In Southern California the stunning mountains, the lush valleys, the sharply rising coastline all serve as constant reminders of California’s geological past. The place that I call home was shaped (and continues to be shaped) by tectonic forces that are still not clearly understood.
Tonight, while having dinner with friends, we were all once again reminded that California is Earthquake Country. At precisely 6:11:13 p.m., while my friends and I were all raising a glass of J.Lohr’s Cabernet Savignon to toast the end of another work week, a minor (4.4 magnitude) earthquake hit.
No one in my group panicked (though a few diners, obviously from outside California, let out a shriek as the quake hit). After a brief pause almost everyone in the restaurant went back to business as usual. A few diners reached for their Blackberries and iPhones to contact loved ones or to check the news. A few others, myself included, engaged in a favorite California game: “Guess the magnitude and epicenter’s location.” I am happy to report that of all the people in my group I was the closest to guessing the quake’s magnitude (I estimated a magnitude of 4.2) and the one closest to guessing the location of the quake’s epicenter ( I guessed Malibu). Because I was the “winner” my friends paid for my dinner!
For those of you who track earthquakes, I have included data from this “event.”
MAGNITUDE: 4.4
TIME: Friday, May 1, 2009, at 6:11:13 (Pacific Standard Time)
LOCATION: 6 miles (10 km) SW of Westlake Village - SW (216 degrees)
7 miles (11 km) WNW of Malibu – WNW (294 degrees)
8 miles (13 km) S of Thousand Oaks – S (156 degrees)
EPICENTER
COORDINATES: 34 degrees, 4.1 minutes N (34.069 N), 118 degrees 52.9 minutes W (118.882 W)
EPICENTER
DEPTH: 8.6 miles (13.9 km)
If you wish to see more detailed information, including links to Google Earth showing the exact location of the quake’s epicenter, please click on the link to the U.S. Geological Survey.
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SERVICE – EARTHQUAKE DATA
One day, in the not too distant future, we in California will be hit by a monster earthquake from the famed (or infamous) San Andreas Fault.
Unfortunately o far, there is no reliable technology for predicting exactly when the “Big One” will hit. In the meantime all that we can do is to be as prepared as possible for the day when it hits. Already there are efforts to prepare the area for when (not if) the "Big One" hits.
Remember this, if you are in California and you feel the ground move under your feet get ready, it may be the "Big One" coming to get you.
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