You call that an earthquake?
no better info, but I always thought that stairwells were a good place to go, as they tended not to pancake like the rest of the house. Would appreciate corrections/revisions to that, as I mentally rehearse racing to our stairwell when the big one hits. So now I’m thinking about the Triangle of Life too, and I’m torn, I’m torn, between the two.
I’ve been here for more than a dozen years, and I’m still not used to them.
I’m with Cranky. I miss them here in HK, but I feel in bowels how when those gently shudders suddenly jolt violently, I almost shit myself.
HG
USGS rated Friday’s quake at 4.9.
M 4.9, Taiwan 2009-04-17 12:37:49 UTC Z=37km 23.9170N 121.6880E
earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/rec … 09fna8.php
Go and live on the top floor … run to the roof, nothing to collapse onto ya … 
the sky?
[quote=“Dragonbones”][quote=“greenmark”]That was my first one since I moved here. Am still feeling a bit scared.
Just a quick question - if an earthquake starts and I’m at home, is there anywhere I should go to in case it gets really big (under the bed/table/on the toilet)?[/quote]
Don’t worry, greenmark, that was just a small one. They’re only scary when you’re not used to them.
As to what you should do, well, first, just sensibly prepare your apartment. Don’t put valuable, fragile or dangerous things where they might fall (especially on you); that includes heavy paintings or a mirror above your bed, for instance. If you do have tall cabinets or shelves which could topple easily, consider fastening them to the wall with L-brackets. Put heavier objects on lower shelves, and lighter objects on higher ones.
If a quake starts, don’t panic! If you’re cooking, calmly turn off the flame and move to safety. Move away from things which could fall, including large, tall furniture like shelves, wardrobes and refrigerators. Advice after that point varies, partly due to differences in construction standards in various countries. If you’re in bed, grab a pillow, cover your head with it and get on the floor next to the bed. Being under a sturdy desk isn’t bad in a moderate quake, and is suitable protection in typical US-style homes, which don’t tend to pancake during quakes, but in the event of a huge one that partially collapses a concrete building like the ones here, I have read that your best chances (and this is sure to start a debate!) are being next to strong structural supports like load-bearing internal walls, perhaps in a corner, or next to (not under) a solid, uncrushable object, like a bed, so that if the ceiling comes down, you’re under the lean-to , or "Triangle of Life"created by the ceiling and bed, if you get my drift. The latter theory is controversial and there are some serious questions about the author of the theory, but it still makes a lot of sense to me based on the construction here. Most of the objections to it seemed to be based on guidelines specific to US-style home construction, which don’t apply here. I’d be interested to hear what others think about this, however.
What you don’t want to do IMO is panic, running barefoot over broken glass, or run out under the facade of the building while the shaking is going on, as that’s a danger zone of falling glass, windows, facing material and signs, IMO. I’ve also read that stairwells tend to collapse easily. Maybe someone else has better info?[/quote]
Great post, DB! I hadn’t heard of the “Triangle of Life,” but it sounds sensable to me.
My first quake in Taiwan was the BIG ONE of 9/21 and I’ve never gotten over it. I never got used to eathquakes of any magintude. I’d been through them in Cali and in S. Korea, but even after the BIG ONE in Taiwan, there were just so many more than any place else. Small frequent earthquakes are, of course, preferable to infrequent large ones, but, you know–they mess with your mind after a while.
In a previous job, a disaster expert came in to talk about workplace safety during an earthquake, fire, etc. She also said the triangle of life is the latest theory, however, neither being under an object or being beside an object was definitively the best thing to do. The problem with the triangle of life, she said, is that if the ceiling collapses, the pieces may not be big enough to form a triangle depending on the construction, and if the ceiling falls down to lean on the wrong side of the desk and you were on the other side, you wouldn’t be protected. I think her conclusion was that beyond a certain point it’s a matter of luck. Hope everyone’s feeling lucky 
Not true at all. I’ve been here a long time and I can never get used to them. You never know when you feel the first jolt if it’ll be another 921 or just a little one. It always unsettles me.
A 4.3-er. Unpleasantly timed too, at 5.45am. I dislike being jolted and rolled awake, it makes it feel so much stronger. You’d think it could’ve waited a couple more hours until I was doing b/fast.
When I moved to my new place a year and a half ago, going from the 4th floor to the 9th floor, I fully expected to really feel some swaying. I haven’t felt anything! I know it’s unreasonable to be miffed about it, but I think the wind that’s blowing in Danshui right now is shaking my apartment more than any of the earthquakes in the last 18 months.
Phooey.
Ditch your 42kg xiaojie and get yourself a real woman. To quote Queen: [quote]Fat bottomed girls
You make the rockin world go round![/quote]
Ditch your 42kg xiaojie and get yourself a real woman. To quote Queen: [quote]Fat bottomed girls
You make the rockin world go round![/quote][/quote]
Well…actually…I am a fat-bottomed girl. I should have been born during the Tang Dynasty, when men appreciated a bit of padding.
Who wants to sleep with a pile of coathangers anyway?
[quote=“500CBFan”]Well…actually…I am a fat-bottomed girl. I should have been born during the Tang Dynasty, when men appreciated a bit of padding.
Who wants to sleep with a pile of coathangers anyway?[/quote] :roflmao:
YAY for us fat bottomed girls!
…must…resist excess use of smilies…that wiggling bottom is so appropriate, though.
(oops, what was this thread about?)
Thought I was drunk … but no … earthquake
Did anyone else just feel that? A gentle rolling earthquake that made my tables shake.
Yeah, I felt it, and told my wife, who said “no, that’s just the kittens jumping around in the box on the bed” (where I was sitting), and I said “no, that’s an earthquake”, and she said “no, that’s the kittens”, and I said, “no, that’s a quake”, and she said… 
I like to use this seismic montior for all my earth needs in rock and roll 
http://www.iris.edu/seismon/Well, we all missed this one this morning (05.19.2009 08:15)
a 5.0 some 40 km east of Yilan.
It was about a 1 in Taipei, but as usual I slept through it.
Must be getting old: when i first arrived, I would get freaked out by the building swaying in the wind. Now I don’t even get woken up by a real one!
edit: My bad! I completely read the time wrong on that one.
It was actually the 13:08:15 thing that i got wrong, (reading it rather as 08:15) so the reason i missed it is because I was on the bus.
2009/05/19 13:08 5.0 032 24.77N 122.12E, i.e. 36.8 km E of Yilan City
and this one