4.0 aftershock Hawthorne

4.0 Hawthorne Tuesday May 19.

There is a lot of irony in life, right? I think it is so weird that the biggest shaker I have experienced in some time happened this week (the 4.7 Hawthorne). And normally, I would be all over the afterschocks...posting this one and that one.... they are all in the Hawthorne, Inglewood, LAX area.... (there have been tons.) Some of them small but for me, who cares. I always like putting up the photo and map no matter how small.

But I haven't put up any. I have been swamped with stuff to do this week. Running around like a crazy person. And then I got sick and I don't know I just didn't have time to post.

And then there was the decent sized 4.0 on Tuesday and darn it...I didn't feel it! I was walking down the street to vote when it happened and you know unless the quake is pretty large you don't always notice them when you are outside.

Anyway, I say all that to apologize. I am sorry I have missed many of them. But really, I can't put up too many photos of this seismic hot zone. It is too uninteresting. Although, if I remember correctly, I think the Beach Boys grew up not too far from all these quakes. I will come back when I get that detail.

This particular aftershock is a bit creepy in that it is right next to the 105 freeway. This freeway is the latest freeway in Los Angeles. I think it took close to 20 years from inception to wheels on it. And when it was completed it was at full capacity. Basically, a brand new 17 mile stretch of gridlock. Cal Trans and the State of California got it wrong. I ask you, if they get the basic tenet of what a freeway should be...wrong... who is to say they didn't also get the correct concrete versus sand mixture wrong?

And with that in mind.. I promise you had Tuesday's quake been a 6 and not a 4...the 105 would be a broken down pile of mess. .......How about those Good Vibrations?

Holey Moley.... I sure felt that one! 5.0 Earthquake Hawthorne/Lennox

May 17, 8:39pm..... Lennox, CA. Well, that sure got MY attention. We just had a 5.0 (preliminary) about 15 miles south of me and it sure was a rocker. I got an email from a friend of mine who lives in the Hollywood Hills and she said it was short. I spoke to my family in Long Beach and they said it was short. It seemed to last longer here where I am located and that made me suspect I was closer to it than the other people.

The funny part about this is that I had posted earlier this week about Bolsa Chica which is on the Newport Inglewood fault. And I can't say exactly but I'm pretty sure this quake will be on the Newport Inglewood Fault. That was the fault responsible for the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake which I think was a 6 or 7 on the richter scale.

If I were a news crew I would head for this guy's house on 106 and Yukon and make him show the crap on his floor. I'm sure stuff went flying.

Someone could send a news crew and see the crap on my floor too..but that was caused by my 7 year old son not an earthquake.

2.4 Earthquake Bolsa Chica Wetlands

On May 10th there was a 2.4 earthquake in the wetlands near Bolsa Chica Beach. This is a stretch of beach and road that I actually like in the southland. For the most part driving along the beach in the greater los angeles vicinity is not a pleasant experience. Too many cars and too many people jetting across the road with beach chairs and beers in hand, make it a bit challenging for the casual driver. But this little area of PCH is different. The wetlands soften the landscape. It is not as impacted as other areas because people do not go to Bolsa Chica as much as the more popular Huntington or even Seal Beach. Just you in your car with your precious KCRW playing in the background and a lovely bird flying overhead in search of a meal to your left. If you are driving south on PCH.

2.5 earthquake in Venice---CA not Italy

On Tuesday May 12 there was a 2.5 earthquake in Venice. It was about a half a block from Mitchell's Market. There are a jillion people who are passionate about Venice. I am not. I remember going to the area when I was a kid and hanging out at the amusement park, POP (Pacific Ocean Park). As fun as it might have been to explore Venice as a kid I was still struck by the question... "Is this nice or is this a dump?" Many years later I am not as quizzical. It is a dump.

1.8 earthquake Reseda

Today---May 8 there was a 1.8 earthquake under this house at 2:33am. WEll, perhaps it was under Frank's locks and keys van. And you know what they say.. 'if the van's a rockin' don't come...'

no. I can't say it.

Even if only three people see my blog I can't write that bumper sticker.

Northridge earthquake

On Tuesday May 5 at 10:35am there was a 1.5 earthquake under this empty lot in Northridge.

When I look at that lot I am kind of curious if there was a building there at some other point. Perhaps it was there prior to the big Northridge quake in 1994.

At the time of the January '94 quake, I lived about 15 miles from the epicenter but you would not have known that by the damage in my apartment. I woke up to the sound of my refrigerator being thrown up against the wall. My bookcases rattled and tossed everything on the floor and then fell over into the pile. My TV hit the ground. I remember feeling so raw after it. I remember for the following months my friends and I didn't stray much from our neighborhood. I did have one friend who had a job in Venice and he said to me one day, "Have you been on Pico or Olympic lately?" And I said, "No." and he said, "Oh, I invite you to try driving it these days, it is the 10 freeway now. It is gross." The 10 collapsed around Fairfax and they had to shut it down for repairs which meant that everyone had to ride surface streets (Olympic and Pico).

I remember after the quake Geologists said that the Northridge Quake was on a fault that they did not know existed.

It is hard to imagine going through one of those again. But I am sure I will. It could be worse. It could be Newport/Inglewood Fault zone.

Malibu Earthquake 4.4

Now...this is interesting. On Friday May 1 at 6:11pm (local) There was a substantial 4.4 earthquake in Malibu. And get this.... I felt it! How funny that I would start this blog this week and actually get an earthquake to write about that I felt. It has been over year since I felt one.

I don't have an actual image of the epicenter because google has not photo mapped that area although I can show you the regular map HERE.

I was at my computer when I felt my desk shake. I am about 28 miles from Malibu which might explain that when I looked around I noticed my lights were not moving, my window was not shaking and my bookcase was not moving. Only my desk made a quick shake, almost like a flutter. When I went to the USGS site there was no indication of an earthquake and I thought that maybe it was just me. Perhaps I had pushed my desk in a way to cause the shake. But then when my husband came home he said he really felt the earthquake and that was when I confirmed it. It sometimes take a while before the USGS puts it up.

One more dimension to this story if that is really what we can call it. I was in the middle of sending an email telling someone that I had booked a room at a hotel right down the road from the epicenter of the earthquake when it hit. Que ...weird music.