Southern California is Rocking and Rolling
Yesterday afternoon at approximately 3:40 pm, there was a large earthquake in Baja, Mexico near Mexicali and the magnitude of this was 7.2. Sadly, there are two confirmed deaths from this earthquake, and there has been tremendous property damage in Mexico. This earthquake was felt in Arizona, Southern California as far up as the Los Angeles area. Pool water was spilling over.
My own experience with this earthquake was that it seemed very long, and almost gave me vertigo. I have not experience that before with prior earthquakes, and several others that I spoke to echoed the same.
Earthquakes are un-predictable and can be devastating as we have discovered with the recent earthquakes in Haiti and in Chile.
It is important to be prepared for an earthquake, and there are many outside companies that sell earthquake kits. However, just as in any emergency situation, preparation is key. The following are some suggestions when preparing for an earthquake:
- Bottled water.
- Non perishable food – protein bars.
- Pet food and supplies.
- Batteries for flash lights.
- Flash lights.
- If you have propane barbecue, maintain extra propane for cooking in the event gas must be shut off.
- Battery operated radios.
- Medications.
- Any pertinent documents and insurance documents in a convenient place.
- Clothing, and shoes, and bedding.
- First aid supplies.
- Gas meter should have wrench nearby to shut off if required.
There have been several after shocks from this earthquake, and there was another earthquake right here in the Fountain Valley area this morning just before 6am. This Fountain Valley earthquake was a 2.9 magnitude on the richter scale. Below is a graph of the recent earthquake activity in the area. This information was obtained from the USGS Caltech-Seismic Net.
