Earthquake...

Got awakened 15 minutes or so ago by a little rattling in the house. Turns out we had a 5.7 about 150 miles away. It was deep, probably why we felt it here. Just a jiggle, but woke up the wife and me. Dogs didn't seem to care. Just laid there and looked at us.

It lasted longer than previous quakes I've felt here. But nothing to get concerned about. I am sure when the big one hits, things will go full tilt bozo for a while.

Ummh . . . a wake up call?

It's interesting that the pups didn't get upset. I always read about "the (fill in the blank with an animal") got upset ...etc."

Glad there was no problems for you,

I've only been in 2 earthquakes, one in Bavaria in the 70's and the other a couple of years ago here in Maryland (centered in Virginia). Both times, there was a long "What the . . ." reaction. To me, it seems the worst danger is that the "What the..." reaction can cause you to lose critical time.

It woke up my wife and our dog, but I had a tiring week and I managed to sleep right through this one.

You are correct that when the big one hits, there won't be any doubt. The 2002 M 7.9 Denali Fault quake was east of Cantwell. That was the only time in the 3 decades I've lived in Anchorage that I thought maybe it was the big one. Even here in Anchorage, roughly 200 miles from the epicenter, that one was scary. The shaking was much stronger than the little M 4 & M 5 ones we get now and then. And it just went on and on and on......

The 2002 Denali quake didn't kill anyone, mostly because very few people live in the area. It did offset the Trans Alaska Pipeline across the fault by 14 ft horizontally, and cause massive rock slides that went clear across some glaciers. When one that big happens near Anchorage, it will be ugly.

ran across this little tidbit concerning quakes in the lower 48: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014...-damaging-quake

Kind of odd in a way,because 3.0s are pretty much small potatoes in seismically active areas, although you do want to steer clear of unreinforced masonry buildings.

If you follow the link connected to the NPR article, it says they believe that the increase of M 3 quakes indicates there is a greater chance of a M 5.5 or greater quake occurring. Also, keep in mind that the "Magnitude" refers to how powerful the quake is at it's source, that is to say at the "hypocenter". When earthquakes are reported, the press often just reports where the "epicenter" was, which is the location in map view. It is also important to know the "focal depth", or how deep it was in the crust. The hypocenter is the point (under the epicenter at the focal depth) where the rock actually starts to rupture.

A small earthquake at a very shallow depth might be more damaging than a larger earthquake with a very deep hypocenter. If the quake is indeed triggered or influenced by hydraulic fracking, then it would presumably be at or near drilling depths. That is to say relatively shallow in seismic terms.

It was the same here with the 2010 Easter earthquake. The house was rolling (felt like a high 3, low 4 by the time it got to us), but the cat was just sitting there with a "This is quite right" expression. If it just rattled the dishes, you probably had a 3 pointer. 4 pointers can be felt through the floor, and 5+ means duck and cover.

A good example of "full tilt bozo" was the '94 Northridge quake. I don't know how Alaska will handle it, but I don't remember much in the way of the locals going "full retard" following that one.

I lived through the 8.2 in 1968 in Okinawa. You had to see it to believe it.

sodak - I would like to hear your experiences on that Mag 8 quake. I might have to live thru the same thing some time soon.

Pete

I'm pretty sure there's a lot of observer bias in that. I grew up in CA and never had my pets (nor those of friends) act any different before or after. During the quake, sometimes, but they still came when called and just looked scared.

I missed the one in VA due to the .mil keeping me overseas. Shucks.