Another California Milestone

Quake Near La Jolla Shakes Many Awake

Among my other many illustrious California accomplishments - catching a Pacific Ocean wave, eating my first fish taco, and as of yesterday, dog poop nazi - here's another to add to the growing list: earthquake survivor!

NBC news is reporting that a small 3.5 magnitude earthquake struck San Diego early Thursday morning. The quake was centered five miles south-southwest of La Jolla and eight miles west of downtown San Diego, according to the U.S. Geographical Survey.

The small quake jolted many San Diegans and pandologists awake at exactly 2:53 AM. I know this because I was startled awake to closet doors that were waving in the nighttime breeze....hey wait a minute! Metal closet doors don't "wave" in the breeze! E rolled over and mumbled "...think we...just survived our first earthquake....zzzzzzzzzz..."

According to my Geo 101 memory, most of California lies on the San Andrea Fault. A fault is the space between two tectonic plates (made up of the Earth's crust) that are trying to sidle gracelessly past each another. As they attempt to grind past one another, tension builds up between the Pacific Plate (heading northwest) and the North American Plate (heading southeast). Occasionally the tension is so great the plates "slip" and cause quakes.

From Geo 102 I recalled that little slips cause little quakes and that's good because they keep The Big One at bay. Still, no telling when The Big One will occur. Maybe that was covered in Geo 103 which I didn't take.

For more information on the San Andreas Fault and The Big One, go to the USGS site.