[Boatanchors] Some Shaking Going On??

[Richard Knoppow]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Fish" <rwfish at comcast.net>
Cc: "boatanchors" <boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 3:27 PM
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] Some Shaking Going On??


>A good measure of earthquake strength is were you able to 
>stay on  your
> feet. The strong ones will knock you over.
> I was a bartender at a golf course near Morgan Hill, Ca. 
> (northern Ca)
> during one of our stronger earthquakes back in the middle 
> '80s.
> When it finished shaking, I stood back up from behind the 
> bar and looked
> out through a big bay window onto the golf course and saw
> women golfers rolling around on the ground as far as the 
> eye could see.
> (it was ladies day). 30 years later and it still gives me 
> a chuckle.
> The bar did a brisk business for the remainder of the 
> afternoon.
>
> Bob  K6GGO
>
     When was it, 1987, we had a severe quake. I was at 
work, in the equipment room of a large TV station. The floor 
was old-fashioned computer floor. I braced myself between 
two rows of floor to ceiling racks with my feet on the rack 
sides and felt them rocking and heard walls cracking. The 
part of the station I was in was below ground and made of 
poured ferroconcrete intended to be atomic bomb proof. It 
may have been bomb proof but not earthquake proof. The 
station consisted of several buildings abutted. There was a 
lot of damge in the stair wells and elsewhere where the 
walls collided with each other. There were chunks of broken 
concrete all over the place. I think we stayed on the air 
but don't remember, it was not exactly a relaxed time.
     I've been through a few earthquakes including perhaps 
five really bad ones. One doesn't ever get used to them. 
They can start out mild and get worse. Even when the shaking 
stops they are not over since a severe earthquake will have 
aftershocks for days or weeks. The quake in Japan is still 
having feelable aftershocks. I've never been in a hurricane 
or tornado but have been in storm winds I could not walk 
against or stand up in. That was very frightening. I suppose 
anything where you know that you have no control of your 
immediate future is scary like that. As humans we like to 
fool ourselves that we are in control but once in a while 
get a little reminder of the power of God.


--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL
dickburk at ix.netcom.com