I'm right by Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), and I'm pretty sure there's an earthquake happening (11:20am). It doesn't feel very strong, but it's been rolling for about a minute now. At first I thought I was just getting dizzy for some reason, but then everyone in the lab looked at each other and we knew we all felt it. Sometimes they move heavy equipment around in the building, but it doesn't roll like that. More news as it happens!
Update:
I just talked to some outside people, and there was definitely an earthquake. I called my brother at home and he said he didn't feel anything, but then he noticed that both the chandeliers were swaying.
Here's a page about the Richter scale that's used to measure the magnitude of an earthquake. There's no way for me to make an estimate of magnitude, since I don't have any idea how far away the epicenter was.
However, here's a description of the Modified Mercalli Scale of Earthquake Intensity, and based on the text I'd say that the intensity of this earthquake at my location was a IV.
I. People do not feel any Earth movement.
II. A few people might notice movement if they are at rest and/or on the upper floors of tall buildings.
III. Many people indoors feel movement. Hanging objects swing back and forth. People outdoors might not realize that an earthquake is occurring.
IV. Most people indoors feel movement. Hanging objects swing. Dishes, windows, and doors rattle. The earthquake feels like a heavy truck hitting the walls. A few people outdoors may feel movement. Parked cars rock.
V. Almost everyone feels movement. Sleeping people are awakened. Doors swing open or close. Dishes are broken. Pictures on the wall move. Small objects move or are turned over. Trees might shake. Liquids might spill out of open containers.
VI. Everyone feels movement. People have trouble walking. Objects fall from shelves. Pictures fall off walls. Furniture moves. Plaster in walls might crack. Trees and bushes shake. Damage is slight in poorly built buildings. No structural damage.
VII. People have difficulty standing. Drivers feel their cars shaking. Some furniture breaks. Loose bricks fall from buildings. Damage is slight to moderate in well-built buildings; considerable in poorly built buildings.
VIII. Drivers have trouble steering. Houses that are not bolted down might shift on their foundations. Tall structures such as towers and chimneys might twist and fall. Well-built buildings suffer slight damage. Poorly built structures suffer severe damage. Tree branches break. Hillsides might crack if the ground is wet. Water levels in wells might change.
IX. Well-built buildings suffer considerable damage. Houses that are not bolted down move off their foundations. Some underground pipes are broken. The ground cracks. Reservoirs suffer serious damage.
X. Most buildings and their foundations are destroyed. Some bridges are destroyed. Dams are seriously damaged. Large landslides occur. Water is thrown on the banks of canals, rivers, lakes. The ground cracks in large areas. Railroad tracks are bent slightly.
XI. Most buildings collapse. Some bridges are destroyed. Large cracks appear in the ground. Underground pipelines are destroyed. Railroad tracks are badly bent.
XII. Almost everything is destroyed. Objects are thrown into the air. The ground moves in waves or ripples. Large amounts of rock may move.
Update 2:
Apparently the quake was a 6.5 and located in central California (which is why it felt weak here, but lasted so long). Just remember you heard about it here first!
Update 3:
The epicenter was right outside the town of Paso Robles, California. I hope no one was hurt, and I particularly hope that Good Ol' Burgers wasn't damaged. That place has the abolute best bbq chicken sandwich in the world; just ask for the Yard Bird.
Yeah, I felt it to and I am about 45 minutes south of LAX. It was pretty small - it was like being on a water bed and someone jumping on. Not a big deal, really.
I like earthquakes... much better than hurricanes.
Hey, I HAVE been through a few of those when I lived in Houston.
Two fatalities reported in Paso Robles. And a few collapsed buildings. A friend of mine called me up from there to let me know what was going on half an hour after the quake hit.
I can't imagine what a real quake must feel like, when you actually know what's going on.
The only one I can remember was when I was in 5th or 6th grade here in Knoxville - we had band class outside in one of the trailers they used for music classes.
We were in the middle of playing a song, when an earthquake hit - we all kind of looked at each other and one by one stopped playing, then it was over. I guess light by normal standards.
I was working in Arroyo Grande(60 road miles south of Paso) at the time. I dispatch for that City. It was about a IV experienced in that city. Only reports of damage were a couple of electrical lines down (which would have been just as likely the next day when it rained), on residence with a smell of natural gas, and a broken water line which spans a local gully. One hardware store reported some items fell off of the shelves.
In an ajacent community (many older houses and generally less infastructure maintenance - handled by the County as the area is not incorporated), had some street cracking and some structural damage.
San Luis Obispo City had at least one department store (in an older building) drop its suspended ceiling, but I heard of no significant injuries due to it.
Phone service in Arroyo Grande became somewhat unreliable (9-1-1 worked fine) due to some residential service being out and many others being jammed with folks checking on relatives. Some cellphone towers in this area were off-line for a short time (unreliable generators?).
Power was off for much of the area for at least 3 hrs. I live in a rural area about 8 air mils from Arroyo Grande (per my GPS) and my power was out about 15 hrs.
Roy: If power lines came down, it sounds like it was more powerful than a IV!
Based on only my experiences (I was first hired by the agency almost 31 years ago), power lines breaking are not particularly unusual. I know that nothing in my location (the PD is a building that we moved into in May of 1973 after the phone company outgrew it - I don't know when it was built - perhaps in the 50's [i.e. not a "modern" building) nothing fell off of shelves or desks. Although heavy items items are all tied down, like everyone else we've gotten a bit complacent and have things like a coffee cup full of pens (relatively top heavy), miscellaneous toys, etc, sitting on desks and shelves. We were having a dedication of a memorial to an officer killed a year ago by a drunk driver (whilte the officer was on his way to work) a year ago and many of those outside were initially uncertain that we were even having an earthquake as they were all standing.
You could tell we were at a distance from the center as the initial feeling was a roll and not the sharp shock felt if you are closer to the epicenter. [Note: although I've felt a number of earthquakes, the closest I've been to an epicenter was about 15 miles from a relatively small 4.5.]
Hi. We're cleaning up our winery and home in Paso Robles. Many early articles on the quake said "no damage, really, just some broken glass." For a clearer picture of the damage caused, visit our website! Six-hundred-pound wine barrels bouncing around like balloons, wine literally flowing out the door. Nearly every brick chimney in Paso has crumbled, and wooden floors in our many Victorian homes have warped or separated. Roads are buckled and bridges are closed. We are lucky, however, that there were not more fatalities.