The Word - Vol 58

I felt the Earth move. 

Have you ever been in an earthquake? They keep saying we’re going to be in for the big one, but for now, all we’ve had are little tremors, some people not even feeling them. ​

The first time I experienced one was on a trip to New Zealand taping a game show. It hit in the middle of the night while I was sleeping. I wasn’t asleep for long as I woke up to the noise of the windows shaking, and my bed bouncing across the room! It probably lasted about 10 seconds, but seemed like forever. The next morning I went downstairs and asked the desk clerk if I had been dreaming, or if there was an earthquake in the night. He didn’t seem to be phased by it, and said “Oh, probably an earthquake, we get them all the time!”

Then there was 1989 and the big one in San Francisco. It hit on October 17, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake killing 67 people and causing more than $5 billion in damages. My wife Jeri and I were booked to go to San Francisco for a holiday. She said, “I don’t think we should go!” But I said, “No, it’s already hit, let’s go because odds are there won’t be another, some aftershocks maybe?” And sure enough as we came out of a Jazz bar someone told us there had been another quake, but I’m sure it was just a slight aftershock. It was shocking to see the damage and the devastation of the big one that had happened days before.  

There was a small one a number of years ago that we felt in the White Rock area. Well, some of us felt it. My wife, Jeri sure did. I can’t remember what I was doing when it hit, but she started yelling “Earthquake! Earthquake!” and I looked over to see the dining room light fixture swaying and I could hear the glasses clinking together, and then, silence. It was over and luckily not strong enough to do any damage. There was no noise associated with it, other than the clinking glasses, but that’s not always the case as we found out on a recent trip to Huatulco Mexico. 

Jeri was in a yoga class at a grassy area of the resort with a number of other people, and luckily they were in a yoga pose that had them flat on the ground. I was walking down a hallway in the hotel when it hit. All the yoga people felt the earth move, and not only was it moving and shaking but it started out sounding like rolling thunder, but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky? The rolling thunder sound got louder and louder and then BOOM! One of the loudest, most explosive sounds I think I’ve ever heard! A tremendous crashing sound that resembled the noise a fighter jet makes as it flies overhead and produces a sonic boom! That was my first thought, then I wondered if it might have been a bomb, or even part of the hotel falling down. It was that loud. I was walking down a hallway that had an open side to the outside, so I think I got the added sound of an echo or reverb from the hall which made it seem even louder! 
​

I’ve often seen and heard video footage of earthquakes that show the motion, swaying buildings, and some rumbling but I didn’t realize it can also produce a loud crashing booming sound. I did some research and found out that small shallow earthquakes sometimes produce rumbling sounds and booms that can be heard if you’re close to the epicentre, and that’s where we were, just a few km from the centre of the quake. High-frequency vibrations from shallow earthquakes generate the loud booming sound, but when the quakes are much deeper, those vibrations never reach the surface, so we don’t get to hear them.

Well, the big boom is what happened that day in Huatulco and although it was only a small 5.0 earthquake, it made a big noise. Inside the resort, a number of guests were having breakfast and when the quake started to rumble they ran for the doors and out into the courtyard. Some people kept an eye on the ocean, wondering if a tsunami was on its way. Luckily it wasn’t, and fortunately, there was very little damage. A few wine glasses in the bar found their way to the floor, but that was about the extent of it.  

Yes, Carole King, I did feel the earth move under my feet, but luckily it only felt like the sky was tumblin’ down. 

Till next week...
Wayne

Above: Webcam view of Tangolunda Bay, Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico. Thurs Jan 18 at 8:40am

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