Shake, Rattle and Roll!

October 20, 2011 | Amateur Radio | By: Mark VandeWettering

Wow. Pretty good jolt today. I was sitting in my office when I began to feel some high frequency shaking, starting weak, but then growing sharply in intensity. I’ve been in California long enough that such things don’t usually perturb me too much, but this one was as strong as I can remember in the twenty years I’ve been living here (I missed the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989). The noise was loud. Less rolling than I’ve felt before, but lots of energy in fast shaking. I bolted out of my office, but didn’t even make it twenty feet before it stopped. So, what did I do? Headed back to my desk to check the Internet.

Turns out it was a 3.9 (downgraded from an early estimate of 4.2) but less than three miles or so from where I am. Here’s the seismogram from Pinole Ridge:

A pretty good ride. I think I’ll head home a bit early to make sure the cat is okay.

Comments

Comment from M4rc3lv
Time 10/21/2011 at 2:07 am

Hmm, sounds pretty scary to me. Brrr.

Comment from Mark
Time 10/21/2011 at 7:53 am

There was another strong aftershock in the same vicinity around 8:15PM (another 3.9 centered on Berkeley). By then, I was at home, which was several miles away. The intensity at my home was obviously much, much lower. My wife noticed it, but I didn’t.