Since an earthquake figures in my book "Shaketown", I was curious as to the magnitude of the earthquakes I clearly remember since moving to California with my parents. The 1906 quake was a 7.8, and it was centered not far from where I live now, in Marin County (you can still see the parting of the ground out there in Olema). The first shaker I remember was in 1957, centered in Daly City, a mere 5.3. My family lived in the valley then, and a few things fell off the shelves, but no big deal. The next big one WAS a big one--7.9 centered in Santa Rosa. I was in San Francisco ushering for the musical "Hair" of all things. Ushers were banished to the third tier of the balcony after doing their jobs, and as the place began to shake, the giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling began to sway, raining dust on everyone. Panic? Yep. Some clear-headed fellow shouted "calm down", and probably saved us all from a trampling rush to the door. I should add that the actress on the stage continued to gamely sing "Easy to be Hard" during all this. What a trooper!
In 1984, the 6.2 Morgan Hill 'quake caught me on the fifth floor of landfill in Emeryville. Out the window, the tall, thin light-posts in the parking lot were whipping back and forth like silvery licorice sticks in a storm.
I was at work in Sausalito during the 6.9 Loma Prieta, and though it knocked me and a co-worker to the floor and took out all the streetlights and electricity for several hours, I was surprised at the damage it did, and the heavy, sad feelings that stayed for more than a week. Someone told me "vapors" were released from the earth. I don't know about that, but the collapse of the freeway and bridge, and the poor folks who died there surely affected us all.
But it's shaking all the time; take a look at this if you don't think so: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_California
Time to check the earthquake kit...
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