Sunday, February 11, 2018

Lake Elsinore Earthquake Awakens Murrieta and Temecula

By Douglas V. Gibbs
AuthorSpeakerInstructorRadio Host

During the time period shortly after midnight a 3.5 magnitude earthquake rocked Lakeland Village, a community in Riverside County to the west of Lake Elsinore, to the east of Orange County, and tucked along the Cleveland National Forest near Ortega Highway between Corona and Wildomar.  To the south lie the cities of Murrieta and Temecula, before heading into San Diego County.

The earthquake could be felt throughout southwest Riverside County, and is the strongest of a string of earthquakes to recently swarm the area. No injuries or damage has been reported.  Personally, I slept through the quake, only knowing about it because my wife told me she felt it at 1:00 am this morning.

The earthquake is at the tail of a number of mild earthquakes, which can be seen as good news, or bad news.  While smaller quakes relieve pressure being endured by the plates deep underground, sometimes a string of earthquakes steadily getting stronger is a sign of a large one waiting to do its thing.
Lakeland Village, California, United States about 9 hours ago 3.6 magnitude, 4 km depthLakeland VillageCaliforniaUnited States

about 9 hours ago 2.2 magnitude, 3 km depth
Lake ElsinoreCaliforniaUnited States

about 10 hours ago 2.1 magnitude, 3 km depth
Lake ElsinoreCaliforniaUnited States

about 13 hours ago 1.9 magnitude, 3 km depth
Lake ElsinoreCaliforniaUnited States

about 16 hours ago 1.9 magnitude, 10 km depth
Lakeland VillageCaliforniaUnited States

about 18 hours ago 1.7 magnitude, 13 km depth 

3 days ago
 
1.7 magnitude, 3 km depth 
3 days ago 2.2 magnitude, 13 km depth 
Aguanga, California, United  





























Note: 









Aguanga is situated east of Temecula by only a few miles

Earthquakes are an expected part of living in Southern California.  In my lifetime, we have experienced a number of major quakes, though we are still waiting for "The Big One."

In 1994, five years after I had moved into my new home in Murrieta, the Northridge Quake slammed Southern California.  The January 17, 1994 earthquake was centered only 20 miles from Los Angeles, slamming the area with a magnitude measured at 6.7.

The power of that earthquake was tremendous.  The 4:30 am earthquake was the first major quake to erupt directly under the Los Angeles urban area since 1933's Long Beach earthquake, and was strong enough that in Murrieta, over 100 miles away, we were awakened, and convinced it was a local episode.

Sections of major freeways collapsed, parking structures and office buildings collapsed, and numerous apartment buildings suffered irreparable damage under the force of the major earthquake. The thrusting of the earthquake's motions lifted structures off of their foundations and sometimes even shifted walls laterally.

When I was approaching my fifth birthday, my family lived in Bellflower, about 40 miles south of San Fernando, where a 6.6 magnitude earthquake slammed the region February 9, 1971.  The Sylmar Quake caused over $500 million in property damage and 65 deaths. Most of the deaths occurred when the Veteran's Administration Hospital collapsed. Several other hospitals, including the Olive View Community Hospital in Sylmar suffered severe damage. Newly constructed freeway overpasses collapsed, as did a few structures.  The saving grace was that the earthquake struck at 6:00 am, just as people were beginning to stir.  Had the earthquake occurred just a few hours later, during a busier time of the day, the death toll could have been much greater.

In Bellflower, it was a foggy morning.  My toys on the shelves of my bedroom were all over the floor, and I rode the earthquake on a top bunk of a bunk bed, on the second floor of our townhouse-style apartment complex.  After the shaking finished, I went down stairs where I saw my parents both standing in the doorway, looking outside.  I squeezed between their legs to see what the outside world looked like.  Nothing had collapsed that I could see, but the electrical wires along the poles were still swinging back and forth.  In the middle of the street the paperboy was picking himself up, thrown off his bike by the sudden shaking that had rocked the area.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

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