Earth Quakes

First to the people of Napa and Northern California.  May the clean up from Sunday’s quake go quickly, so things can get back to normal.  And Thank God no one was killed in this one.

For those of us who live in Florida, earthquakes are not a big threat hanging over our heads.  We have hurricanes.  But, hey, at least we get advanced warning for them.

As someone who has lived in earthquake country and has experienced them first hand, I can tell you that they are not something you can ever forget: the low rumble that builds to a roaring thunder, the feeling of the floor rolling under your feet like the waves on the sea, the sight of your TV and furniture being thrown up in the air, and most importantly the feeling of helplessness because there is nothing any human being can really do about it. . .  except hold on until it’s over.  Our natural instinct is to run and hide, but that doesn’t work as there is no place to hide.  But there could be safer locations inside your house or place of employment.  You just have to get there first.  What happens really depends upon the quakes strength, it’s duration (i.e. how long it lasts where you are).  If you have been watching the news the past few days, many of the people interviewed talked about how long it lasted.  The longer an earthquake lasts, the more potential for damage there is.  But during those few seconds, you know you have to do something!  Right wrong or otherwise.

In my case, during my first experience with a big quake, I picked up our dog (a Great Dane by the way, who was busy trying to hide under my bed) and I ran out of the house with her. I got 2 or 3 steps into the front yard when I went down with her.  She rolled a couple of feet away and as I lifted my head I remember seeing an ant hill right in front of my nose with all the ants pouring out of it. Luckily there are no Fire Ants in Arizona 😉  But it is one of the memories that is just burned into my mind.  I can see it as clearly today as when it happened back in the late 1970s.  Over the next few years, living in California, we experienced several more large quakes.  After the last one, as fate would have it, I was offered a job here in Florida.  As the saying goes, the rest is history.

Here we are in Florida now, and I will take a Hurricane over an earthquake any time!  At least with a hurricane you get enough advanced warning to get out of town ahead of time.  We all know a major Hurricane is a terrible thing.  But with proper preparations, and evacuation when necessary, they can be survived and you can rebuild.

But earthquakes can be one of Mother Nature’s ways of remodeling on a grand scale.  Here are a couple of photos taken this summer showing the aftermath of Great Quakes in the past, and the incredible scenery they have produced.  But I am glad I was not there at the time.

Angels Fault from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, which is the fracture (crack) running down the middle of the canyon and for more detailed info please read the sign.

Capital Reef N.P.: the result of a Thrust Fault uplifting Earth Quake, all 100 miles of it.

Driving along the Capital Reef N.P. cliffs, which are hundreds of feet high. You can see how these sedimentary layers, going back millions, of years were exposed during an earthquake.

Just the thought of the forces necessary to push this mountain chain straight up hundreds of feet, for a hundred miles, is simply beyond the human mind to fully comprehend.  Truly the power of God at work.