Wish me the wife and Little Tab good luck tonight…
Two major Earthquakes - 5.7 and 5.9 on the Richter, morning and mid afternoon, over 80 aftershocks and apparently more to come. İzmir camps outside this evening. We’ll be in the car, parked away from tall buildings, huddled in blankets and singing songs to the baby.
Will post tomorrow with more news…
Holy Shit!
Be careful and I wish you guys luck. Stay away from your house, but take stuff that will help you to live in case something should happen to it.
Check back soon.
OH TAB!
Be safe my dear Angel of Joy and Love. I’ll be holding you and your family in my heart tonight.
With Love
A
Hey Tab,
Our thoughts are with your family and the people of Izmir,
Take care
Ben
wish you well, I’m biding my time till the big one hits the northwest or the large mountain next to me (mt rainer) decides to blow it’s top st. helens style.
I heard about a quake that hit california this morning (4.9) didn’t know about others around the world.
Tab, honest to God, I was joking! Hoping nothing but the best for you and your family. Will start cleaning up the spare room…
JT
thanks people - 22:26 - nothing to report beyond little bumps…
My good thoughts are with you, Tab. Hang in.
May you and all those you love stay safe.
please be careful my little shallow friend…
make sure to take down chandeleirs, and stay away from windows…maybe even cover them up…hide in a closet if you feel something…keep a flashlight tied around your waist…have a phone nearby + an emergency kit… keep your babytab nearby and your wifetab close too…please stay safe my love…
Hope you’re alright Tab, good luck
Now, if I may continue for a second, consider something for a second. What is the probability that 2 (richter)5.0+ earthquakes would hit the middle east in one year?
Before you guys pull an aspacia let me find the website I was reading regarding a possbile manufacturing of ‘natural’ events for whatever purpose. Regardless of his claims, this author’s website was mysteriously unaccessable to about 90% of the internet for about a week. A website that included definitive evidence of an emp shockwave in indonesia (typical of a nuclear induced tidal wave edit: at the time of the tsunami), whether this emp was manufactured independantly or not, is only speculation.
Okay - one uncomfortable night over with - slight shudders around midnight. Creaked the car on its suspension.
Thanks for the wishes - will post after lessons are finished. Now 12hrs since last shock…
Tab.
I hope the worst has passed, Tab, and that little Tab wasn’t too disturbed by it all.
Having lived through the Loma prieta earthquake (7.1)
in the S.F. area 16 years ago Monday, I can
state that the days after an earthquake are tough.
First of all communicating with anyone is dam near
impossible, secondly power was out for days.
There was quite a bit of fear about aftershocks,
but few came. the real key about the whole thing
is to be prepared. I have an earthquake kit which
can feed and house 5 people for a week. Being a backpacker
helps me set up such a kit and secondly having a set
place to go afterwards is also important. We are less
then 2 minutes from a grade school which has a large field
there. I suggest everyone has such a kit ready. We also
keep one week worth of water in the car, but it may or
may not survive such an earthquake.
These things help one’s peace of mind.
Kropotkin
Tab,
Have you ever been through an Earth quake before? If not what are your impressions?
Weirdly, I was in one before, but it was in New York City if you can believe that.
Hi people, it’s now been about 24 hrs since the last recorded quake, so - sigh of relief time.
Thanks again for all the well-wishes. It’s funny, I almost feel guilty that I haven’t got a tale of tradgedy and woe and derring-do, whilst buildings topple and grandmothers wail. Still - let me repay you with the only currency I know…
İzmir lies on a system of criss-crossing fault lines, the one that slipped yesterday was the one that runs out to sea from Urla - a few miles down the coast. The first epicentre was just behind Urla itself at 9:15 - and caused quite a bit of damage to the buildings there - the worst a whole hospital’s worth of windows exploding into the street. The second (around midday) stronger quake epicentre’d out to sea - shaking the whole area.
It happened while I was teaching a class - shook the windows and the chairs my students were sitting on - I kept the class going - because our building (due to the terrorism of last year) now has bars across all the ground floor windows, and only one exit. We have over 500 students in our building… Human puré anyone…? Anyway - a little while later, the building was evacuated with reasonable calmness. Actually - the whole city was shut down. Everyone went home. Me and Brian, my chess-playing lunch buddy, decided to forgo the traffic - and had a quick game over lunch.
Fiddling while Rome burns…? No - there is absolutely fuck-all you can do if an Earthquake occurs. If its bad enough to make buildings come down - you can’t even run, you’re too busy falling over. Die stuck in traffic…? No thankyou.
Anyway - I got home - the house was deserted, I went looking in the local park and found the wife and Artun. They’d been outside all day - away from the buildings (our home is a nice duplex appartment on the ground floor of a 5-story block). The shock had been worse in Bostanlı - which is nearer the sea - and no true bedrock, just soil/shale. My wife said that she’d been bringing the baby back from the creche when the second quake struck at 12 - it was bad enough to sway the concrete streetlamps. Put it this way - the quake was 5.9, most buildings are rated for about 6.5, and ours - being newer - for about 7.0.
The scariest thing was that the second quake was stronger than the first - the usual pattern is a peak quake straight off the bat, and a succession of weaker ones - this time the equation seemed reversed, and everyone was expecting another - even stronger. Hence the sleeping in the car. Or rather - the not sleeping in the car - Artun and Emine passed out straight away on the back seat - I stayed awake, dozing at best. Money in the boot - along with water, clothes, property deeds, passports, gold, and a penknife.
This isn’t the first quake for me, they’re a fairly regular occurence around the beginning of Autumn and the middle of Spring. Something to do with a rapid change in temperature - Summer was hot - but we’ve had a serious cold snap over the last week - this always rings the warning bell.
Usually a quake is no more than a gentle undulating, queasy sensation. Sit cross-legged on your bed - rotate very slowly from the waist - just until your inner ears sense movement - thats the sensation I’m talking about. You can sleep right through it. This kind is common. Quite… Exhilarating.
Maybe 3 times in the last ten years we’ve had stronger ones - they usually occur at night - you wake up, and the bed is juddering, all the car alarms go off at once, the local street dogs start howling in unison. The light swings on its cable, the wardrobe doors clatter. This is when I sit up and look at the Wife - and she looks at me - and we’re both thinking - “Will it stop…?” “Will it get worse…?” “How fast can we get out of here…?” “Have we got time to put on some clothes…?” Luckily - by this time - its stopped. We shrug on some dressing gowns - go out on the balcony - see how many people are outside - and usually go back to bed.
I’ve even had one happen while I was in the bath… That was a very weird feeling.
This time - 9:15 approx - there was no juddering - it felt like someone had just shoved me in the back. We both jerked awake bleary eyed and said “Earthquake…?” The bed kept shaking for a good 10-15 seconds, then stopped. Ten seconds seems like no time at all, doesn’t it. But it’s amazing how fast you can go from fast asleep to wide awake - heart racing and breath aching in your chest. Your body says “run” your brain says “where to…?” Everything is shaking - the whole world is shaking - there is nowhere to go. You’re not scared exactly - but that limbo sensation of a rabbit trapped in the headlights. A paralysis.
Peter’s advice is sound - that and the Turkish saying - “Earthquakes don’t kill people - buildings kill people.” But as for peace of mind - Earthquakes are too big to effect your peace of mind - the mind just shys away from them naturally - already now - just 24hrs later - the news is back to who slept with who, me and Emine are sorting out the central heating and fuel oil bill, worrying about money and buying washing up liquid- life carries on. The idea of several hundred tonnes of concrete landing on your head doesn’t get the baby fed. 
Tab.
Uhhh, any chance there are some nice single story apts for rent in a nice neighborhood close by?
I might be able to put together an earthquake-proof ‘box’ of some sort, but it’s moot when the four storys above me is now occupying my front room…
JT
FRIGHTENING, earthquates are frightening and as a So. Cal. native most of my life I have a good idea how your feel.
Your poor, little munchkin must be terrified and confused. Take care and good luck.
If not prepared this time, take the time to be prepared for another shake, rattle and roll, this really helps.
[.quote]
[/quote]
Be thankful Tab, I have been through some 7 point suckers, and it is damn frightening. I lived near the San Andreas fault for years. One was so bad, my two 100+ lb. dogs, two cats, son and nephew climped into my Queen size bed with me. Frankly, I ended up on the floor twice as they all kept snuggling closer to me for safety. Then there were continual shakes all night long.
Tab, be prepared for the next one. Know how to shut-off the gas, electricity and water for safety. Have gallons of water set aside, a flashlight or two, batteries, some tools, battery run radio, first aid kit, and dry food in case of an emergency. Damn, I need to take my own advice and put one together for Nevada.
There probably aren’t any quakes in the UK, my mom still goes zonkers when one hits and she has been in So. Cal. for 50+ years.
Yes, if a bad one hits, there is not much humans can do except run, and a car is not really the best place to run to.
Gobbo,
Are you planing on becoming our new resident conspiracy theorist? What about the millions of earthquakes that have continually occured in the planets history?
My cousin was researching plate tetonics as a sideline, a theory regarding quartz in the earth’s mantle, and claims there is no evidence that any devices can possibly shit the huge plate in the earth. Come on now.