Earthquake

[El Cid]

We didn't feel any of them.

Possibly because our house had to built to be earthquake proof (up to a point) as part of the new building regs which came in about 12 years ago.

Sid

[Campo Steve]

We were in a hostal in Malaga and my wife woke me up to ask if I could feel the bed shaking. I could

[Pamela1]

Why on earth a hotel in malaga...u must hv the dosh,,not real spanish people.. just those who dont mind being ripped off..

[peteroldracer]

You win my prize for stupid comment of the month. Firstly he says 'hostal' not 'hotel', and secondly why on earth should he not do what he wants - particularly as he is planning to return to the UK so will want to see as much as he can!

[Chunky Monky]

Yep, you nailed it Peter. Maybe a bit too much of the 'falling down' water!

[costakid]

funny old comment from Pamela???

[patricia]

Why on earth a hotel in malaga...u must hv the dosh,,not real spanish people.. just those who dont mind being ripped off..

Totally weird comment. What business is if of hers where he is or for why!

No I didnt feel a thing!! Have been in much larger earthquakes in Guatemala and was also in Santa Monica for the 1994 January one, but before the big one there were lots and lots of smaller tremours which gave a clue to what was coming. I had already pinpointed where I was going to stand (away from building etc and electrical cables - before it came on the 24th. However having said that, they were not prepared at all for an earthquake in the hotel where I was staying - and yes I did say hotel - no one had a torch and the door out of the garden was locked and so we had to shimmy up and over the wall - that really was an earthquake! but thankfully not many people were killed because most of the houses are earthquake proof.

I do not know why they are not earthquake proof here because Malaga is are over a fault line. But as Sid has said with new laws now - I presume - that all new houses have to be earthquake proof!

[Miro]

According to something I read (Sur in English I think) they have been since 1968 - or at least there have been appropriate building regulations since then

[patricia]

That is interesting. Perhaps that is why I didnt feel anything here, I think this building is about 20 years old!

[Flexo]

There is no such thing as "earthquake proof", you can only build "earthquake resistance" up to a certain level. The technique involves building the building "soft" so it wobbles with the quake instead of against it. The problem is that building it soft will allow heavy wind to cause it to wobble and possibly damage it, even though that level of wind is not that common in earthquake areas in Spain. It is worse in places like Haiti where you have both earthquakes and hurricanes.

[patricia]

Well this is what they say about Haiti Construction techniques can have a huge impact on the death toll from earthquakes. An 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile in 2010 killed more than 700 people. On January 12, 2010, a less powerful earthquake, measuring 7.0, killed more than 200,000 in Haiti.
The difference in those death tolls comes from building construction and technology. In Haiti, the buildings were constructed quickly and cheaply. Chile, a richer and more industrialized nation, adheres to more stringent building codes.

When I was in Los Angeles, very few buildings were affected, the much older ones did collapse which were not earthquake proofed! and very few deaths, obviously those deaths were in building which were old and had not been designed to withstand earthquakes.

[gerryh]

Perhaps that is why I didnt feel anything here,

Or perhaps you are a heavy sleeper?
It woke me up but my wife slept through it.
Cheers
Gerry

[patricia]

You live in an older building I believe. Otherwise I have no idea. I am not a heavy sleeper and neither is my cat and she would have felt it and dived for cover and usually that is on top of me!

[gerryh]

Perhaps that is why I didnt feel anything here,

Or perhaps you are a heavy sleeper?
It woke me up but my wife slept through it.
Cheers
Gerry

You live in an older building I believe. Otherwise I have no idea. I am not a heavy sleeper and neither is my cat and she would have felt it and dived for cover and usually that is on top of me!

Correct I live in a very old house, built without any foundations straight onto the underlying rock.
I am the only one who woke up, neither my wife, our dog or any of our cats woke up. At first I wondered whether I had dreamt the house shaking.
Cheers
Gerry

[patricia]

Well Gerry all I can say is that the earth moved for you and that must be good

[Flexo]

Well this is what they say about Haiti Construction techniques can have a huge impact on the death toll from earthquakes. An 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile in 2010 killed more than 700 people. On January 12, 2010, a less powerful earthquake, measuring 7.0, killed more than 200,000 in Haiti.
The difference in those death tolls comes from building construction and technology. In Haiti, the buildings were constructed quickly and cheaply. Chile, a richer and more industrialized nation, adheres to more stringent building codes.

When I was in Los Angeles, very few buildings were affected, the much older ones did collapse which were not earthquake proofed! and very few deaths, obviously those deaths were in building which were old and had not been designed to withstand earthquakes.

The problem that I was hinting on is that Haiti has both earthquakes and hurricanes, which makes it immensely more difficult as you have to pick your poison (you can hardly have both good earthquake resistance and hurricane resistance in major constructions). Chile and Los Angeles are not prone to major hurricanes so they can adhere to earthquake resistance more easily than places like Haiti.

[patricia]

I am sorry to say I am not an expert on architecture and neither am I pretending to be. "Earthquake proof" is what they call houses which have been "earthquake proofed" and also all I can go on is my own experience of earthquakes and that only a few buildings in Los Angeles were damaged because as they said they were earthquake proofed and that is the term which is used. Other than that I know nothing about the construction of buildings built in areas where earthquakes are likely.

[Stevemul]

My brother, now retired, lives in rural California. The latter part of his career was spent working for local municipal authorities inspecting, assessing and renovating privately built homes to reduce their likelihood of collapse during earthquakes.The householders received grants from government.

[El Cid]

Another one this afternoon at 5.30. Apparently it was magnitude 4.9 near Almeria.

Sid

[elusive]

Yeah felt it. Only a few secs though