As a San Francisco resident, I can tell you that earthquakes are always, always exciting (for me, anyway), and 4.7 is what I'd term a "nice ride". It's big enough that you know it's an earthquake and not just some semi passing by, but over almost before you can panic. However, I also feel obligated to point out that running out of the house is a bad idea! Things falling off of buildings is a very real hazard. Safer by far to grab the nephew and stand under an interior doorway. There's extra bracing there, you see, so even if a part of the ceiling collapses, you're relatively protected.
During the 1989 Loma Prieta quake (the Bay Bridge fell down, freeways collapsed), I was at the gym, huddled under an archway with a couple dozen other people. All seemed fine when the shaking finally stopped, but when we walked outside, the brick facade of the building had crushed several cars right outside the front door. Which happened all over the place, leading to six pedestrian deaths in just one spot (my old place of employment, as it happens). So: stay inside!
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Date: 2009-03-06 06:25 pm (UTC)During the 1989 Loma Prieta quake (the Bay Bridge fell down, freeways collapsed), I was at the gym, huddled under an archway with a couple dozen other people. All seemed fine when the shaking finally stopped, but when we walked outside, the brick facade of the building had crushed several cars right outside the front door. Which happened all over the place, leading to six pedestrian deaths in just one spot (my old place of employment, as it happens). So: stay inside!
That is all.