just felt an earthquake here in Sacramento...confirmed, 4.8 at 11:45 am

[fleabert]

4.8 centered near Tahoe...

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsUS/Maps/US2/38.40.-121.-119.html

thanks to gormy cuss for the link, among others!

no damage, nothing fell, very slight here...

[Gormy Cuss]

1. Near Truckee

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsUS/Maps/US2/38.40.-121.-119.html

[fleabert]

3. great link!

thanks!

[Gormy Cuss]

10. Bookmark this one

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/

We Californians need a good source!

If you're into such things, complete the shaking intensity survey. They use it to plot intensity for each moderate or greater event.

[fleabert]

15. done and done!

way into such things, as are 36 other people in my zip code!

[Carla in Ca]

34. That's a great site...thanks

We sure have the shakes lately! But better a lot of small/moderate ones, so 'they' say, to avoid the big one. I wonder if that is true.

[CatholicEdHead]

12. Nice little 4.8

Nothing to see here, move along now.

[donco6]

2. What's going on there!

Is this getting to be a daily occurence or what?

[fleabert]

5. all I know is I am from Texas, and this is my first one.

I am a little freaked, even though it was minor. We don't feel many here in Sacramento.

[sojourner]

20. I'm in Sac and didn't feel it!

So must not have been too strong. You probably haven't adjusted to the little wobbles like those of us who live here - LOL.

Did feel the Loma Prieta quake, and the one that brought down part of the Bay Bridge. Quite a few others, but they've got to top 5 before any of us here notice them (unless sitting quietly - different matter altogether).

[WillyT]

24. Same Here !!! - Didn't Feel Anything !!!

:hi::shrug::hi:

[fleabert]

30. I think I would have missed it had I not been sitting in my office on

DU! No music and the TV was off. I didn't feel it under me, just around me, the walls shook. the little kid in me had the first reaction: "There's a giant shaking my house!"...silly, huh?

[Journeyman]

9. Yes. Earthquakes are a daily occurence in California. . .

been so for millions of years.

[fleabert]

11. I'll take a tornado over the ground opening up any day!

that was weird, very weird feeling!

[schrodingers_cat]

17. I just consider the smaller ones to be akin

to surfing...I'll take an earthquake like that over a well placed tornado any day - now those things sound REALLY scary!!!!

[fleabert]

18. I grew up in tornado alley, at least you know they are coming!

earthquakes just... HAPPEN! I can't hide from a freaking earthquake!

[MzShellG]

32. Neither for me.

I've never experienced a real earthquake. Just a mild tremor here in SC. I freak out @ the sight of an ominous looking cloud and gusty winds. :scared:

[donco6]

13. OK smart ass!

:)

[Journeyman]

16. Yeah. Meant to be a smartass. . .

:-)

People who don't live here rarely realize how common earthquakes are. And no matter how cavalier a Californian may come off about earthquakes -- and I'm certainly guilty of that attitude -- whenever any size quake hits there's always an immediate tightness in the shoulders and gut (and other parts, too), a sickening anticipation of what may come. The little ones we shrug off -- a large truck driving can shake the house more than most earthquakes we have each day. And the mid-size quakes can definitely grab your attention. But often, it's not as much the size of the quake as it is the type of quake.

A rolling quake can be kind of fun -- depends on how high up in a building you may be. And a swaying quake can have its moments of merriment, too. But if either gets strong enough, all the fun goes out of 'em -- along with the blood from your extremities. But no matter what the size, an earthquake that jolts always gets your attention.

When you've been through a couple of different types of quakes, you'll appreciate how the different types affect you.

[fleabert]

19. I hope I don't get to be that knowledgeable firsthand.

Tell me all about it, I don't want to speak from experience!!! Thanks though, makes me feel a little better. what a strange sensation that was.

[donco6]

21. I've always wondered what one feels like

I've been to CA many times and have never felt one - at least, I don't think I have. I've seen all those videos though, of convenience stores getting hit and all the stuff shaking back and forth. And I was watching TV during the San Francisco quake a few years ago. I remember seeing Al Michaels practically falling backwards out of his chair at the stadium.

I'd probably just freak out. At least tornadoes give you some warning. Quakes just come out of the blue. Or brown, I guess.

[Pithy Cherub]

23. Universal Studios (L.A.) tried to simulate an 8.0 on a ride.

Gotta tell ya, it is not the same thing... The Northridge one bounced me so badly and when you find your microwave in the fridge with the door shut...

Nothing is stationary during a big quake, that's why it leaves such mind trauma. We are pretty blase up til 5.0, snicker till 6.0, then you put your game face on because it is likely that there will be damage or death after that.

The worry is if this is a setup/foreshock of something bigger and none of us here want to see the San Andreas blow, though it is overdue.

[fleabert]

26. or red if you are in Oklahoma!

it was weird. My first thought was that someone was shaking my house from the outside...how dumb is that? Like a giant is walking around shaking houses for the hell of it? Took another second for me to say to myself...'don't be stupid, it was an earthquake!'

[Carla in Ca]

35. That is exactly right, Journeyman

An earthquake that jolts is the worst. I've been through 50 years of them and I still freak out with those.

[DRoseDARs]

4. Shook me up from sleep here in Reno. Oh well, going to work soon anyway.

:shrug: :)

[fleabert]

8. nothing broken? nt

[DRoseDARs]

14. Only my sleep. Shook the house pretty good, though.

Nah, we're not worried about damage. :thumbsup:

[Guaranteed]

6. Looks like it was in the 4 point something range nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Ok kids get your quake kit updated

[warrior1]

22. I was outside

sitting on the patio. I thought my dog Sara had bump me from behind (sitting my lounge chair) I turn around she wasn't even on the porch. Must have been the quake.

[olddad56]

25. I live in Sacramento, didn't feel a thing....

I've lived in Northern California all my life. Only earthquake I've ever felt in my life was in Montana in 1962. Now tornadoes in Ca. have become a threat due to the climate change cause by global warming. I would suppose global warming has a part in the increase number of quakes in Ca. lately also.

I'll take my changes, you keep the ice storms and tornado's in the Midwest, the hurricanes in the south and gulf coast.

The biggest threat in the Sacramento valley isn't earthquakes, it is flooding.

[fleabert]

31. It was minor, and I wouldn't have noticed either, I think, had I not been

posting quietly on DU at the time!

at least you get warning with tornados (usually), this earthquake crap freaks me out. thankfully, you are very correct that they are not a major concern here. I have heard that the flood control has improved significantly here as of late, is that true?

[NightOwwl]

27. Another Sacramentonian (Sacramenton ?) ...

who didn't feel anything.

[StevieM]

28. Could someone explain the San Andreas fault to me?

I thought it went from LA up to San Francisco and then out into the ocean. I didn't think earthquakes hit Sacramento.

Steve

[LeftyMom]

29. They normally don't

but sometimes people here feel quakes in the bay area or up in the sierras. As far as I know there aren't any signifcant faults here in Sacramento, certainly I've never felt a quake, and I've lived here all my life. (Seems like everybody else here felt the Loma Prieta quake, but I was bouncing down the road in the back of one of those tiny 80's mustangs and didn't notice any additional shaking. I didn't notice this quake or the Eureka one either, but some people here did.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Andreas_Fault
Here's a good discription of where the San Andreas fault lies. You are correct, it thankfully is nowhere near Sacramento.

[kineneb]

33. San Andreas does indeed run out to sea above SF

However, if you look at the USGS earthquake site, you will see that most of CA has a fault somewhere nearby. If not a fault line, then a volcano, dormant or otherwise. Being a CA native, this is just part and parcel of daily life. Earthquakes can be scary, but unlike weather phenomena, they don't happen every year at the same time. I live north-west of Sac., up in the hills (Lake Co.) and Clear Lake is an ancient volcanic caldera, and next to it is Mt. Konocti, which is also a volcano.

I was driving in the Bay Area during Loma Prieta, and the land rolled up and down several times. All the overhead light poles were waving around madly. Damned scary, more because of the neighborhood through which I was driving, rather than the earthquake. My first thought was "keep driving"; if someone tried to stop my car by getting in front of it, they were going to be toast. And of course most of the radio stations went dead. I finally found an AM station that was still on the air to find out details.