Small Earthquake

Because the whole house shakes and earthquakes make a noise. Lights start swinging, as do doors, objects om shelves rattle, etc. etc.

Unless you've been in an earthquake it might not make sense, but when things that your whole life have been still (houses, ground, floor) start wobbling and waving, it is very noticable and has quite a fundamental effect..

You can very slightly feel a 4.0, 5.0 and up is very noticeable, 6.0 and up is disorienting, over an 8.0 and you tend to fall over.

Going backwards over the last 24 hours we've had

4.5
4.3
4.1
4.0
5.6
4.1
4.9
4.8
4.8
6.1 (Saturday evening).

The worrying thing is that when it starts you have no idea how long or how powerful its going to be. They mostly start the same.

Mostly people don't die from earthquakes, though stuff can fall on you. Especially in a place like Chile where every vulnerable building fell over decades ago. In the last 8.5 only one building became damaged, and that had not been built according to code. Its still standing, but unusable.

Waves are a worrying thing if you're near the sea, which sometimes we are. Fortunately with waves you get quite a bit of warning.

Also, everybody has apps on their phones, the News stations are very quick and there are emergency radio stations as well as sirens (WWII air raid sirens I think)

If you survive the immediate shake and wave, which unless you're stupid or unlucky is most likely, the worrying thing is loss of services - basically water. Start working out how long stocks of water in supermarkets last. Then think, if the water mains get knocked out, how long will it take to fix? 2 - 3 weeks? Maybe? And how much water does a family of 4 need just to drink over a 3 week period?

And the water mains here are badly built and bring the water from the mountains. The water supply fails 2 or 3 times a year for a day or so. Usually through contamination.

It is so usual here that its more of a pain than anything else.

Gosh 7.1 is quite big. by the scheme of things. I wonder when the SA fault is going to have a big lurch.

>>I wonder when the SA fault is going to have a big lurch.

Its an occasional worry. The one we had before Christmas was an 7.6. Beyond that it starts to get worrying, although the 8.8 in 2010 caused much less damage/death than you'd think. Utterly terrifying though.

Going backwards, our recent ones in Chile;
Dec 2016 7.6
Sep 2015 8.3
Mar 2015 6.4
Apr 2014 8.2
Apr 2014 7.7
Apr 2014 7.0
Mar 2014 7.0
Mar 2014 7.1
Mar 2012 7.1
Feb 2012 6.9
Jan 2011 7.1
Feb 2010 8.8

Anybody who says these things don't scare them is a liar or a twat. They are very very scary. And there is nothing you can do, you can neither run nor hide. In reality though its quite difficult to die in an earthquake in a country as well prepared for them as Chile. Most people either die because something falls on their head from a balcony or because of a wave. The real danger is the loss of infrastructure, including water.

Don't underestimate the preparedness of Chile and the value of that preparation. The one that devastated San Fran in 89 was only a 6.9. Even the one that devastated Haiti in 2010 was only a 7.0 The one that brought down chimneys and stuff in Shrewsbury in 1990 was a 5.1 - they do no damage here at all. There are 12 earthquakes in that list above, virtually all of them stronger than the ones that hit San Fran and Haiti.

Now, we may not suffer the damage that those two did, but we get the same shaking. And you simply do not want to know what that feels like if you happen to be 20 floors up at the time. Perhaps you're not aware of what Santiago looks like, probably not like you think....



That building in the middle of the above picture is 70 floors / 1,000ft tall. And in an earthquake it moves. A lot. Like it sways.

However, we also have buildings this old...



Now both those buildings have been through an 8.8 and the older building has been through a 9.0. Stuff just doesn't fall down here. Anything vulnerable is long gone.

Each magnitude is 33x more powerful than the previous. So a 7.0 is 33 times stronger than a 6.0 and 1089 times stronger than a 5.0 - Japan's 2011 earthquake was 35,937 times stronger than the one that hit San Francisco.

Have a look at this.....



You've got to think that one day, somewhere, there will be a monster one. And that's the scary bit.

When an earthquake starts everybody stops and pays attention, because they all start the same and you don't know how strong its going to be until it stops getting stronger. Almost always at that point you can relax, but not always. Also there is a huge variation in duration. The long ones can also get stronger.

All in all its a worrisome thing.

Sorry if I'm being boring.

To explain what the lifestyle of a family that lives all over the world is like would take an evening in a pub. But it is an experience, mostly good.

I've tried writing it just now, but it doesn't come out right. I guess the world is full of swings and roundabouts, and the only real problem is being forced to be in one place or forced to travel. As long as whichever you do is your choice, then its a pretty good world.

We like being able to sample the advantages of many places in the world, and dodge some of the disadvantages, although that often means missing things as well.

Each to their own, but my girls will be able to choose with knowledge. They will never be in the position of not knowing, and if they choose to live in one place, then that'll be a choice made well for them. Or vice versa if they choose to move around.

I know plenty of people who have no interest in travel or moving, and that is entirely their choice. It is only the blind and ignorant who refuse to try and then criticise those that do that annoy me.

That and a mental image that'll take a lot of butterflies and bunny rabbits to shift. Might have to postpone that kebab a bit longer - or at least agree that we eat standing up.

.....I will now always remember him as Elvisovic......

:-)