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What makes an earthquake 'preliminary'? Is there another one coming?

It's the initial estimate of the intensity before being further evaluated by the USGS

Aftershocks.

You have a primary earthquake. Which is often the biggest. Then follow on aftershocks. If the primary loosens foundation or support structures, aftershocks can completely destroy a building. Less so, in earthquake prone areas with really good building codes.

Was this the first time an early warning system actually sent a warning before the quake? Heard from friend that warnings went out.

If you define early as being before the earthquake struck then yes it did in fact warn me before it struck. However, I would not consider 1 second before the earthquake striking early but hey it at least warned me.

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Looks like the epicenter was in the town?

See... that makes sense. It's a horribly written headline. When did journalist standards get so low. My 6th grade English teacher would have given me, at best, a C four that type of poor gramer. :-)

A 5.1 in California is called Tuesday

hey wait a minute

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I was taking a shit when it happened and the toilet water splashed my bum bum.

Ah, Poseidon's Kiss. How unfortunate for you and your butthole.

Here in Washington we have four types of earthquakes:

• not an earthquake, yes it registered, it was just the mountain sleeping - constant
• Is that an earthquake or the apartment swaying? - every few years
• woah an earthquake! I can’t believe that one building was damaged and 101 got broken - every few decades
• AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA - every few centuries

My experience as well - I wasn't sure if the vibration was my phone or the quake

5-10 miles South East of San Jose

This scale is absolutely correct lol

We literally just had a 4.1 right by where I live a few days ago and I was bummed because my wife felt it and I didnt.

Biggest I ever got caught in was the “Easter Sunday” quake in 2010, that one was a 7.2 and my response was “oh wow yeah that’s an earthquake” and I got under a door frame. a few buildings collapsed nearby too.

Washington has an insane amount of potential geological energy that just releases all at once on a thankfully very long span of time lol.

It’s weird to realize that we are very well within the “ring of fire” up here. it’s all volcanoes from Shasta all the way up through alaska.

I’m at the south end of cascadia, so let’s hope the big one doesn’t happen in our lifetimes

Would add "I should probably get under something solid."

A number of earthquake related headlines, articles, and epicenter images are automated and provide basic information. Not too far off of this account- https://twitter.com/eelectricmiguel

That doesn't excuse them for having a poorly written template that provides no context.

I didn’t feel anything or get a notice 😳

honestly people who dont have earthquakes think earthquakes are more scary than they actually are. a 5.1 is like you drank some coffee and got the shakes but it only lasts for a few seconds

*For

C minus

I received a notification from the MyShake app during the earthquake. I was also in a Zoom meeting at the time, when another participant said, "Woah" while looking about the room before the seismic vibes hit me.

Zoom a better early warning system?

Grammar* Now we’re in D+ range.

Before the earthquake struck your location. The alert was triggered by an earthquake already occurring somewhere else, it wasn’t predicted.

Just one more reason the Japanese scale makes more sense for everyone who isn’t a geologist.

That's how I used to think until the big one in '89 (was in SF at the time) .. that changed my view and since then I really do not like

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Was on a zoom call with a coworker when it happened, strange times indeed

I leave near San Jose and received no warning prior to my apartment starting to shake.

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It all depends on the depth of the quake. The shallower the quake, the more shaking there is on the surface.

I’m fine with smaller earthquakes, but the big ones definitely can get scary. The one in 89 knocked over all those freeways right?

The big one I was in started very gently, like a smaller earthquake, but instead of stopping after a few waves like you’d expect, it only got stronger and stronger until it was really hard to stand up. I was in a fairly safe building (newer construction) but some buildings nearby came down. The sound of the buildings collapsing, people screaming, car alarms, and the whole time the shaking is just getting worse and worse and it goes on and on.

They sorta build up like the frog in the pot of water, it doesn’t seem like you’re in the middle of a natural disaster and then it suddenly crosses that line and you realize there isn’t really anything you can do, just sorta hope you picked the right hiding spot.

Maybe in the US.

The systems have been in place in Japan for a while longer.

It was in the mountains in a (very large) state park. No population in that area I expect. I bet a lot of hikers headed for that spot soon after though.

No, I've had several in the bay area already.

I got mine a whole 5 seconds prior!

as someone who moved east to west years ago its a lot more related to soil composition. Dry, hard, and mostly shallow bedrock soils that dominate around california don't actually transmit eneegy from earthquakes very well and move with the shaking vs jiggling. The east coast has very water logged soils with very deep a and o horizons that jiggle like jello during earthquakes and transmit that energy very well. About ten years ago DC had a low magnitude earth quake that caused a lot of damage and shook buildings, it had more to do with the soils then building code. And like others have said a magnitude 5 earthquake in california hardly feels like anything if I feel it at all, but a magnitude 2 earthquake in swamp land feels 10x worse.

Yea I lived through the '94 Northridge one. That shit was fucking crazy. There were aftershocks the entire night. I still take small earthquakes seriously because you never know if it'll turn into a big one.

>honestly people who dont have earthquakes think earthquakes are more scary than they actually are.

That's what everyone says about whatever natural disaster is common to their region. People can adapt to anything.

There could be a colony on some alien planet where the rain is acid and demon alien monsters crawl out of cracks in the ground every few months and the people would just shrug and say "You get used to it. At least we don't live in Detroit."

I see your syringe, and raise you a hypospray.

Hmmm sounds more efficient

I got the alert on my pixel about 5 seconds before I felt it in Oakland. Wasn't a big jolt. More of a gentle swaying for almost 30 seconds.

Was in the hospital. The warnings were pretty chaotic but at the same time no reactions from people. Several minutes passed before we were told to evacuate.

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Gonna agree with you on that one.

I live in Idaho, and we had a 6.5 about 70 miles from where I live and it was the first earthquake I've ever been in.

It didn't help that I was welding at the time the shaking began. With the hood down, I felt suddenly like I was drunk or going to pass out. I stood up, lifted my hood, and looked up at the metal rack on the wall, and all the tubing, flatbar, and sticks of angle iron were flexing and vibrating on the rack. It was about then I thought to myself, "Oh shit! Is this an earthquake?" and got underneath the platen table until the steel rack calmed down. It was certainly unsettling. The Earth is a wild and beautiful thing.

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Yeah, I lived through the Northridge quake too and that was a nasty one. Big, long shakes and lots of aftershocks!

That's not too far off from living some place that's so cold you can die if you get caught outside without your proper clothing, and also, bears.

There was a 4.1 a month ago in the north bay that also had warnings go out to 4 (iirc) counties. It beat the shockwave in most locations.

Oh my God I forgot about the eel with a Twitter account. Thanks for making my night

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I’m traumatized to this day from the Northridge earthquake. I was young but they have been a fear of mine ever since!

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Isn't 'Poseidon's Kiss' the moment when your nether regions touch the water when wading or jumping into a large, cold body of water?

No, it's when you take a shit and the water splashes up and touches your balloon knot

Just applying some critical thinking to the situation, wouldn't it be more apt for Poseidon, Lord of the Seas, to perform a kiss upon an individual when said individual were first greeting a body of water?

I'm not saying your wrong, as Google has appropriately corrected me. I'm just looking at it from the view of an outside observer.