This Thanksgiving morning, Hawaii experienced a hefty little magnitude 5.0 earthquake to ruffle everyone's feathers once again and put them back on their toes, if they weren't already. I was actually sitting at my computer when it happened. When everything began to tremble, I got up to my feet and stood beside (as opposed to before) my CD stand and held it back to help ensure it wouldn't topple over. Being unclothed, I wasn't quite prepared to dash out the front door. It started out the same way the mid-October magnitude 6.7 rocker did, so I wasn't sure how severe it was going to get this time. It was nowhere near as intense, though.

Who knows if or when an even more powerful quake than 6.7 will occur.

http://tux.wr.usgs.gov/ - This is an interesting little diagram illustrating the exact island locations of the epicentres of earthquakes from the past two weeks. The southeast corner of the island is one major centre of activity, but since that is the location of our active volcano, it's nothing out of the ordinary. I live on the northern peninsula, however, and all that seismic activity concentrated near the northwest coast is -not- normal. I have yet to see or hear any satisfying explanations as to what is causing all this commotion.

I'm not afraid so much as purely fascinated. The only persisting inconveniences to me following the big quake have been the lane closures on the highways, and the fact that they closed the trail down to Pololu Valley due to major landslides.

Anyway, who else here has been involved in an earthquake before?

By the way, my written account of the major quake is right here: http://journal.shutterwolf.com/?p=292

Neither of the two things i thought this might be about were right:/

I've never notived an earthquake before, but then again florida isnt that geologically active. The closest we get are sinkholes opening up, and thats completely different.

Also, the richter scale is exponential. e.g. a magnitude 5 is ten times a magnitude 6, which is one tenth of a magnitude 7, and so on. Not sure if you knew that, but thats why the recent one felt so much less powerful.

My next door neighbour reported having a sinkhole in his yard due to that quake.

This morning's was a 4.4. Why must they always happen while I'm trying to sleep?

Oh, and they just had to shut down a major resort that suffered significant damage from it. 400 workers without jobs, etc.

I was seven years old, I believe, when the Northridge Earthquake struck. I was with my Mother for the weekend visiting due to my parents being divorced and having to be with her every other weekend. Anyways, I was up fairly late that night for my age; 11pm or so. I didn't even awake to the shaking originally, but shortly after when I finally awoke I jumped to my mother's bed while having no idea what was going on. After that, we went outside into the car if, I recall correctly, while having to make our way through the house with tons of glass and other objects in the way. After the sun finally rose on that wonderful Martin Luther King Day, we went to 7-11 which was also trashed. Don't remember much else that happened during the day. But then after that she took me back to my father's home which wasn't harmed whatsoever. Didn't have school for a week afterwards. And after that, I just recall that anytime we went out to LA, the one overpass fell so you had to get off the freeway and take city streets to go back onto the 405 or anywhere else.

As for recent events. The last Earthquake that I personally felt had to be about 3 years ago. I missed a biggie about 2 years ago while I was visiting my mother in Washington. I wouldn't be surprised if we have another one in the coming months, it's been awhile. And a big one in about 10 years. Just how things roll around here.