Yes, we had an earthquake

Last Monday, we experienced an earthquake here in Berkeley, with an epicenter just blocks from our home, stated to be intensity 4.3. This is no surprise; we live a few hundred yards from the Hayward Fault, a major part of the San Francisco Bay area fault system. In the following days, we had some aftershocks, located similarly nearby. These events remind me that over the years, I have met people who are shocked that we are willing to live in earthquake country.

The reality is that earthquakes are not frequent (nothing like hurricanes or tornadoes), and in any case, we actually live in the (relatively) right place: our location uphill from the Bay means that what is underneath us is rock. We get short, sharp jolts in earthquakes. People living on top of sediment or fill can instead experience extended shaking, and it’s that kind of earthquake motion that damages structures the most.

Still, after a quake, I always go around the house and check on things, including the layout. This kind of quake, at 4.3, mostly jiggles picture frames off vertical. On the layout, it usually does little, though of course anything delicately balanced may fall over. In a bigger quake, that could include rolling stock and structures, but not in a quake like the one we just had.

A typical outcome in a lesser earthquake like this one is that figures of people tip over. This can be noticed all over the layout. Here’s an example at the Shumala engine terminal.  Note that the ladders are standing, as is a figure in the background.

Another vulnerable scenic item is my billboards. These are built from the Walthers kits, and though they are fine ordinarily, they turn out to be “tippy” in an earthquake. This one has fallen onto the “Bob’s Hot Dogs” stand, and so has a patron at Bobs, and the workman on the tank car loading platform; but a figure in the road in the distance remains standing..

Anything else that’s tippy, along with a billboard, can also fall, as in the Union 76 service station sign in this view at East Shumala. Note here that the figures in the gas station scene are all still standing.

So these are all minor effects, easily picked up in a few minutes. Now to be sure, it may be different when “the big one” hits; but for these little quakes, it’s pretty minor. Having lived with this sort of thing for much of my life, I’m certainly not bothered. 

Tony Thompson