Tag Archives: earthquake

Earthquakes and Wind Chimes, OH MY!

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I had another post planned for today but then this happened!

I was in a store looking at a wall of wind chimes (I love them so much). They were on sale which always gives me an added thrill.

Suddenly, ALL THE WIND CHIMES STARTED SWAYING BACK AND FORTH!

I had a split second realization that we were going to have an earthquake, and at that precise moment, there was a very loud bang, like the ceiling and the lights were going to crash down around us — definite sky is falling vibes.

The entire store was rocking and rolling. People started to rush out the front doors as we’ve been taught. I thought about it for a couple seconds and decided not to follow the crowd because I had a few things in my cart for the Angels and didn’t want to have a wasted shopping trip. In the face of potential danger, my shopping obsession prevailed lol.

Phone alarms were going off like crazy with initial reports of a 6.2 earthquake which is pretty big. Later on it was downgraded to a 5.2, but it felt more powerful than that. It was reported as having a Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) of VI, which is classified as “strong”. There were several aftershocks all afternoon; not as scary.

A woman near me was shaking, visibly upset. I asked her if she needed a hug, she said yes, so I gave her one, hoping it would calm her down a bit. I agree it was definitely upsetting.

Should I stay or go? I decided the planets and the universe had given me an unmistakable SIGN that I needed to buy that chime I had been looking at, so I did.

The last BIG earthquake here was the 2010 Baja California quake that occurred on April 4 (Easter Sunday) with a magnitude of 7.2 and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of VII (very strong). Including today and our 4.2 earthquake in 2023, these all took place in April. I think that might be a significant fact, but I’m not sure exactly what it means…

I’ll never forget that Sunday in 2010. My darling kitty, Bandit, was keeping me company while I painted the downstairs living room. I had created a color that replicated the inside of a conch shell, sort of light pink/tan; exactly what I wanted. I was on a ladder when Bandit jumped on the sofa next to where I was and stared up at me. I looked at her and said, “What’s up, my love?” At that moment, the entire house felt and sounded like a train ran through it. The ladder was shaking and I had a hard time coming down. It was quite disorienting. Bandit gave me the dirtiest look like I had personally upset her tranquil morning. I ran upstairs and out onto the deck in time to watch my neighbor’s pool water slosh back and forth and pour over the sides. That earthquake went on for quite a while. All the neighbors ended up going out in the street to make sure we were all OK, and except for a few askew picture frames, none of my (way too many) seashells and other little things I collect fell off the shelves. I finished painting the room but Bandit spent the day hiding under the bed. She had enough excitement for one day.

This quake felt similarly powerful to me, but didn’t last quite as long. At least I can count on my new earthquake warning system, right?

I bet my old geology professor will appear on all the TV stations as he usually does to talk about tectonic plates and shifts and faults and all that stuff. I’m still angry at him for giving me a “D” in Geology. Considering how much I love rocks, that shouldn’t have happened, but to be honest, it was a great year for skiing and Mammoth was calling to me, so I guess I missed a few too many classes…

Shades of Twilight. Colors of Dusk.

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“It is almost impossible to watch a sunset and not dream.” Bernard Williams

Photo by Enchanted Seashells
Photo by Enchanted Seashells
Photo by Enchanted Seashells

These photos were taken before we had a few days of much needed rain. There was no flooding around here but I saw video of devastating mudslides in the fire-damaged areas around Malibu — in addition to a medium-sized 3.5 earthquake in the same same general vicinity.

Today was super sunny and warm, a perfect time to spend hours in the garden cleaning up from the storm and getting the raised bed ready for spring planting.

I haven’t had any visits from my coyotes or bobcats in about a month and I’m not sure why. Hopefully, they’ll return soon because I miss my animal family!

Hurricane Hilary’s Aftermath

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Hilary visited Southern California all day on Sunday. I took a walk this morning to survey any damage and this is what I discovered…

Even though we had nearly three inches of rain, there was no flooding and it looks like my garden was able to drink in all that water. My plants were so thirsty!

The highest wind gust was about fifty mph, not enough to fell any trees or big branches. There’s a lot of cleanup from leaves, but no deck furniture was damaged.

I didn’t lose power like many others and I’m grateful for that.

I’m left with a bathtub of water which I’ll save for the garden since there’s no rain in the forecast.

Other parts of San Diego experienced far worse. There was extensive flooding and giant eucalyptus trees falling on houses. The mountains and the desert didn’t fare so well either, and it’s going to take a lot of cleanup to restore roads and infrastructure.

In the middle of the storm, there was a big earthquake in Ojai (near Ventura), along with clusters of decent-sized aftershocks. Social media coined a new word; hurriquake–which absolutely describes our crazy weather.

It’s back to normal now, but will always be another date for the history books; the day Hurricane Hilary came to town.
🌀1858
🌀1939
🌀2023

Earthquake! NOT An April Fool’s Joke…

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Yesterday at 6:16 p.m. I was on the sofa eating a bowl of yummy rice and veg when I felt the entire house shake with an incredibly SHARP jolt like the house was trying to fall off the foundation accompanied by a deafening loud noise.

Did the Wicked Witch of the East crash into my house?

For half a second, I looked around thinking something had fallen outside on the deck. The windchimes were all going crazy and with no discernible wind. I was a bit confused for a minute, then a lightbulb went off in my brain and I hurriedly checked the earthquake app on my phone and sure enough, we had just had a 4.5 earthquake, subsequently downgraded to a 4.2.

There was no damage at Casa de Enchanted Seashells other than a few pictures that weren’t secured with earthquake gel became a little askew, but nothing broke, I’m glad to report.

Again this morning a little after 5 a.m., I sort of half woke up with the same sort of sharp jolting sensation but went right back to sleep without checking the earthquake app.

I slept until almost 7 a.m, and when I got up, I remembered that feeling and wanted to establish whether there WAS another earthquake or if was it just a dream, and I discovered there was a definite 3.2 earthquake at 5:10 a.m. in the same location.

It was real, not a dream!

Maybe it was a joke on all of us from Mother Nature, right? Did anyone else feel it?

Happy April, everyone!