I Just Felt

an earthquake hit here at my apartment. There was a little shock, and then there was a bigger one just now.

There were four quakes today today of 3.0 and above.

Miscellaneous News.

Just as it seemed the Mogul/Verdi/Reno earthquakes were subsiding, another quake shook the area last night. It was a 3.8.

I didn't feel anything. I was just dozing off after trying to watch a DVD.
_____

A woman who won a $5 million Georgia lottery last year on her birthday was slain by her ex-boyfriend, according to authorities.

The woman, Doris Murray, wanted to receive the winnings in annual payments and lived modestly.
_____

Bill Hargrove, 106, the oldest league bowler of all time, has died just a few days before his 107th birthday.

Here is some trivia:

In May 2007, just after turning 106, Mr. Hargrove was feted and fussed over at Suburban Lanes in Decatur. Cameras flashed and spectators oohed as the United States Bowling Congress presented him with a custom-made plaque inscribed to "the oldest league bowler ever."

The organization said as far as it knew, he was the oldest bowler in the world.

The honor did not slip up on him unawares.

"I was hell-bent on getting it," he said in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article at the time, knowing full well that a Florida bowler had previously made it to 105.

William C. Hargrove, 106, of Clermont was admitted to Northeast Georgia Medical Center a few days after his last game and died there of congestive heart failure Monday, four days shy of his 107th birthday.

_____

Another politician couldn't keep his pants zipped.
_____

The platypus is as strange on the inside as on the outside.
_____

Could the Burma/Myanmar cyclone have a death toll greater than the 2004 tsunami?

If the death toll is a half million, that would rival the East Pakistan/Bangladesh cyclone of 1970.
_____

A 3.0 Earthquake

hit the Mogul area just west of Reno a couple of hours ago.

Not good at all. More than 600 have occurred in the Reno area since late February.

Experts

are trying to dispel rumors of an imminent major earthquake hitting the Reno area.

Of course earthquakes and their intensity can't be predicted. However, enough has happened that I don't want to stay in the area anymore.

False rumor No. 1: They’ve predicted that a major earthquake will occur some time soon.
Ken Smith, a seismologist with the lab, said they’ve heard one rumor that they’ve predicted a magnitude 7.0 earthquake is imminent. One person on the Reno Gazette-Journal online discussion forums said a magnitude 9.0 quake was supposed to hit on Wednesday based on Seismological Laboratory predictions.
“That’s not a credible statement,” Smith said. “Earthquakes cannot be predicted whatsoever.”
After Friday’s magnitude 4.7 quake that damaged some buildings in northwest Reno and knocked items off shelves, the laboratory said there would be an increased chance for a larger quake within 10 days.
“That’s a statistical statement based on the history of earthquakes of Nevada,” Smith said. “That has not changed.”
But they aren’t saying that a quake is certain or even likely, Smith said, and anyone who got that inference from their statements “got the wrong message.”
And beyond the 10-day period, there’s still a chance for a larger quake, Smith warned.

Mogul Residents

continue to worry over the number of earthquakes in their area. Some have decided to leave until the quakes are done, others want to leave for good, and still others are trying to cope as best they can.

Earthquake.

Yep, at 4:30 or so this morning, I felt the Mogul earthquake, which measured 4.0.

It was a rumble rather than a shake. Nothing moved from side to side. Again, the dogs couldn't have cared less.

Since that initial report, the quake has been revised to 4.2.

What is notable about the quakes isn't their severity; it is the fact there have been so many of them in such a short time.

Friday Night's

earthquake here in Reno was the strongest since 1953. At least one expert doesn't rule out the possibility of magnitude 6 sometime down the road.

From the University of Nevada, Reno's website:

Earthquake Severity

Richter Earthquake
Magnitudes Effects

Less than 3.5 Generally not felt, but recorded.

3.5-5.4 Often felt, but rarely causes damage.

Under 6.0 At most slight damage to well-designed buildings.
Can cause major damage to poorly constructed buildings
over small regions.

6.1-6.9 Can be destructive in areas up to about 100 kilometers
across where people live.

7.0-7.9 Major earthquake. Can cause serious damage over larger areas.

8 or greater Great earthquake. Can cause serious damage in areas several
hundred kilometers across.

There have been 25 "microquakes" since midnight.

A 3.0 hit Reno about an hour ago.

This is Scary

shit:

Scientists urged residents of northern Nevada's largest city to prepare for a bigger event as the area continued rumbling Saturday after the largest earthquake in a two-month-long series of temblors.

More than 100 aftershocks were recorded on the western edge of the city after a magnitude 4.7 quake hit Friday night, the strongest quake around Reno since one measuring 5.1 in 1953, said researchers at the seismological laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno.

This Article Has

some interesting information about earthquakes out west and what may happen in the future:

Anderson said the Earth’s core is very hot and is cooling. As it cools, it causes the upper 60 miles of the Earth’s crust to shift and the movement is generally in pieces of the crust called tectonic plates. At the famous San Andreas fault, the plate that makes up the floor of the Pacific Ocean is grinding against the plate that makes up California as the Pacific plate moves toward the northwest United States at a rate of about 2 inches a year. That grinding causes earthquakes all the way into Nevada, he said.

Another factor is the expansion on the east side of the Sierra. About 20 million years ago, the Great Basin began expanding. Since the expansion started, the distance between the California border and the Utah border roughly doubled, Anderson said.
As Nevada expanded, its mountains became taller and its valleys deeper, he said.
“In one sense, this is good,” Anderson said. “We owe all our mountains to this extension. I like the mountain ranges here and I’m sure a lot of people do.
“These mountain ranges were all built one earthquake at a time.”
Before 1915, the last major quake in the Reno area that was a magnitude 7 was probably in 1860, Anderson said.

About 600 years ago and about 1,900 years ago there were magnitude 7 quakes along the east side of Mount Rose, he said.

At Around

1:30 this morning, I was sleeping quite soundly. Then I woke up for some reason. Moments later, I heard a boom and then the apartment building shook from side to side. Apparently this was an aftershock of the 4.7 earthquake late last night which was centered near Mogul, just west of Reno.

The funny thing about it is the dogs didn't act weird or anything; they slept through it! It was yours truly who woke up right before the aftershock.

Nothing was damaged in my apartment, but this recent series of quakes has got me worried.

More from the article:

An earthquake measuring 4.7 magnitude rattled the Reno area Friday night, waking up many people to find dinnerware knocked from shelves and structural damage to homes.

At least one 24-hour store closed so staff could restock shelves that had spilled onto the floor during the temblor that hit at 11:40 p.m. Emergency responders worked to stop a flume break near Mogul and, in some spots, clear rocks and boulders that shook loose from the sides of some roadways
Initial reports from the United States Geological Survey said the quake was based 2 miles east of Verdi. Estimations of the quake’s magnitude fluctuated throughout Friday night and after midnight today. The temblor was felt throughout the city and in Incline Village

Miscellaneous.

With everything else in this country going down the tubes, it is not surprising life expectancy is also taking a dive.
_____

I felt at least one of the earthquakes this afternoon. It shook my apartment building:

The 4.2 temblor hit at 3:55 p.m. and was centered four miles northwest of Reno, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It shook downtown Reno for about 30 seconds and caused buildings to sway.

_____