch1]

I wonder if there is any "fracking" for natural gas going on in the Moe area, has been confirmed to cause some large underground shifting in other parts of the world.
witch1

[tea lady]

I wonder if there is any "fracking" for natural gas going on in the Moe area, has been confirmed to cause some large underground shifting in other parts of the world.
witch1

Dunno about that! But their freeway might be in a different position again.

[rrich]

Northridge earthquake 1994, about 4:30 AM and a 6.7. About 50 miles from Huntington Beach.

The small dog would normally sleep between us. So the quake happens and the whole house shakes for just enough time for me to start thinking, "This can stop any time." After 15-20 seconds the shaking stops.

LOML reports, "We just had an earthquake" and goes back to sleep.

The dog is jittery and wants to go outside. After 5 minutes he is back in and we're just about to fall asleep when my beeper goes off.

The dog goes to sleep while I go out to the kitchen to respond to the beep. I call the number which is in the Washington D.C. area, three time zones distant. I was told, "You just had an earthquake." I answered, "Oh and what do you want me to do?" The answer was, "Nothing, we're just letting people know that you had an earthquake."

Back in bed and just about to fall asleep, the beeper goes off again. This time the number is in Kansas City and two time zones away. From the kitchen, I call again. I hear, "You had an earthquake. The power is off in Los Angeles and the UPS failed so the Los Angeles network center is down." I ask, "What do you want me to do?" The answer is the same, "Nothing, we're just letting you know that you had an earthquake."

I finally fall asleep and at about 6:30 AM the phone rings. It is my mother calling from Florida, three time zones away. The first words out of her mouth, you guessed it, "You had an earthquake."

I gave up, the dog was awake and we went out to the kitchen. I fed the dog and made coffee. In about a half hour, my wife comes out to the kitchen and "Did you know we had an earthquake last night? What are you doing up so early?" All I could think of was, "We had an earthquake."

[labr@]

Thanks Rich, that brightened up my day .