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

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...

thanks!

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.

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

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.

Nothing to see here, move along now.

Is this getting to be a daily occurence or what?

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

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).

:hi::shrug::hi:

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?

been so for millions of years.

that was weird, very weird feeling!

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

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

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:

:)

:-)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!'

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

:shrug: :)

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

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.

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.

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?

who didn't feel anything.

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

Steve

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.

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.