Things That Go “Bump” in the Night-Earthquake Hits Santa Cruz

A relatively small earthquake like the one that recently woke up residents from sleep can be a wake-up call for preparedness. Got your go bag ready? This piece was reported by Daymia Rousseau, KSQD’s Humanities intern from UCSC.

Transcript:

Hello, I’m Daymia Rousseau, a UCSC Intern reporting for KSQD. Even though Earthquake tremors are constant throughout the Santa Cruz area, it’s rare that we ever notice them.

However, on April 2nd, an earthquake hit the central coast at 1:41am, shaking homes and jarring people from their beds. . Clocking in at 4.6 on the Richter scale, and centered in Brookdale, people felt it as far north as San Francisco.

One resident in the Boulder Creek area experienced property damage from the quakes, while another was shot awake.

Interviewee 1: I was just about to fall asleep…the bed started shaking, and the glass started to rattle – it actually cracked my window. I have a crack in my window now (laughs)..the radio had nothing about it, and Nextdoor was blowing up with people saying, ‘they felt the earthquake’. Everyone seemed to feel it ‘different.

Even further away from the epicenter in Aptos, a few homeowners felt the jolt.

Interviewee 2: It wasn’t on the news, I found it Nextdoor. That’s when I found out there was a 4-point…nine? Earthquake? 4.9?

Side note – the initial magnitude of 4.9 reported by most sources was changed to 4.6.

Interviewee 3: …there was a pretty big one up here, and the whole house was rocking back and forth and it shook me out of bed. 

Interviewee 2: I was definitely disoriented…then when I realized what was happening I jumped up, ran downstairs to check on my family to make sure they were ok… 

Interviewee 3: You know, it was actually funny, I was trying to put my pants on – and I couldn’t stand straight up! I kept falling to the side trying to get my leg in my pants. In fact, some of the family was here.

The event shook quite a few residents not only due to the abruptness of the quake, but also because it reminded them of two notorious words: Loma Prieta.

Recorded at a magnitude of 6.9, most listeners will remember the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake due to the extensive damage it caused across the central coast and the Bay Area. For some residents, this relatively small 4.6 reminded them that they were unprepared for a much larger earthquake.

Interviewee 2: It made me realize that we don’t have an earthquake preparedness kit, or a plan in place if there was a really big one… Especially since I know we live by the fault line where we had the big ‘89 quake. So in the back of my mind, I do wonder if there’s gonna be another one.

But while the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake was a result of the San Andreas fault line, this smaller 4.6 has been reported by the United States Geological Survey as primarily the result of the Zayante-Vergeles fault line. This fault, considered active, can deliver a quake as big, or bigger than Loma Prieta. Thankfully, it hasn’t in recent memory.

Evan Hirakawa, a USGS research geophysicist, reported in a KQED article that Zayante hasn’t been very active in thousands of years. He reports that the national alert system was, …too close to the event to really benefit…him.

So, how reliable are phone-based shake warnings at alerting people? What resources are available to the general public?

Many Santa Cruz residents, like myself, received an emergency alert during, or even after the quake, which did little to assist in any preventive safety measures. . But there are resources used by Public officials and locals to alert themselves or others about larger earthquakes – even smaller ones. The most commonly used is an app called MyShake, which only alerts users when an earthquake with a magnitude over 4.5 is predicted. Additionally, ShakeAlert provides educational content on earthquake safety along with alerts. Still, the closer you are to the epicenter, the less time, if any, you would have once the alert is issued.

As earthquakes continue to rock Santa Cruz residents from their sleep, it’s important to make sure you and your home are prepared. A good list for your “go bag” is available at ready dot gov.

Thanks for listening. This is Daymia Rousseau, UCSC Intern reporting for KSQD.