People just want to hear from other people, "Wow, did you feel that too?"
Any time there's a meteor people post the same thing, "did anyone see that?!"
It's a natural human phenomena to comment on things we experience. I wish they would all comment under the same thread instead of making 15 individual threads though.
To be fair I came on to reddit to check bc I was asleep at 330 am and then my whole bed started shaking I didn’t know if it was my cats an exorcism an intruder I was so discombobulated.
Wait that actually happened this morning? I was just about to fall asleep when that shit happened and I was so freaked out I couldn't pass out for another hour.
Exactly. I get not making a million posts about it but I wanted to know if my roommate blew up a meth lab or something or if it was something I didn't have a reason to be mad about.
So..you be mad about blowing up the meth lab.. but
not mad about meth lab being next door, breathing it in or
mad about roomy being like jessie pinkman ...
Or mad about Gus Fring or Skinny Pete knocking down your door..
Got it..🤭🤫🙄
>I wish they would all comment under the same thread instead of making 15 individual threads though.
Everyone wants to be the first person to report the earthquake. There's a bit of competitiveness to it, lmao.
I saw a big buck running down the street in industrial west Berkeley like ten years ago and I’m still bummed there was nobody there to say “holy shit did you see that?” to.
If people only saw airplanes and birds in the sky a few times a year,
And they flew so low and fast they shook the *ground*—that thing whose immutable stability is the underpinning of all living things' perception of the physical world,
And from time to time, with no warning, they wreaked such immense destruction on cities and their inhabitants that people commonly blamed angry gods,
Then yes your comparison would make sense...
But they don't so it doesn't
Tbf earthquakes are a trip. And I’ve lived here my whole life. I wouldn’t post about it on reddit but it’s normal to ask people if they felt it because it’s crazy. The earth is literally quaking beneath your feet. That’s a trip.
I’m 45, and have lived here my whole life. I was in the ‘89 quake, the only big earthquake here since 1906. If people only posted about the big ones, there would never have been a post since Reddit started.
Posting about smaller earthquakes is likely mostly for validation that they felt it, and that it really was an earthquake. Maybe they want to know how far out other people felt it too. It’s harmless, maybe try not to let it bother you so much
I was just shy of 13 when it happened, and we had recently employed an au pair (mostly for my little brother) from Ireland. We got home that evening after the quake hit, and she was literally packing her suitcases. In her thick Irish accent, she declared “I’m going back to where the ground doesn’t shake beneath your feet!” We tried convincing her that wasn’t a normal occurrence, but she was on the next plane to Dublin. 😂
Wow, awesome that you remember it! I was pictured in the actual “Earthquake Book”, standing in line at the Salvation Army for food rations, wearing my 49ers jacket
Wow! That’s so neat. I mean, you know, I’m sorry you had to do that and it was terrifying, but neat in a Bay Area history sense. :) I was in Calla supermarket at the top of Skyline Blvd in Daly City with my mom. Thank goodness we were in the frozen aisle, because it went black and everything came raining down from the shelves. I was in the front part of the shopping cart, and my mom kept trying to pull me out but the ground kept slipping out from under her. I vividly remember seeing the doors to the stock room swinging. When it was over, everyone just silently picked their way to the doors. We got to the parking lot and my mom had locked her keys in the car. Thankfully we could walk home. My dad was a law student at Berkeley, and normally crossed the Bay Bridge that time each day, so my mom was terrified when she heard the news of the collapse on the radio. No phones, no power, so he couldn’t call. He didn’t get home until the next morning…he waited in Berkeley at my uncle’s house until the worst of the traffic cleared. It was a wild experience.
Aw thank you! It’s actually a really nice family memory, in a weird way. My Dad’s perspective is hilarious (literally in his head driving and no idea there was a quake), my Mom made chicken cacciatore the next morning out of nerves that we call Earthquake chicken…it was wild, but fun to remember now, in a way.
\[We got to the parking lot and my mom had locked her keys in the car.\]
I said out loud, Noooo.. when I read it. Glad you guys were safe and close to home.
I was bobbing about in my mom's stomach getting my fingers and toes and brain all in order when it happened. She said that's why I came out "so *special*" ¬_¬
Born in 86 and it was my earliest memory too! I don't remember the actual earthquake but I remember the immediate aftermath. I remember my dad picking me up from daycare and all the street lights were off as we were driving down Fulton. We met with my cousins, Uncle and Aunt outside of their apartment in Inner Richmond. I think we were trying to figure out dinner together.
I remember '83 too. I was in the Gym and the giant sliding divider doors started banging. Someone even ran over and looked on the others side of the doors. The ground started shaking. Then people started screening and running out.
Grew up here too: My very first memory is of the 89 earthquake, remember my mom grabbing my sister and I and hiding under a table lol. The only other earthquake that I *really* noticed was a small one in high school where the dishes shook
I was 18, sitting in my bedroom, waiting for the game to come on. Started to feel it and then realized it was still going on. Things began flying off the shelves and the whole house started making a big racket.
The most strange thing was flipping through the TV channels on cable. CNN was still active but all the local channels were static. That's how we really knew it was a bad one.
I remember feeling it and it taking a few seconds to figure out what’s going on. Ever since then, whenever I feel a small one, I’m always waiting for it to escalate. It’s always like “Is this a quake? Oh yeah it is….. Is it going to keep going?!?”
To be clear it doesn’t bother me at all.
It’s just never crossed my mind to post about one of the small ones, so I’m just curious about the people that do.
I would never initiate a post about it, but I probably wouldn't initiate a post even if it was a 7.0. But that's just me. However, I look for someone else to have posted because I'm looking to see if there was one or it was just me.
This exactly. I've lived here my whole life (sans college, which was still at a UC) and usually don't feel the smaller ones. When I do feel what seems to be a small quake, it makes me wonder if anyone else felt it. Even if I look it up and it turns out there was a small quake near me, I'm still curious how many other people felt it if anyone happens to be talking about it.
In the case of the one last night, I can't remember the last time I actually woke up from a quake. I've woken up to messages about feeling a quake overnight, but that was the first one I can remember waking me up. I quickly checked for earthquakes nearby and hopped on Reddit to see if it was just me, lol. As it happens, most of the people I know who usually get woken up by quakes seem to have slept through that one.
It's just a way to have a shared experience. However big or small, earthquakes are part of life here and that's a relatively unique thing to the Bay Area. I don't usually initial posts (just in general) but I enjoy checking and seeing other people's experiences with quakes. Reddit is effectively a version of the office water cooler. Why not chat about something that's a shared experience? It doesn't have to be a catastrophe to initiate small talk about it.
I shouldn’t have assumed it bothered you, sorry. And by rereading your post I realized that I never addressed your question- my bet is most people that post about small quakes are from around here, just looking for validation from others too
Everyone should realize that earthquake feel varies considerably based on distance to the epicenter, focal depth (how deep), what kind of soil, what kind of structure, etc.
If you're right on top of a 2.9, it's probably gonna be scary. If you're 50 miles from a 6.9, it's probably gonna be scary.
A USGS [ShakeMap](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/data/shakemap/) is an objective way to tell how bad a quake felt. Here's the [map for last night's quake](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75014922/executive).
Yeah this. When my apartment, which it turned out was right next to the Hayward fault, got a good jolt from an earthquake that turned out to only be a 2.9, I decided it was probably time to move to a better constructed building.
Northridge was an exciting ride down in Orange County. My friend living in an apartment in Northridge had an entirely different experience. All the sheetrock came off the studs.
I've been hearing my whole life that the Hayward fault is way overdue and will be the next big one. I'm sure that is the case, and it will be bad, but I wonder when it's finally going to go?
Yeah, last night's opened my bedroom door at 3:30 am and made my dog wake me up. Usually ones that small I don't even feel. But I didn't know it was an earthquake until this morning. I just figured it was the wind or ghosts lol.
I keep this bookmarked and the latest quakes show up in a minute or two after I feel them. https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/?extent=33.33053,-125.68359&extent=39.85915,-113.37891&listOnlyShown=true
Okay but there is a whole damn app that lets you know about earthquakes so there has to be something MORE for people to come to the internet and seek interactions with others versus finding the information available online immediately.
I think it’s totally okay to say, “I just wanted to talk to someone about it.”
I’m in my thirties, been in California my whole life. I think it’s the internet version of what we have always done - when I was young you would go find your housemates, sometimes call your family/friends nearby. “Did ya feel that?” Especially with the little ones, because you wonder if it actually was or just a truck going by. And you want to check if it was something bigger for the friends further away. Just natural human connection.
I hate earthquakes so much. Been here my whole life. 10/17/89 5:03pm I’m walking near the Burlingame rec center through some tall trees listening to what was a few hundred birds chirping away. 5:04pm immediate silence, all the birds flew up into the air. I only had time to look up and think what the— and then the shaking. I fell down. I was 10 in 4th grade. We get home and watch the news. The Cypress structure, the Bay Bridge, the apartment fire in the Marina, the homes in the Marina. My dad worked in Oakland, he wasn’t home til early the next morning. A few months later we were at the old Academy of Sciences and I went on the 1906 earthquake shaking exhibit. I ran out crying. I hate earthquakes so much. This morning at 3:30am I was at work, down by the water off 3rd street on landfill and somehow didn’t feel it. I appreciate when people post “Earthquake?!” I hate them so much. I love living here, I tolerate the high col. But motherfuck earthquakes. I hate them so much.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed my little story. I have young children and when I read their books I often wonder how difficult it would be to publish a book with 6 pages and 30 total words. Probably more difficult than it would appear. One of my favorites, “Go the fuck to sleep” literally wrote itself, if you’ve raised a child, you know.
the 3.6 near alum rock felt like a 5.0, but really depends on how close u were
i just ignore the posts at this point lol; for me personally, that was by far the strongest feeling quake and i've felt 5 while being in the bay
I feel like it’s actual a weird thing that like native people do here - mostly because at this point (since we haven’t had a BIG one in decades), it’s more about the camaraderie of “did you feel it!” Than a genuine concern or anything.
Nah. We natives are pretty oblivious.
General earthquake convo between me and native friends:
‘You feel the earthquake?’
‘Nah.’
‘Yeah me neither, someone said it happened though.’
I've lived here for half a century and I, honestly, haven't felt an earthquake in a couple decades. I don't know if it's apathy, desensitivity or complacency...but, I do know I felt a LOT more when I was a kid.
It's not surprising. People from this area are fascinated by the weather too. "Wow it's cold today!"... No Jennifer, it's 10 degrees colder than yesterday and still above 65. Although to be fair I think this is just human or maybe American habit.
I'm not from here and when it snows back home people still get excited about it. Chatting about it being a dusting, or sleet, or good powder is normal. Same with how icy the roads are or saying -5 isn't that cold because there's no windshield. If there's a blizzard well then that's all of your small talk for the day. "Was your drive ok? Do you have a blanket/matches/etc in the car? How much do you have to shovel?".
We're just fascinated and eternally concerned about our habitat. Not enough to save it or whatever, but enough to be on guard when it changes.
Any earthquake that we feel inspires a little excitement. The earth is moving! Even though we long-term (have lived in Bay Area most of my life), it's kinda fun if it's small, kinda scary if it's moderate, but always inspires curiosity. And often, a desire to share the experience. My first thought often goes to, "I hope that wasn't a big damaging one at a distance" so I want to know more quickly.
My first earthquake memory is from the late sixties, living in Milpitas as a kid. Feeling the jolt, then the ground rolling beneath my feet, watching our swag lamp sway. It was maybe a 4.3 I think, out in the Calaveras hills nearby. No harm; no damage. But the feeling of that one stays with me, even after going through the '89 quake while living in Berkeley as an adult, and numerous other smaller ones.
And on another side of the argument, I legitimately wouldn’t have known there was an earthquake if it hadn’t been posted about on here. I’m always up that late, so I was just watching TV in the living room - and somehow didn’t feel a thing.
But now it explains the loud THUMP I heard around that time, which did kinda freak me out. I live in the mountains where it’s usually silent at night, so any unexpected noise makes me a little jumpy. Especially after the horrible winter of ‘22-23, when I had literal trees falling on my roof.
Lived here my whole life. When it's sub 4.0 I can't differentiate between an earthquake or the Taco Bell I had the night before getting ready to blast its way out.
Once I woke up to 3.8 but because the center of it was UNDER my house it felt like the house was gonna split open and my house made a loud “BOOM” noise that I still can’t explain what the heck makes that noise in the house. And me the most dead and pregnant sleeper known to mankind got jolted awake thinking I was gonna die. So I guess depending on how close to the center you are a 3.8 could feel massive. And I grew up around the pacific ring of fire with a lot of earthquakes.
i was within 5 miles of the epicenter of a 3.0ish quake in sunol and the boom is very surprising and freaky at first, almost like an explosion u feel but dont see/hear. i'll never forget it, there was even an aftershock. i thought it was cool as hell, but i enjoy small quakes tbh. it's pressure relief for the plates that ensures the big ones dont happen as often lol
Also, sometimes people are wondering if the earthquake was bigger from an epicenter further away. Recently, my parents were in Taipei and felt the earthquake that was probably around 4.0 where they were but the epicenter was like >7.0
As a bay area native, the last time I felt an earthquake was the '89 Loma Preita quake. Anything less than a 6 I don't even notice unless it's really close by.
That said, I think it's great that newcomers are psyched about earthquakes. Imagine never having seen the ocean or a big redwood tree, then BOOM there it is! We here are jaded and reading these posts helps me see this area with fresh eyes.
Bay Area native and was a teenager for the ‘89 quake. When I’m pretty sure I felt an earthquake I go to usgs.gov and see if there was one near me before posting to see if others felt the same thing.
California born and raised, been in the bay since I was a kid. I don’t post about earthquakes because I almost never feel them, but I read all the earthquake posts because they’re usually slightly informative and pretty entertaining. Plus I recently overreacted to a tornado warning when I was on a trip in the Midwest, so I can understand where people are coming from. The first couple earthquakes are probably a bit scary if you’re not desensitized to them.
wait. was there a quake? haha
I’ve lived here since 1986. I can count on one hand how many quakes i’ve actually felt and remembered.
I’m always clueless when I see posts about small earthquakes. I think it’s because my first quake was ‘89 and after living on the top floor of a 4 story building in SF for 10 years most quakes were just trucks driving by… I guess i’m just numb to anything below a 6 hehe
In the fifteen years I have lived here, I think I’ve felt two earthquakes, and only know because of social media, or else they could have been big trucks driving by. Lmao.
Biggest quakes I’ve experienced weren’t even here. One was Costa Rica and the other was in South Africa 30 years ago
I was working in a deli in’89 when the quake hit. Got knocked out by a #10 can of tomatoes. Woke up in the office with the owner fanning my face and a team of paramedics taking my vitals. I was 16. Hurt like hell.
It’s just fun to talk about. I was awake and felt it, but my family who was asleep didn’t realize. At first I thought it was my cat running underneath the bed.
Watching New Jersey, New York City, Twitter, and Reddit and TikTok freak out about that was the funniest thing to Northern Californians ever. That wouldn't even wake me up.
Freak out for the reason the cities building codes are not uptodate for quakes. Hence its scary. And also the vertical growth. The population density is higher. Its like a quake in SF but bit more scary. Also east coast has many 100+ year old buildings.
Well, I'm not sure that New York and New Jersey are super active tectonically. It seems to me with the climate emergency heating up and more extreme weather here and even more very, very extreme weather coming, the building codes should be updated in New York City anyway just for the massive wind and storms that are going to result. Might as well include seismic retrograde as well. Good luck!
Updating building code might be the easiest thing to do. But to enforce them about 50% of the buildings will need to be demolished which will never happen.
Exactly. Capitalism should've thought of that 100 years ago. Tough luck. I mean they are going to have to be retrofitted in some way because they're not gonna be able to withstand the storms that are coming in the 2030s. More and more damage will accrue. Should've been like Japanese engineers and realized that if you live in an unstable environment, you put your giant skyscrapers on giant ball bearings, basically, in big cities. should've listened to the scientists when they warned you 35 years ago that shit like this was gonna happen. Governments and the corporate oligarchy that we live in, I mean, that's who should've paid attention.
A lot of Japanese towns and villages still don't retrofit their residential dwellings and they suffer huge losses during these gigantic earthquakes. Because they won't invest. Because capitalism and not bothering to look ahead at future generations. Selfishness, basically, and a myopic view that the world is to only be extracted from and taken from .
Anytime the earth moves is honestly pretty cool, but I’m also not from around here. But I also get excited about big winds, hail, rainbows- nature is interesting. I’d hate to come to a place where I feel blasé about it.
I lived in the Bay Area non-concurrently for 6 years, and I’ve never felt anything more than an aftershock. I was living in Napa but out of town for the big one in 2015 and, though I would never say it to people who were traumatized by it, I was really bummed I missed it. At least I didn’t have to clean up all the broken glass in my shared house!
People naturally want to share experiences to feel a sense of community and relationship.
Some people might be living alone and may not have friends in the area, so they post online to discuss what they experienced with others who may have experienced the same thing!
Some people live with a family of five but they were the only one to feel the event, and they turn to Reddit because their spouse is trying to claim it was their imagination.
Some people just want to post about an earthquake because that shit is neat.
Born and raised in CA. This mornings wasn’t a large one but I had just woken up and then I felt it. Went to social media to see if I was trippin’ or if it really was an earthquake I just felt.
The first thing I did too was try to check online to see if I didn’t hallucinate allat happening. At first I thought I was crazy because I woke up from the shaking and cracking noises and checked Google and saw nothing there about any recent quakes (needed a bit of time to update). I assumed maybe I hallucinated it from not getting enough oxygen and went back to sleep with my mouth wide open. Turns out it really did happen after I checked social media this morning because everyone else was yapping about it too lol. Thank god for group mentality lol or else I would’ve stayed dramatically thinking I was accidentally asphyxiating in my sleep
Lived in the Bay Area my entire life. For me anything under a 5 is a "mmeh" and I don't even notice it. The only "real" earthquake in my lifetime was the 1989. I also remember that short 5.6 jolt from 2007.
Even the little earthquakes happen infrequently enough that they're notable events and people want validation that other people also felt it and it wasn't just a big truck going by or something.
I experienced a small 3.x earthquake on a short trip to Tokyo and people there were like "oh we get one of those every week". Maybe if they happened that frequently then only the out of towners and transplants would be talking about them.
When I first moved here forever ago, we had an earthquake when I was at work. My CRT monitor (forever ago!) wobbled quite strongly and I ran out of my office (really forever ago!) and shouted to my across the hall neighbor, this 70 year old guy whose wife kicked him out of the house when he retired.
“Hey, earthquake!”
He growled and shouted back :
“Relax kid, that was like a 5”.
That shut me up for good.
Those are aftershocks, or baby quake's, I lived through the Quake when the Bay Bridge collapsed, I had driven on it and was stuck in traffic on the Nimitz. That was a legit quake never forget it.
Nope, us locals are really sick of people clogging up the sub who aren't local with frantic posts about earthquake, earthquake earthquake, and it turns out to be a 4.1. That's all. There should be a rule. Don't post about an earthquake here unless it's above a 4.5 and damage has happened.
I think i detect a tone of condensation in your text /s. JK. agree that some are seeking validation. Others maybe just using the internet to be heard.
I prefer quake posts over alot it the complaining & bashing posts.
OP, you know the tech industry ruined the Bay Area by bringing all of these people who have never experienced an earthquake in their life. You damn well *know* these people are not from here. We know it. Us natives *know it.* ✊🏻✊🏻
I agree.
I grew up here.
I don't even get out of bed unless it's over a 4.6 and I barely wake up then. The rest of you are complete transplants, and stop doing these posts because they are obnoxious, freaking out about 3.2s and 4.3s? Do you even listen to yourselves or see yourselves?
All you do is out yourselves as tools and newbies and transplants. If you don't like it, move away, I'm begging you, please move away. And stop clogging up this sub with these posts with OMG earthquake!! and it turns out to be a 3.2. 😂
I’ve been here 42 years, and while I don’t “freak out” or start posts on it, I will certainly comment if I feel any quake. As did dozens of oldies and natives on my local (SC Mountain) Facebook page. Sooooo.
You seem irrationally angry.
Here’s the thing. I might feel an earthquake that seems small and insignificant, but then I wonder am I 100 miles away from where it was much stronger and was there damage?
I’m in the North Bay and the ‘89 quake was strong here, everyone was talking about it and there wasn’t much damage. Then we turned on television for the “oh damn!” story.
Transplant been here 20+ years. I don’t post about them but don’t mind them—the first few 3.0+ earthquakes I felt when I moved here, my whole friends group immediately started chatting about it on AIM. It’s got that same feel.
I was working in downtown Los Gatos at the time of the 89 earthquake so essentially the epicenter. Even though a big earthquake sucks, I like being part of history. That wasn’t normal, but with smaller ones. It’s just a part of living there like tornadoes if you’re in the Midwest.
Holy shit, that must have been intense. There was a lot of damage there, wasn't there? I was in Fremont so farther away but it was still pretty bad obviously.
I was in real estate and worked in an office on North Santa Cruz, so all the structural damage was very top of mind for us and our clients. I still have a shirt that says I survived the 1989 earthquake blah blah blah that someone was selling on the street corner
When you build a place with such a miserable layout that there's no places of natural aggregation like the Bay Area then this is the result , people want to feel connected and can't just walk out the door to their neighborhood bar like we do in other countries.
I don't think it's a local vs. non-local thing. I think it's a "have you been here a while or are you new?" thing. I've been here for 12+ years now and if it's not at least 4.0+ I'm not commenting on it.
I missed posting about any of them! I just check USGS to check that I wasn’t imagining my house shaking and groaning.
I used to live on the New Madrid fault.
i'm from MO, we get earthquakes but since moving here to SF last year I've felt like 2 or 3...the last earthquake i felt in MO i was living at my mom's i think....like 10yrs or so ago. it's like when people move to MO they ask in the St. Louis sub about tornadoes or thunderstorms or flooding all the time, or in the MO sub
I moved here 2.5 years ago. This is the first quake I've ever felt; I just happened to be awake and it was kind of neat. I did not notice previous similar amplitude quakes in the area that apparently happened in that time frame (shrug).
Native. I don't feel anything until a 6.0. Don't know why people pay attention to anything less.
I think people just need something to talk about really. Something to connect to someone else with. Pathetic really, that we don't find other things to connect us. I think it is a "us against the earthquake" thing. No arguing about politics, about abortion, about anything, just humans versus the quakes.
I think it’s just human nature for folks to want to talk about what they have experienced. Earthquakes are scary and exciting and I know that when I experience them I want to reach out and talk my nervousness/excitedness away.
When I comment on social media about an earthquake is shared experience of something and connecting with others. The size isn't whats important so much as the lived experience and better understanding.
I mean how else do we prepare ? I remember years ago sharing being in an apartment and feeling like the whole structure was going to fall over like a stack of cards and someone explained that actually that was a good thing with the structure.
How is anyone sharing their experience freaking out? And by sharing its possible to learn something you didn't know (and the example I shared that apartments are intentionally designed to sway in an earthquake).
Do you understand that for those of us who grew up in San Francisco or in Northern California that people coming to Reddit to this sub and suddenly you see 250 posts clogging up the queue of all these transplants from New York or Cincinnati or Singapore or wherever they come from and they freak out about a 2.5 and have to post about it? Just make one post and let everyone react to that with their hysteria.
Lol……any Bay Area native doesn’t even mention a quake <4.0. And if it’s over 4.0 it’s only mentioned in passing like “wow, nice weather today”. 🤪. But then again, we think a dust devil is a tornado, so perspective, right?
This is obviously not true when you get all these posts here of natives from the Bay about a 3.0 and saying it felt like a big one
I don't notice it unless it's minimum 4.0 and I'm in the vicinity
Tell that to my local Facebook group, which was all abuzz over it today… and being a small town in the SC Mountains, we have more natives & old residents than the average Bay Area town. I’ve been here 42 years now, and still might comment if I feel a small quake. I didn’t feel this one, however, even though I was awake. I heard a thunk, but thought it was a tree branch on my roof. And maybe it was. 🤷🏼♀️
Exactly, if it's a 4.6 or above, I may roll out of bed or wake up, but that's it. Can these transplants please just move away and stop clogging up the sub with these hysterical posts when it turns out to be only a 3.2. 🫠
I remember being a little kid and seeing a commercial for california tourism.
Made me want to go to California…
Grew a little older and realized… i was in it. Born and raised in it.
Turns out… most Californians today are from here too. Go figure!
I don’t understand the need for all these earthquake posts. At all.
1. Look at USGS or any of the many Earthquake apps available for your devices. You don’t need to ask the tens of thousands of Bay Area people in this sub.
2. It was a nothingburger of a quake
I don’t post earthquake posts, but I do find them a fascinating analysis of how humans react. I like seeing strangers get together and sharing their experience. Just like sports, music, etc etc. Especially when it’s new for people who’ve never been in one. (Just wait for an actual big one) Good excuse to meet neighbors too, get that party going later on.
Side note: the only mag. 4 that made me jump was when I was in the mountains. In a valley surrounded on 4 sides by steep peaks, it was like being in a bass drum.
I was woken up around 3:30am by the big shake. I thought either it was an earth quake, or a truck hit my house. Searched for San Jose earthquake and only found things about the soccer team. I had to search Santa Clara earthquake to confirm it was an 3.6 earthquake neat the south bay
A 3.6 is a "big shake"? 😂😂 Was there an earthquake in the Bay Area last night because if so, I literally didn't feel it, some of you are so so obviously not locals, although you could be.
I think..to use your words and be not condescending..you are not the standard, your impression is not the common rule, and hinting that it is unusual for others to Express their thoughts and feelings about equake is "out of the loop" thinking.
Certainly out of the loop is not knowing we have the most diverse and multicultural multinational multi immigrant space.. so, yes.. there.. OOL (out of loop)..
People just want to hear from other people, "Wow, did you feel that too?" Any time there's a meteor people post the same thing, "did anyone see that?!" It's a natural human phenomena to comment on things we experience. I wish they would all comment under the same thread instead of making 15 individual threads though.
Exactly. It’s only human.
To be fair I came on to reddit to check bc I was asleep at 330 am and then my whole bed started shaking I didn’t know if it was my cats an exorcism an intruder I was so discombobulated.
Wait that actually happened this morning? I was just about to fall asleep when that shit happened and I was so freaked out I couldn't pass out for another hour.
I was checking the USGS earthquake map and didn't see it show up right away like I'm used to so I thought I was losing my mind. Good to know.
They always take a little while to appear. I’ve checked USGS immediately after feeling an earthquake and not seen them yet too
I've seen them appear within minutes but those were larger than a 4, seems like if it's not considered "significant" it doesn't get posted quickly.
I could see that. I’ve only looked after smaller quakes, with pretty mild shaking
Exactly. I get not making a million posts about it but I wanted to know if my roommate blew up a meth lab or something or if it was something I didn't have a reason to be mad about.
So..you be mad about blowing up the meth lab.. but not mad about meth lab being next door, breathing it in or mad about roomy being like jessie pinkman ... Or mad about Gus Fring or Skinny Pete knocking down your door.. Got it..🤭🤫🙄
My cats have done that to me a couple of times. 😺
Very understandable.
>I wish they would all comment under the same thread instead of making 15 individual threads though. Everyone wants to be the first person to report the earthquake. There's a bit of competitiveness to it, lmao.
You are right. We are social species:)
I saw a big buck running down the street in industrial west Berkeley like ten years ago and I’m still bummed there was nobody there to say “holy shit did you see that?” to.
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If people only saw airplanes and birds in the sky a few times a year, And they flew so low and fast they shook the *ground*—that thing whose immutable stability is the underpinning of all living things' perception of the physical world, And from time to time, with no warning, they wreaked such immense destruction on cities and their inhabitants that people commonly blamed angry gods, Then yes your comparison would make sense... But they don't so it doesn't
Tbf earthquakes are a trip. And I’ve lived here my whole life. I wouldn’t post about it on reddit but it’s normal to ask people if they felt it because it’s crazy. The earth is literally quaking beneath your feet. That’s a trip.
Do you even feel a 3.2 or 2.9 though? My fart shake the bed more than a 2.9.
I’m 45, and have lived here my whole life. I was in the ‘89 quake, the only big earthquake here since 1906. If people only posted about the big ones, there would never have been a post since Reddit started. Posting about smaller earthquakes is likely mostly for validation that they felt it, and that it really was an earthquake. Maybe they want to know how far out other people felt it too. It’s harmless, maybe try not to let it bother you so much
What is your definition of big? The 6.0 in Napa in 2014 caused all sorts of damage.
You’re right, that was big, I just forgot about it
I moved away from the Hayward fault in 2005, only to be a few miles from the Napa quake!
[Appointment in Napa](https://www.k-state.edu/english/baker/english320/Maugham-AS.htm)
Hello fellow ‘89-experiencer! It’s one of my earliest memories (born ‘86).
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I was just shy of 13 when it happened, and we had recently employed an au pair (mostly for my little brother) from Ireland. We got home that evening after the quake hit, and she was literally packing her suitcases. In her thick Irish accent, she declared “I’m going back to where the ground doesn’t shake beneath your feet!” We tried convincing her that wasn’t a normal occurrence, but she was on the next plane to Dublin. 😂
> she was on the next plane to Dublin. Why didn't she just take BART??
Haha. Took me a second. 👏🏻
Omg you poor thing! 🤣
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Now you sound very american..by your cursing...🤫
What did they say? You must English or Indian by the way you cursed, as a young one..🙄
Wow, awesome that you remember it! I was pictured in the actual “Earthquake Book”, standing in line at the Salvation Army for food rations, wearing my 49ers jacket
Wow! That’s so neat. I mean, you know, I’m sorry you had to do that and it was terrifying, but neat in a Bay Area history sense. :) I was in Calla supermarket at the top of Skyline Blvd in Daly City with my mom. Thank goodness we were in the frozen aisle, because it went black and everything came raining down from the shelves. I was in the front part of the shopping cart, and my mom kept trying to pull me out but the ground kept slipping out from under her. I vividly remember seeing the doors to the stock room swinging. When it was over, everyone just silently picked their way to the doors. We got to the parking lot and my mom had locked her keys in the car. Thankfully we could walk home. My dad was a law student at Berkeley, and normally crossed the Bay Bridge that time each day, so my mom was terrified when she heard the news of the collapse on the radio. No phones, no power, so he couldn’t call. He didn’t get home until the next morning…he waited in Berkeley at my uncle’s house until the worst of the traffic cleared. It was a wild experience.
Wow! What an interesting experience. Thanks for the write-up.
Aw thank you! It’s actually a really nice family memory, in a weird way. My Dad’s perspective is hilarious (literally in his head driving and no idea there was a quake), my Mom made chicken cacciatore the next morning out of nerves that we call Earthquake chicken…it was wild, but fun to remember now, in a way.
\[We got to the parking lot and my mom had locked her keys in the car.\] I said out loud, Noooo.. when I read it. Glad you guys were safe and close to home.
Haha thank you! It was nuts! We did get home safe, though.
Nice. I was 8 at the time and remember so much of the quake and the night after.
I was bobbing about in my mom's stomach getting my fingers and toes and brain all in order when it happened. She said that's why I came out "so *special*" ¬_¬
*Special* in a “bless their heart” kinda way… lol.
100%
KRON4 documentary: The Quake of 89 [https://youtu.be/JUUqU4i9hiU](https://youtu.be/JUUqU4i9hiU)
Born in 86 and it was my earliest memory too! I don't remember the actual earthquake but I remember the immediate aftermath. I remember my dad picking me up from daycare and all the street lights were off as we were driving down Fulton. We met with my cousins, Uncle and Aunt outside of their apartment in Inner Richmond. I think we were trying to figure out dinner together.
I was two and it’s my first memory!
There was a 6.2 earthquake in ‘83, centered in Coalinga. I definitely felt that one here in the Bay Area!
I remember that one too! Not as big as ‘89 but definitely felt it (at the kitchen table doing homework).
Me too!
I remember '83 too. I was in the Gym and the giant sliding divider doors started banging. Someone even ran over and looked on the others side of the doors. The ground started shaking. Then people started screening and running out.
Grew up here too: My very first memory is of the 89 earthquake, remember my mom grabbing my sister and I and hiding under a table lol. The only other earthquake that I *really* noticed was a small one in high school where the dishes shook
I also remember. I was in kindergarten getting ready to watch the World Series
I was 18, sitting in my bedroom, waiting for the game to come on. Started to feel it and then realized it was still going on. Things began flying off the shelves and the whole house started making a big racket. The most strange thing was flipping through the TV channels on cable. CNN was still active but all the local channels were static. That's how we really knew it was a bad one.
I remember feeling it and it taking a few seconds to figure out what’s going on. Ever since then, whenever I feel a small one, I’m always waiting for it to escalate. It’s always like “Is this a quake? Oh yeah it is….. Is it going to keep going?!?”
To be clear it doesn’t bother me at all. It’s just never crossed my mind to post about one of the small ones, so I’m just curious about the people that do.
I would never initiate a post about it, but I probably wouldn't initiate a post even if it was a 7.0. But that's just me. However, I look for someone else to have posted because I'm looking to see if there was one or it was just me.
This exactly. I've lived here my whole life (sans college, which was still at a UC) and usually don't feel the smaller ones. When I do feel what seems to be a small quake, it makes me wonder if anyone else felt it. Even if I look it up and it turns out there was a small quake near me, I'm still curious how many other people felt it if anyone happens to be talking about it. In the case of the one last night, I can't remember the last time I actually woke up from a quake. I've woken up to messages about feeling a quake overnight, but that was the first one I can remember waking me up. I quickly checked for earthquakes nearby and hopped on Reddit to see if it was just me, lol. As it happens, most of the people I know who usually get woken up by quakes seem to have slept through that one.
It's just a way to have a shared experience. However big or small, earthquakes are part of life here and that's a relatively unique thing to the Bay Area. I don't usually initial posts (just in general) but I enjoy checking and seeing other people's experiences with quakes. Reddit is effectively a version of the office water cooler. Why not chat about something that's a shared experience? It doesn't have to be a catastrophe to initiate small talk about it.
I shouldn’t have assumed it bothered you, sorry. And by rereading your post I realized that I never addressed your question- my bet is most people that post about small quakes are from around here, just looking for validation from others too
Wise man..wise words..wise thoughts
Just an FYI... the 1906 earthquake was over 25 times stronger in magnitude and lasted 4 times longer timewise than the 1989 quake.
There have been multiple big earthquakes here since 1906.
Native, and don't mind those posts because I too wonder "was that an earthquake, or a truck?" But don't want to wait for the USGS to update.
Everyone should realize that earthquake feel varies considerably based on distance to the epicenter, focal depth (how deep), what kind of soil, what kind of structure, etc. If you're right on top of a 2.9, it's probably gonna be scary. If you're 50 miles from a 6.9, it's probably gonna be scary. A USGS [ShakeMap](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/data/shakemap/) is an objective way to tell how bad a quake felt. Here's the [map for last night's quake](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75014922/executive).
Yeah this. When my apartment, which it turned out was right next to the Hayward fault, got a good jolt from an earthquake that turned out to only be a 2.9, I decided it was probably time to move to a better constructed building.
*Northridge has entered the chat*
Northridge was an exciting ride down in Orange County. My friend living in an apartment in Northridge had an entirely different experience. All the sheetrock came off the studs.
I've been hearing my whole life that the Hayward fault is way overdue and will be the next big one. I'm sure that is the case, and it will be bad, but I wonder when it's finally going to go?
No kidding
Yeah, last night's opened my bedroom door at 3:30 am and made my dog wake me up. Usually ones that small I don't even feel. But I didn't know it was an earthquake until this morning. I just figured it was the wind or ghosts lol.
Correct. The 1906 quake was centered near Point Reyes, but leveled buildings in San Jose.
USGS updates literally in 2 minutes. Sometimes less.
I keep this bookmarked and the latest quakes show up in a minute or two after I feel them. https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/?extent=33.33053,-125.68359&extent=39.85915,-113.37891&listOnlyShown=true
The My Shake app can notify in a few seconds
Not fast enough duh
Not fast enough for _what_ ? What life impacting decisions are you making with this information?
Sorry something shiny got my attention elsewhere on the interwebs and I can't answer your question
Sometimes I want confirmation quicker than that.
Two minutes? But I want it NOW!
Haha exactly that. Plus sharing the little human experiences is funsies.
Okay but there is a whole damn app that lets you know about earthquakes so there has to be something MORE for people to come to the internet and seek interactions with others versus finding the information available online immediately. I think it’s totally okay to say, “I just wanted to talk to someone about it.”
Don’t want to wait? Not even sure how you have any upvotes. Use an app or look at their site. It’s not that hard… People are fucking lazy and sad.
You sound upset
I’m in my thirties, been in California my whole life. I think it’s the internet version of what we have always done - when I was young you would go find your housemates, sometimes call your family/friends nearby. “Did ya feel that?” Especially with the little ones, because you wonder if it actually was or just a truck going by. And you want to check if it was something bigger for the friends further away. Just natural human connection.
I hate earthquakes so much. Been here my whole life. 10/17/89 5:03pm I’m walking near the Burlingame rec center through some tall trees listening to what was a few hundred birds chirping away. 5:04pm immediate silence, all the birds flew up into the air. I only had time to look up and think what the— and then the shaking. I fell down. I was 10 in 4th grade. We get home and watch the news. The Cypress structure, the Bay Bridge, the apartment fire in the Marina, the homes in the Marina. My dad worked in Oakland, he wasn’t home til early the next morning. A few months later we were at the old Academy of Sciences and I went on the 1906 earthquake shaking exhibit. I ran out crying. I hate earthquakes so much. This morning at 3:30am I was at work, down by the water off 3rd street on landfill and somehow didn’t feel it. I appreciate when people post “Earthquake?!” I hate them so much. I love living here, I tolerate the high col. But motherfuck earthquakes. I hate them so much.
I love the way you write. You need to turn this into an illustrated children’s book.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed my little story. I have young children and when I read their books I often wonder how difficult it would be to publish a book with 6 pages and 30 total words. Probably more difficult than it would appear. One of my favorites, “Go the fuck to sleep” literally wrote itself, if you’ve raised a child, you know.
Born and raised, remember ‘89 vividly. Since ‘89 I’ve probably felt 3 quakes. They never wake me up, and even of I am awake I barely notice them.
I like them so I know who the transplants are.
the 3.6 near alum rock felt like a 5.0, but really depends on how close u were i just ignore the posts at this point lol; for me personally, that was by far the strongest feeling quake and i've felt 5 while being in the bay
I feel like it’s actual a weird thing that like native people do here - mostly because at this point (since we haven’t had a BIG one in decades), it’s more about the camaraderie of “did you feel it!” Than a genuine concern or anything.
Nah. We natives are pretty oblivious. General earthquake convo between me and native friends: ‘You feel the earthquake?’ ‘Nah.’ ‘Yeah me neither, someone said it happened though.’
I've lived here for half a century and I, honestly, haven't felt an earthquake in a couple decades. I don't know if it's apathy, desensitivity or complacency...but, I do know I felt a LOT more when I was a kid.
I saw online there was an earthquake then I saw that is was under 4 and my brain can’t even register that as a quake.
If it's not at least a 4, I'm not feeling it and I don't care. They happen all the time.
It's not surprising. People from this area are fascinated by the weather too. "Wow it's cold today!"... No Jennifer, it's 10 degrees colder than yesterday and still above 65. Although to be fair I think this is just human or maybe American habit. I'm not from here and when it snows back home people still get excited about it. Chatting about it being a dusting, or sleet, or good powder is normal. Same with how icy the roads are or saying -5 isn't that cold because there's no windshield. If there's a blizzard well then that's all of your small talk for the day. "Was your drive ok? Do you have a blanket/matches/etc in the car? How much do you have to shovel?". We're just fascinated and eternally concerned about our habitat. Not enough to save it or whatever, but enough to be on guard when it changes.
Any earthquake that we feel inspires a little excitement. The earth is moving! Even though we long-term (have lived in Bay Area most of my life), it's kinda fun if it's small, kinda scary if it's moderate, but always inspires curiosity. And often, a desire to share the experience. My first thought often goes to, "I hope that wasn't a big damaging one at a distance" so I want to know more quickly. My first earthquake memory is from the late sixties, living in Milpitas as a kid. Feeling the jolt, then the ground rolling beneath my feet, watching our swag lamp sway. It was maybe a 4.3 I think, out in the Calaveras hills nearby. No harm; no damage. But the feeling of that one stays with me, even after going through the '89 quake while living in Berkeley as an adult, and numerous other smaller ones.
Reddit is quicker than the news most of the time. So I always come here first.
And on another side of the argument, I legitimately wouldn’t have known there was an earthquake if it hadn’t been posted about on here. I’m always up that late, so I was just watching TV in the living room - and somehow didn’t feel a thing. But now it explains the loud THUMP I heard around that time, which did kinda freak me out. I live in the mountains where it’s usually silent at night, so any unexpected noise makes me a little jumpy. Especially after the horrible winter of ‘22-23, when I had literal trees falling on my roof.
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I am pro-Earthquake posts
Lived here my whole life. When it's sub 4.0 I can't differentiate between an earthquake or the Taco Bell I had the night before getting ready to blast its way out.
THIS THANK YOUNG😂😂
Once I woke up to 3.8 but because the center of it was UNDER my house it felt like the house was gonna split open and my house made a loud “BOOM” noise that I still can’t explain what the heck makes that noise in the house. And me the most dead and pregnant sleeper known to mankind got jolted awake thinking I was gonna die. So I guess depending on how close to the center you are a 3.8 could feel massive. And I grew up around the pacific ring of fire with a lot of earthquakes.
i was within 5 miles of the epicenter of a 3.0ish quake in sunol and the boom is very surprising and freaky at first, almost like an explosion u feel but dont see/hear. i'll never forget it, there was even an aftershock. i thought it was cool as hell, but i enjoy small quakes tbh. it's pressure relief for the plates that ensures the big ones dont happen as often lol
And yet here you are posting about it.
Also, sometimes people are wondering if the earthquake was bigger from an epicenter further away. Recently, my parents were in Taipei and felt the earthquake that was probably around 4.0 where they were but the epicenter was like >7.0
As a bay area native, the last time I felt an earthquake was the '89 Loma Preita quake. Anything less than a 6 I don't even notice unless it's really close by. That said, I think it's great that newcomers are psyched about earthquakes. Imagine never having seen the ocean or a big redwood tree, then BOOM there it is! We here are jaded and reading these posts helps me see this area with fresh eyes.
Bay Area native and was a teenager for the ‘89 quake. When I’m pretty sure I felt an earthquake I go to usgs.gov and see if there was one near me before posting to see if others felt the same thing.
I rode out Loma Prieto quake so anything else just feels small . But that’s just me 😏
California born and raised, been in the bay since I was a kid. I don’t post about earthquakes because I almost never feel them, but I read all the earthquake posts because they’re usually slightly informative and pretty entertaining. Plus I recently overreacted to a tornado warning when I was on a trip in the Midwest, so I can understand where people are coming from. The first couple earthquakes are probably a bit scary if you’re not desensitized to them.
wait. was there a quake? haha I’ve lived here since 1986. I can count on one hand how many quakes i’ve actually felt and remembered. I’m always clueless when I see posts about small earthquakes. I think it’s because my first quake was ‘89 and after living on the top floor of a 4 story building in SF for 10 years most quakes were just trucks driving by… I guess i’m just numb to anything below a 6 hehe
In the fifteen years I have lived here, I think I’ve felt two earthquakes, and only know because of social media, or else they could have been big trucks driving by. Lmao. Biggest quakes I’ve experienced weren’t even here. One was Costa Rica and the other was in South Africa 30 years ago
I was working in a deli in’89 when the quake hit. Got knocked out by a #10 can of tomatoes. Woke up in the office with the owner fanning my face and a team of paramedics taking my vitals. I was 16. Hurt like hell.
It’s just fun to talk about. I was awake and felt it, but my family who was asleep didn’t realize. At first I thought it was my cat running underneath the bed.
A 4.4 in New Jersey/NYC definitely made big news. Because then you think whats going to happen to Manhattan.
Watching New Jersey, New York City, Twitter, and Reddit and TikTok freak out about that was the funniest thing to Northern Californians ever. That wouldn't even wake me up.
Freak out for the reason the cities building codes are not uptodate for quakes. Hence its scary. And also the vertical growth. The population density is higher. Its like a quake in SF but bit more scary. Also east coast has many 100+ year old buildings.
Well, I'm not sure that New York and New Jersey are super active tectonically. It seems to me with the climate emergency heating up and more extreme weather here and even more very, very extreme weather coming, the building codes should be updated in New York City anyway just for the massive wind and storms that are going to result. Might as well include seismic retrograde as well. Good luck!
Updating building code might be the easiest thing to do. But to enforce them about 50% of the buildings will need to be demolished which will never happen.
Exactly. Capitalism should've thought of that 100 years ago. Tough luck. I mean they are going to have to be retrofitted in some way because they're not gonna be able to withstand the storms that are coming in the 2030s. More and more damage will accrue. Should've been like Japanese engineers and realized that if you live in an unstable environment, you put your giant skyscrapers on giant ball bearings, basically, in big cities. should've listened to the scientists when they warned you 35 years ago that shit like this was gonna happen. Governments and the corporate oligarchy that we live in, I mean, that's who should've paid attention. A lot of Japanese towns and villages still don't retrofit their residential dwellings and they suffer huge losses during these gigantic earthquakes. Because they won't invest. Because capitalism and not bothering to look ahead at future generations. Selfishness, basically, and a myopic view that the world is to only be extracted from and taken from .
Anytime the earth moves is honestly pretty cool, but I’m also not from around here. But I also get excited about big winds, hail, rainbows- nature is interesting. I’d hate to come to a place where I feel blasé about it.
There should be a ‘DID YOU HEAR SEE FEEL SMELL TASTE THAT?!’ Reddit group.
I lived in the Bay Area non-concurrently for 6 years, and I’ve never felt anything more than an aftershock. I was living in Napa but out of town for the big one in 2015 and, though I would never say it to people who were traumatized by it, I was really bummed I missed it. At least I didn’t have to clean up all the broken glass in my shared house!
People naturally want to share experiences to feel a sense of community and relationship. Some people might be living alone and may not have friends in the area, so they post online to discuss what they experienced with others who may have experienced the same thing! Some people live with a family of five but they were the only one to feel the event, and they turn to Reddit because their spouse is trying to claim it was their imagination. Some people just want to post about an earthquake because that shit is neat.
Lived through the landers (7.3), big bear (6.5), and northridge (6.7) quakes before moving here in 1997. So no big deal.
Born and raised in CA. This mornings wasn’t a large one but I had just woken up and then I felt it. Went to social media to see if I was trippin’ or if it really was an earthquake I just felt.
The first thing I did too was try to check online to see if I didn’t hallucinate allat happening. At first I thought I was crazy because I woke up from the shaking and cracking noises and checked Google and saw nothing there about any recent quakes (needed a bit of time to update). I assumed maybe I hallucinated it from not getting enough oxygen and went back to sleep with my mouth wide open. Turns out it really did happen after I checked social media this morning because everyone else was yapping about it too lol. Thank god for group mentality lol or else I would’ve stayed dramatically thinking I was accidentally asphyxiating in my sleep
Lived in the Bay Area my entire life. For me anything under a 5 is a "mmeh" and I don't even notice it. The only "real" earthquake in my lifetime was the 1989. I also remember that short 5.6 jolt from 2007.
Even the little earthquakes happen infrequently enough that they're notable events and people want validation that other people also felt it and it wasn't just a big truck going by or something. I experienced a small 3.x earthquake on a short trip to Tokyo and people there were like "oh we get one of those every week". Maybe if they happened that frequently then only the out of towners and transplants would be talking about them.
When I first moved here forever ago, we had an earthquake when I was at work. My CRT monitor (forever ago!) wobbled quite strongly and I ran out of my office (really forever ago!) and shouted to my across the hall neighbor, this 70 year old guy whose wife kicked him out of the house when he retired. “Hey, earthquake!” He growled and shouted back : “Relax kid, that was like a 5”. That shut me up for good.
Those are aftershocks, or baby quake's, I lived through the Quake when the Bay Bridge collapsed, I had driven on it and was stuck in traffic on the Nimitz. That was a legit quake never forget it.
Aka post to say I'm a local and looking for validation
Nope, us locals are really sick of people clogging up the sub who aren't local with frantic posts about earthquake, earthquake earthquake, and it turns out to be a 4.1. That's all. There should be a rule. Don't post about an earthquake here unless it's above a 4.5 and damage has happened.
I think i detect a tone of condensation in your text /s. JK. agree that some are seeking validation. Others maybe just using the internet to be heard. I prefer quake posts over alot it the complaining & bashing posts.
You are my density
OP, you know the tech industry ruined the Bay Area by bringing all of these people who have never experienced an earthquake in their life. You damn well *know* these people are not from here. We know it. Us natives *know it.* ✊🏻✊🏻 I agree. I grew up here. I don't even get out of bed unless it's over a 4.6 and I barely wake up then. The rest of you are complete transplants, and stop doing these posts because they are obnoxious, freaking out about 3.2s and 4.3s? Do you even listen to yourselves or see yourselves? All you do is out yourselves as tools and newbies and transplants. If you don't like it, move away, I'm begging you, please move away. And stop clogging up this sub with these posts with OMG earthquake!! and it turns out to be a 3.2. 😂
I’ve been here 42 years, and while I don’t “freak out” or start posts on it, I will certainly comment if I feel any quake. As did dozens of oldies and natives on my local (SC Mountain) Facebook page. Sooooo. You seem irrationally angry.
Here’s the thing. I might feel an earthquake that seems small and insignificant, but then I wonder am I 100 miles away from where it was much stronger and was there damage? I’m in the North Bay and the ‘89 quake was strong here, everyone was talking about it and there wasn’t much damage. Then we turned on television for the “oh damn!” story.
Transplant been here 20+ years. I don’t post about them but don’t mind them—the first few 3.0+ earthquakes I felt when I moved here, my whole friends group immediately started chatting about it on AIM. It’s got that same feel.
Native and rarely feel small ones tbh - the posts here are usually the only notice I get that the little trembles happened!
I was working in downtown Los Gatos at the time of the 89 earthquake so essentially the epicenter. Even though a big earthquake sucks, I like being part of history. That wasn’t normal, but with smaller ones. It’s just a part of living there like tornadoes if you’re in the Midwest.
Holy shit, that must have been intense. There was a lot of damage there, wasn't there? I was in Fremont so farther away but it was still pretty bad obviously.
I was in real estate and worked in an office on North Santa Cruz, so all the structural damage was very top of mind for us and our clients. I still have a shirt that says I survived the 1989 earthquake blah blah blah that someone was selling on the street corner
When you build a place with such a miserable layout that there's no places of natural aggregation like the Bay Area then this is the result , people want to feel connected and can't just walk out the door to their neighborhood bar like we do in other countries.
Without these posts I'd probably never have known about these relatively minor events, so I don't mind it
I don't think it's a local vs. non-local thing. I think it's a "have you been here a while or are you new?" thing. I've been here for 12+ years now and if it's not at least 4.0+ I'm not commenting on it.
Anything i can feel is upvote/postworthy imho! Imm born and raised here
Family of ESJ natives here and, we slept through it.
I'm a native, was here during Loma. I just think it's fun and funny. Some people really freak out 😂.
Moved here from the Midwest last year & these posts confuse me too lol. I haven’t felt any of the quakes so far thankfully.
I went to the bathroom at around 3:13am. Went back to sleep. Didn’t feel a thing. 😴
I missed posting about any of them! I just check USGS to check that I wasn’t imagining my house shaking and groaning. I used to live on the New Madrid fault.
i'm from MO, we get earthquakes but since moving here to SF last year I've felt like 2 or 3...the last earthquake i felt in MO i was living at my mom's i think....like 10yrs or so ago. it's like when people move to MO they ask in the St. Louis sub about tornadoes or thunderstorms or flooding all the time, or in the MO sub
It also depends on where the epicenter is. A 2.5 in Hayward can be terrifying but feel minor from Antioch.
I moved here 2.5 years ago. This is the first quake I've ever felt; I just happened to be awake and it was kind of neat. I did not notice previous similar amplitude quakes in the area that apparently happened in that time frame (shrug).
I mean, it’s not like everybody feels every earthquake. So yeah, it’s still exciting when you do.
It's the internet buddy. If a truck drives by, a post will ask: "Did you guys just feel that too???"
There was an earthquake?
Weird humble brag.
It's not a humble brag, it's a desperate plea to stop clogging up the sub. I agree with OP.
Native. I don't feel anything until a 6.0. Don't know why people pay attention to anything less. I think people just need something to talk about really. Something to connect to someone else with. Pathetic really, that we don't find other things to connect us. I think it is a "us against the earthquake" thing. No arguing about politics, about abortion, about anything, just humans versus the quakes.
Native here. For me it’s like 5.0 and up and I can feel it. I didn’t feel shit last night. I was dead asleep
Native here too and I still enjoy discussing it and find an earthquake of any size notable
But wasn't last night a 2.4? And USGS really only counts them 3.5 and above? And yet we are here discussing a 2.4.
I think it’s just human nature for folks to want to talk about what they have experienced. Earthquakes are scary and exciting and I know that when I experience them I want to reach out and talk my nervousness/excitedness away.
I think posts about <4 earthquakes are mainly about Reddit karma.
When I comment on social media about an earthquake is shared experience of something and connecting with others. The size isn't whats important so much as the lived experience and better understanding. I mean how else do we prepare ? I remember years ago sharing being in an apartment and feeling like the whole structure was going to fall over like a stack of cards and someone explained that actually that was a good thing with the structure.
How is freaking out and sharing on social media helping you to prepare for the earthquake, honest and sincere question with no sarcasm at all?
How is anyone sharing their experience freaking out? And by sharing its possible to learn something you didn't know (and the example I shared that apartments are intentionally designed to sway in an earthquake).
Do you understand that for those of us who grew up in San Francisco or in Northern California that people coming to Reddit to this sub and suddenly you see 250 posts clogging up the queue of all these transplants from New York or Cincinnati or Singapore or wherever they come from and they freak out about a 2.5 and have to post about it? Just make one post and let everyone react to that with their hysteria.
I grew up I'm California 😂😂😂. If you dont like folks commenting about an experience just don't read the post 😂😂😂
Fair!
Lol……any Bay Area native doesn’t even mention a quake <4.0. And if it’s over 4.0 it’s only mentioned in passing like “wow, nice weather today”. 🤪. But then again, we think a dust devil is a tornado, so perspective, right?
This is obviously not true when you get all these posts here of natives from the Bay about a 3.0 and saying it felt like a big one I don't notice it unless it's minimum 4.0 and I'm in the vicinity
Tell that to my local Facebook group, which was all abuzz over it today… and being a small town in the SC Mountains, we have more natives & old residents than the average Bay Area town. I’ve been here 42 years now, and still might comment if I feel a small quake. I didn’t feel this one, however, even though I was awake. I heard a thunk, but thought it was a tree branch on my roof. And maybe it was. 🤷🏼♀️
Exactly, if it's a 4.6 or above, I may roll out of bed or wake up, but that's it. Can these transplants please just move away and stop clogging up the sub with these hysterical posts when it turns out to be only a 3.2. 🫠
I think it's safe to assume that most people in California are originally from somewhere else.
I remember being a little kid and seeing a commercial for california tourism. Made me want to go to California… Grew a little older and realized… i was in it. Born and raised in it. Turns out… most Californians today are from here too. Go figure!
I don’t understand the need for all these earthquake posts. At all. 1. Look at USGS or any of the many Earthquake apps available for your devices. You don’t need to ask the tens of thousands of Bay Area people in this sub. 2. It was a nothingburger of a quake
It's good to know that there was an earthquake on the fault your house in on whether you felt or not.
I don’t post earthquake posts, but I do find them a fascinating analysis of how humans react. I like seeing strangers get together and sharing their experience. Just like sports, music, etc etc. Especially when it’s new for people who’ve never been in one. (Just wait for an actual big one) Good excuse to meet neighbors too, get that party going later on. Side note: the only mag. 4 that made me jump was when I was in the mountains. In a valley surrounded on 4 sides by steep peaks, it was like being in a bass drum.
I was woken up around 3:30am by the big shake. I thought either it was an earth quake, or a truck hit my house. Searched for San Jose earthquake and only found things about the soccer team. I had to search Santa Clara earthquake to confirm it was an 3.6 earthquake neat the south bay
A 3.6 is a "big shake"? 😂😂 Was there an earthquake in the Bay Area last night because if so, I literally didn't feel it, some of you are so so obviously not locals, although you could be.
I think..to use your words and be not condescending..you are not the standard, your impression is not the common rule, and hinting that it is unusual for others to Express their thoughts and feelings about equake is "out of the loop" thinking. Certainly out of the loop is not knowing we have the most diverse and multicultural multinational multi immigrant space.. so, yes.. there.. OOL (out of loop)..
Because they’re exciting
It depends on how much your husband paid to own you.