7.2 Earthquake

I grew up and spent most of my adult life here in Southern California so I am pretty used to earthquakes. We have minor ones quite often along with a few doozies years ago...one family member had their house practically destroyed some years back in the Northridge quake. And I wasn't even surprised by this one since the major earthquakes around the Pacific Rim have gradually been working themselves closer and closer to us over the years since the devastating quake and tsunami in Indonesia. Even so, the 7.2 that happened a couple of days ago was a real heart thumper. Not because things were flying off of shelves...we had none of that because we were just far enough away from the epicenter...but because of how long it lasted and not knowing if it was going to progress into being the "Big One," which certainly seemed not just in the realm of possibility but for a short time seemed like a probability. 45 seconds may not sound like a long time unless you are watching things...even the plants outside...shake like they will fly apart but it felt like an eternity at the time. Luckily it wasn't the "Big One" for us, anyway...those in northern Baja California may have a different opinion...but it is a reminder to be more prepared. Our levels of adrenalin will be shooting up a bit from time to time as we feel the aftershocks and my cats will freak out each time but I am very grateful that we have strict building codes that prevent the level of destruction we have seen in places that have few or none. We have a large tent and a supply of emergency food but they wouldn't be very accessible if our house collapsed, and our bottled water is running low...all things that have been in the back of my mind for the last year or so. I am using this earthquake as incentive to remedy that situation and to have another neighborhood meeting to discuss emergency preparedness. I think they might be more likely to pay attention this time, don't you? To those closer to the epicenter, my sincere hopes that their recovery is quick and as painless as possible.

Earthquakes aren't the only devastating emergencies that all of us face and I would encourage everyone to be prepared for whatever natural or man made disaster that you could experience. That reminds me...fire season is not that far away.

Tags: 7.2, baja, california, earthquake, emergency, preparedness

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Comment by Donna AKA artsycalgal on April 6, 2010 at 9:01pm: Thanks you guys. You are so right in that I would hate to live where there are tornadoes...and gladly moved away from South Carolina where they were a threat...although there have been tornadoes here the last couple of storms...global warming? We never had anything like that when I was a kid, for sure...or ever, really. We moved from there to Snohomish in WA where it snowed and flooded not to mention the threat of total destruction from Mt. Rainier should it erupt and cause mud slides and pyroclastic flows. Seven days without power when it was so cold??? Wow. I would have started packing right then! I was glad to leave the endless gloom and all those things you listed. Move to Canada??? Brrrrrrrrr. Beautiful but too too cold for these old bones. Being born and raised in the sunshine, I simply can't live without it...and I've tried but just had to come back. Once a California girl, always a California girl. Mo, I laughed when you said about not letting your glasses touch so they won't rattle...it's what I do, too! hahaha We have the added bonus (???) of having military helicopters fly overhead in formation once in a while and they can make the glasses rattle pretty good, too. They move some serious air and it's pretty spectacular when they go by! And the first thing we did was to call our son who lives in Orange County...even before the earthquake ended because we knew it would be hard to get through because of everyone using the phones to call loved ones. We only talked a minute or so...it was still rattling up there, too, amazingly...in order not to tie up the lines...once we knew they were o.k. At that time we didn't know where the earthquake epicenter was but we knew it was a whopper so we wanted to make sure it wasn't the San Andreas next to Los Angeles. All in all, I'm glad to be in Southern California despite earthquakes and fire storms...on two occasions in the last 4 years we have packed up our belongings ready to evacuate but luckily never got the order even though we could see the flames. The last time it got within a mile of our house but the wind was carrying it beyond us. Anyway, today was a day of aftershocks...short but because everyone's nerves are still a bit shot, you react as though it was the same size as the 7.2. I imagine people are having to double up on the blood pressure meds! haha Basically, though, everything is back to normal for 98 percent of us and the more time that passes, the less likely the San Andreas Fault will let loose as we were informed by an earthquake specialist on TV this afternoon. Whew! Nice to know!

Comment by Heather on April 6, 2010 at 2:09pm: God Donna, I think you should just move here to Canada where you might only suffer a little frost bite! Thinking of you and hope you are well.

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HERE ARE 2 LINKS to TWO of my youtube videos talking and demonstrating about this amazing product:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIc02QBihJQ&feature=share&list=UUM6N5AOYoyg6eAkbcDWpNFg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zAPZn5TEyM&list=UUM6N5AOYoyg6eAkbcDWpNFg&index=41

So once i have my image printed onto transparency film, I take my Ezscreen silk screen which has been coated in light sensitive emulsion (These sheets come pre-coated so they are ready to use). Place it onto a black board, then place the transparency image on top (this part needs to be done in a dark room with no direct sunlight). I take it outside and expose it for 1 minute and 40 seconds (but time varies depending on time of day and strength of sunlight). After i have exposed the image i place it into a tub of water for around 5 - 8 minutes. Then i rinse the screen out under fast running water until the unexposed area (the black) washes away. I then expose the screen to the sun for a further 20mins to completely harden the light sensitive emulsion.

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I love this product, their website is http://ezscreenprint.com/ (for full instructions and details on how to purchase this awesome product).

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