[QUOTE=boltonblue,Mar 1 2007, 09:49 AM] Patty,

you hit it on the head. I don't want to see the inevitable damage that will come from any earthquake. Being from New England I've gone to the coast for big storms to see the majesty of nature. I'd just like to be able to see and feel it when it

 

Oh.

Well, you do understand that, energetically speaking, M8 is 10x M7 is 10x M6, etc., right?

I'm thinking my curiosity would be satisfied by an M5, and I'd want a soft chair with a seat belt. HPH

 

Everytime I've ever been to California there have been minor earthquakes. The last time I was staying in Chino Hills and woke up to the shaking/booming, etc., but it did no damage. In 2003 we had one here and I thought my house was going to collapse and I could hear everything in the attic sliding across the floor, the dishes were rattling in the cupboard, etc. and the floor was shaking. The only damage we had was a couple of cracks in our brick sidewalk and a couple of cracks on our patio. If memory serves, it was a 4.5. We've had several earthquakes that I can recall feeling here and Virginia has a fair amount of seismic activity, but it normally occurs 3 or more miles below ground so it isn't as noticeable as the ones in California that occur nearer the surface.

 

^^ Those %#$@ 3-mile deep coal mines keep collapsing. HPH

 

We don't have any coal mines within 200 miles of me, but there are a couple of old (closed) gold mines in the mountains around here. Now, West Virginia otoh, is riddled with coal mines. I'm surprised it hasn't just become a big sinkhole. Virginia doesn't have many coal mines throughout, but there are a few in the southwestern part of the state that borders WVA.

 

I also experienced a few earthquakes while living in CA. The worst one did sound like a freight train plus shoe boxes were shooting out from the top shelves of my closet. I sat up the rest of the night in the livingroom with a 2G container of water and a Costco multipack of tuna at my feet.

Sittting on an overpass in your car and start bouncing up and down wakes you up too!

 

I seem to have a vague recollection of covering the log scale when I got my engineering degree.

Don't get me wrong I have a huge respect for the energy that is bound up.
If I rememer the data correctly, The nearfield P wave may approach a meter of deflection at greater than 1G acceleration.

Which is why I would be carefully selecting the large open level field for my observation point.

 

If I want the experience, I'll take a stack of quarters to the local no-tell motel.

 

My answer is still no. An earthquake of the magnitude you mentioned may just leave your wide open field an island in the center of an inferno of smoking magma filled earth OR crack your field wide open and suck you into a flaming hole. I'm with RC, no, wait a minute, I'll just go over to my mother's house and sit in her old rocking chair for a while. That's about all the pitch and yaw I'm up for. I admire your adventuresome spirit though. Go for it, but if you're planning a group adventure, I don't think I'll sign up.

 

I was in Santa Monica when the 1971 quake hit. Rock & Roll. First quake I remember was when I was about 4 years old in Forest Grove, Oregon. There was a small shake in Alpine, Texas a couple of years ago and I swear I felt it while sitting on my couch here in Abilene. Maybe I was just dozing off though. I don't want to be anywhere near a 7.0 or greater quake.