Pretty strong California quake just hit 3:42 pm April 4

[Torie]

I know it is quite strong, because it started slowly, and just kept building, until my house was rocking quite pronouncedly. That motion also means it is probably at least 100 miles away from South Orange County. I am going to guess a 7 as a wild guess.

[Torie]

I was just about to post the same thing. Am I not pretty good at this sort of thing, or what?  

The map has the epicenter just south of Mexicali, and north of the Gulf of California, so basically at the mouth of the Colorado River. You know if the Big One hits down there, it could slice open a relatively small rise that blocks the Gulf of California from flooding in  all the way up to La Quinta and Indio in the Coachella Valley, putting both of my desert houses under 60 feet of water (they are 60 feet below sea level), never to be seen again. That is why I have quake insurance on both.

[Torie]

    Where, roughly, would have been the northernmost point that the earthquake would have been felt?

I would guess LA and Ventura Counties would be the limit of its reach. It was about 140 miles from me as the crow flies.

[Torie]

     Where, roughly, would have been the northernmost point that the earthquake would have been felt?

I would guess LA and Ventura Counties would be the limit of its reach. It was about 140 miles from me as the crow flies.

     Explains why I felt nothing. Apparently some people called it the biggest one they had felt since the Northridge earthquake, though.

I  think it was. Northridge had my pool water sloshing out, and raised a bit one of my cement pads in back by about an inch.

[Torie]

That also assumes the insurance companies will have priced in a fat tail event. After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake not everyone got paid.

I do quake policies with huge A+15 Best rating companies, who re-insure most of the risk off to others. Your concern is well taken, and one that I share.

[Torie]

I know it is quite strong, because it started slowly, and just kept building, until my house was rocking quite pronouncedly. That motion also means it is probably at least 100 miles away from South Orange County. I am going to guess a 7 as a wild guess.

OK, you win a gold medal for measuring earthquakes.

I have had a lot of practice, having lived in California all my life, except for 8 years in the Midwest, which meant I missed the destructive Whittier and Sylmar quakes.

[Torie]

I was just about to post the same thing. Am I not pretty good at this sort of thing, or what?  

The map has the epicenter just south of Mexicali, and north of the Gulf of California, so basically at the mouth of the Colorado River. You know if the Big One hits down there, it could slice open a relatively small rise that blocks the Gulf of California from flooding in  all the way up to La Quinta and Indio in the Coachella Valley, putting both of my desert houses under 60 feet of water (they are 60 feet below sea level), never to be seen again. That is why I have quake insurance on both.

Is quake insurance enough, or would you need flood insurance?

I was thinking the same thing. I am going to ask my poor harassed insurance broker that very question tomorrow (a word of advice: if you become an insurance broker, try by all means to avoid having lawyers as clients). Of course, if the San Andreas quake hits hard in the Coachella Valley, my houses would just sink away due to liquefaction in the soft sandy soil that used to be at the bottom of the sea not so long ago anyway.

[Torie]

Is SF still part of CA, or was life good and it floated away? 

The "problem" unfortunately is that where I live is on the same side of the tectonic plate fault line as SF. Thus "we" will both be slip-faulting north together towards Alaska, while my brother in Bishops "slips" down towards Mexico.

On the other hand, the East Bay will be lost, so that is the silver lining. Bye bye Sbane!

[Torie]

Is SF still part of CA, or was life good and it floated away? 

The "problem" unfortunately is that where I live is on the same side of the tectonic plate fault line as SF. Thus "we" will both be slip-faulting north together towards Alaska, while my brother in Bishops "slips" down towards Mexico.

On the other hand, the East Bay will be lost, so that is the silver lining. Bye bye Sbane!

Nope, the East Bay is on my side of the fault. It goes right up through the San Francisco Peninsula.

Right, and I live on the west side of the fault. So you and sbane go south, while I go north, along with Sunset Beach in SF and Half Moon Bay.