All Things Must End---Even Earthquake Droughts

It has come to pass. 10 years since the last decent shaker in West LA and 20 years since the last 7+ magnitude quake, the Great Earthquake Drought has ended.

As fate would have it, I did not feel the first quake. I was in the process of adding a lock to the side gate of my house. Needing a larger drill bit, I walked back to the garage passing the pool. As I entered the garage I heard a splash in the pool---which had been flat and calm. I turned to see the source of the splash was the in the skimmer filter trap---a wave had somehow filled the skimmer. And as I watched the whole pool started sloshing. Not to the point of coming out of the pool---but close. I knew what was happening in a second and started to bang on my roommate's window to alert him.

Drill still in hand while the pool sloshed

 For about a minute the waves rocked the pool, getting larger and forming a slow large period wave. The large period waves slowly travel back in forth in the pool, a rare sight to see since you can't create them by swimming, only earthquakes make 'em. Slowly things calmed down and that was that. I rushed to my outside earthquake bucket and plucked out the AM radio and tuned to KNX 1070 to listen to the quake reports. 6.4 near Searles Valley. A decent shaker that turned out to be a foreshock.

My earthquake bucket

Ladies and gentleman LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEE!

And then the Main Event. I was sitting at my computer, finishing things up before going to dinner. At first I felt the shaking and I told myself it was wishful thinking. Myself hoping for another quake. But then I heard the window frame creaking and I knew it was on like Donkey Kong. That was kinda a bummer because instead of staying in place and taking it all in, I bolted for the backyard to see the pool. So the only shaking I got was about the first 15 seconds on the quake, long before it reached it's crescendo. Escaping to backyard I found the pool sloshing out---definitely a larger quake than the first.

 

I again busted out the earthquake radio and listened to KNX. They are by far the best for earthquake coverage! All of their reporters (whether currently working or not) report in from across town and they also take callers to report their experiences, so after a few minutes of listening to reports it was clear that this quake was bigger than the first an also centered in the same area.