Did you feel it?

[Samantha]

A relatively minor event compared to recent earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, Baja & China, but I see that a 3.9 magnitude earthquake just occurred less than 200 miles from Goshute. Everything OK there, John?

[HansV]

Goshute has been online after you posted this, so I guess he's OK.

[Goshute]

A relatively minor event compared to recent earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, Baja & China, but I see that a 3.9 magnitude earthquake just occurred less than 200 miles from Goshute. Everything OK there, John?

Didn't notice a thing, sorry. I have been in a couple of small tremblors, so I would recognize a detectable event.

But moderately familiar with the area of the quake, if I can either hit the lottery or rob a bank without being caught I'd like to retire down in that area, perhaps nearby Torrey.

http://www.nps.gov/care/index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.capitol.reef.national-park.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Goshute]

I have been in a couple of small tremblors, so I would recognize a detectable event.

WHOA, EITHER I'M HAVING A SYNCOPE ATTACK OR WE JUST HAD THREE TREMBLOR WAVES GO THROUGH AS I SIT HERE. EXCEPT MY OCCASIONAL HYPOTENSION DOESN'T CAUSE THE HOUSE TO CREAK!

I'M GOING OUT TO CHECK WITH THE NEIGHBORS. BRB.

[HansV]

Lots of Twitter messages about an earthquake in Salt Lake City right now...

[Goshute]

Yes, TV news reporting we just had a 5.0 event initial estimate perhaps 50 miles NNE of where I live. No damage done to my house. I'll edit this post with more information.

Here's the event report on the University of Utah seismology page: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/dyfi/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

On this map http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; look for Cottonwood heights, I live close to the southwest of the border of Cottonwood Heights City.

The map seems to have changed and Cottonwood Heights is no longer showing. I live about 3/4ths of the way south of Bountiful to American Fork. Television coverage continues. If you are patient enough to roll over the map and find zip code 84093, that's my location.

Distance corrected to about 80 miles NNE of where I live, magnitude adjusted to 4.9.

I'm hearing fire engine sirens, which is odd, the shake wasn't that strong. But I do have quake restraints on my water heater. (Better looking than these: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/ ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.)

That's all the reporting tonight, the Bride has lost interest and switched over to non-news programming.

[Samantha]

My youngest sister and her family are in the Salt Lake City area (West Jordan, I believe). I have settings on the USGS website for notifications of events near any of my far-flung family, which is how I noticed yesterday's event in Utah. But I've been away from my computer for a couple of hours, so I missed this bigger quake right in SLC.

[BobH]

Glad to hear that no one here has been adversely affected. I've never felt but one quake - about 2.1 - that occurred somewhere in the Blue Ridge mountains. I felt it in Raleigh, about 200 miles away, and watched as chandeliers swung back and forth. Don't think I'd ever get used to the ground doing rock 'n roll.

Is it just me or are we experiencing a surfeit of seismic activity? Or perhaps the reporting has just gotten better (or more sensitive to the events)? Seems like every time I turn on the radio, TV or Internet news there has just been another quake or another volcanic eruption. The news tonight said that they shut down Heathrow today due to the volcano in Iceland.

Me? I'm thinkin' that the universe has suddenly expanded and changed the power of black matter which has affected the seismic underpinnings on the planet. Wonder what it did to Venus?

[Charlotte]

I was about 100 miles away from the Loma Prieta quake that struck the Bay Area and I could not only feel it, but could see the landscape moving around outside. When you live in major earthquake country, you really appreciate the near misses!

[HansV]

magnitude adjusted to 4.9

Magnitude 4.9 shouldn't be too bad. I was on the 9th floor of an office building in Berkeley, California when a 5.8 quake hit Livermore, some 30 miles away, in January of 1980. I could see and feel the building swaying back and forth, but nothing was damaged. Two days later, a smaller aftershock in the evening caused a few things to fall over in my apartment, and my rocking chair started rocking by itself, but nothing serious.

[Goshute]

magnitude adjusted to 4.9

Magnitude 4.9 shouldn't be too bad. I was on the 9th floor of an office building in Berkeley, California when a 5.8 quake hit Livermore, some 30 miles away, in January of 1980. I could see and feel the building swaying back and forth, but nothing was damaged. Two days later, a smaller aftershock in the evening caused a few things to fall over in my apartment, and my rocking chair started rocking by itself, but nothing serious.

I'm quite happy with keeping it under 5.0. I expect a 6.0 plus event would be frightening.

A couple more things. Faults in the Salt Lake Valley: http://geology.utah.gov/online/pi/pi-3.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
A very zoomable shake map (my house is in an orange zone): http://geology.utah.gov/online/pdf/pi-76.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Samantha]

A 5.2 magnitude quake is the largest I've ever experienced, and we were about 200 miles distant from the epicenter. I looked up and could see pictures swaying away from the wall, and my son (who was about the age of my granddaughter, now) was convinced there were monsters under his bed, shaking it.

[ABabeNChrist]

I live in southern California and earthquakes seem to be a common occurrence here. But I do remember back in 1992 when the Landers earthquake occurred on June 28, with a magnitude of 7.3 I was living not more than 30 miles from the center of the quake. It was a good one. It knocked mobile homes off their foundations and also caused large cracks in the earth big enough to put your fist inside. When this first occurred, my crew and I were sent out there to reset up the fallen mobile homes. There was this one moment I will never forget, It was the very next day after the quake struck, I was under a mobile home jacking it back up so that I could put the piers back in place, when all of a sudden I noticed a total silence, it was so weird because just a moment earlier you could hear bird chirping, but this silence was different, it was so silent it almost hurt my ears, I know it sound strange but is true, so naturally I’m looking around, from under the mobile home of course, I could see this wave out in the horizon, it look as if the ground was rolling like the wave in the ocean, I could see it coming, you can bet I was moving as fast as I could to get out from underneath this mobile home. The wave itself looked every bit 3 feet in height from afar and as the quake past through with aftershock of 6.5. with all the movement or vibration from the quake I noticed not even a small rock was not disturbed, at least from what I observed.

[Charlotte]

Actaully, quakes are common all over California since we're on the edge of a tectonic plate and there are faults everywhere. The town of Hollister (near Salinas) has streets that are offset in places by a foot or more as a result of earthquakes past.

[Don Wells]

Actaully, quakes are common all over California since we're on the edge of a tectonic plate and there are faults everywhere. The town of Hollister (near Salinas) has streets that are offset in places by a foot or more as a result of earthquakes past.

I cannot imagine how land registry legislation and surveyors could deal with this type of situation.

[BobH]

Actaully, quakes are common all over California since we're on the edge of a tectonic plate and there are faults everywhere. The town of Hollister (near Salinas) has streets that are offset in places by a foot or more as a result of earthquakes past.

I cannot imagine how land registry legislation and surveyors could deal with this type of situation.

Had never thought of that, Don; but what an excellent question. I wonder who would own a piece of land if it shifted about 10 feet laterally past a known land registry boundary point? Are GPS readings accurate enough now to allow their use for surveying? I know when they first came out there was an introduced error that threw the readings off by about 30 meters. I think that was eventually reduced to about a meter and then totally removed.

Just how accurate can a GPS be, anyway? If accurate enough, that could sure make surveying easier.