Massive 6.9 Richter Scale Earthquake in China Kills Hundreds, Leaves Tens of Thousands Homeless

China is reeling under the damage from a Richter Scale 6.9 earthquake. According to the Associated Press report from Xining, almost 600 people have died, at least 10,000 are injured, and tens of thousands are homeless. If you lived in Southern California during the 1994 Northridge quake, you cannot really imagine this level of damage, but you certainly understand what it's like when solid ground decides it isn't so solid.

The Northridge Quake

At 4:30 in the morning on January 17, 1994 a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the Los Angeles area, centered in Northridge, Calif. This earthquake caused an estimate $20 billion in damage and killed 57 people while leaving up to 20,000 homeless. According to the Southern California Earthquake Data Center, it "produced the strongest ground motions ever instrumentally recorded in an urban setting in North America." Freeways collapsed, buildings fell and damage to infrastructure was widespread.

What It Was Like

I was fast asleep in Riverside, Calif., about 75 miles from the epicenter, at the time. Suddenly there was a rumbling that woke me. It sounded like an oncoming freight train, and I knew there were no train tracks nearby. Just as the sound became horribly loud the bed began to lurch harshly from one side to the other. I reverted to my military training just as my wife woke up and tried to sit up. I stared up at the ceiling, watching for any cracks or falling pieces. I pinned my wife to the bed with my right arm and held the left up as a shield. "Hold your position," I yelled, "do not move!" We could hear dishes rattling, cabinet doors banging, and once in a while the sound of glass breaking. After what seemed like forever (but turned out to be less than one minute), the shaking slowed. The bed felt like it was riding a gentle swell on the ocean, and as I stared at the doorway to our room I could see its rectangle shifting from a straight, to angled, and back. Gradually it stopped.

We got out of bed, got dressed and headed for the living room. Little knick knacks and some glasses in the kitchen had broken, but nothing major appeared damaged. In the end it probably cost us less than $20. Meanwhile there was no power, not just in our apartment, not just on our street but as far as the eye could see. We went outside, and it was unnaturally dark. As urban citizens we are used to always being able to see at least some light. There was none, anywhere. And it was unnaturally quiet, as if the world was holding its breath to see what came next. There were no birds chirping, cars running...not a sound.

We went next door and checked on the nice little old lady that we knew lived alone. She responded that she was fine. We got on the phone, which thankfully still worked, and got through to some friends who assured us that they were okay. It was much as at our place; there were little things broken and lots of stuff knocked off of shelves, but nothing major in the way of injuries or damage.

After a few hours the sun came up and the power came on. We sat in front of the television and began to understand how lucky we were. To this day we occasionally drive on the Clarence Wayne Dean Memorial Interchange, so named for the police officer who was killed when he rode his motorcycle off of the collapsed overpass and fell 40 feet, not seeing the gap due to the total darkness until it was too late.

Other Major Quakes In 2010

According to the United States Geological Survey, there have been six major earthquakes so far in 2010, and this is "well within the normal range." These include Haiti, Mexico, and Chile. But does it seem normal?

As someone who sat through the shaking of the recent Mexico quake while eating Easter dinner in a Newport Beach restaurant, I can say that it does. The hanging lamps were swaying, the glasses and bottles in the bar were rattling together, and plates on our table were shifting. We could see the soda in our glasses swishing back and forth. The response by the patrons was all SoCal, as we say. They got on phones and pulled the headlines off of Yahoo, and began discussing how much fun it was. One person mistook the earthquake as inebriation, and we all laughed. We took guesses on the magnitude. Nobody panicked, most of us never left our seats, and some didn't even pause in their eating.

Earthquakes are caused by relief of pressure between two tectonic plates. Sometimes it happens more, and sometimes it happens less. Here in Orange County, sandwiched between the beach and the mall, we don't even bother to discuss normal or above normal. Honestly, we treat it like a carnival ride. It's fun, it's scary, it rattles, and there's that "right on the edge" feeling that it might just kill you. It almost never does, and we have a good laugh and move on with the day. I guess we do call that "normal."

We try not to think of what a China or Chile would look like here.

Sources:

Anita Chang, Quake in western China kills 589, buries more, The Associated Press, April 14, 2010

Northridge Earthquake, Southern California Earthquake Data Center

Dr. Michael Blanpied, Is Recent Earthquake Activity Unusual? Scientists Say No., USGS Newsroom