Im wondering about the earthquake?

Question

So the news is making a huge about this earthquake in SoCal, so im wondering, how big is a 5.8? i dont know much about earthquakes so i was wondering.

Answer 1

They said the buildings were swaying and some evacuation but it doesn't sound catastrophic

Answer 2

since going thru the earthquake i think its big enough to move, shake the whole house...

Answer 3

estimated 5.8 in Chino Hills

no damage, beyond our nerves, reported

all you can do is ride through it

compaired to Northridge, this is little

Answer 4

I was sitting at my desk at the computer with one of my dogs on my lap. It started out slowly. The windows rattled and blinds started shaking, then it got bigger. My dog jumped off my lap and went under the bed and I went under the table. it seemed like it was going to keep getting bigger, but it stopped for now. Aftershocks will more than likely come.

Answer 5

They just changed it to a 5.4. The earthquake lady came out with that official number (She works for USGS at CalTech). Anyway, it really wasn't that bad. You can feel it shaking, see the TV or shelves swaying, maybe a few things might fall off a shelf if you're close to the epicenter but the low 5's aren't that bad. Upper 5's can cause cracks and some damage. A 6.0 is considered a "large" quake. Anything over that is big. Northridge was bad, about 6.6 or 6.7 and it caused a ton of damage, killed a lot of people, etc.

Answer 6

A 5.8 is really big but it was a 5.4 they said they made a mistake.It felt bigger than it sounds ya know.At least it wasn't as big as the North Ridge Earth Quake.

Answer 7

it was big enough to shake big buildings, but i'm in LA and it felt like a slight rumble for a few moments.

Answer 8

5.8 is fairly strong but thankfully doesn't usually cause injury, damage or death until after 6.0 or greater.  The last big one in So.Calif was a 7.1 and had major damage, injuries and some deaths as well.

So comparatively speaking when you look at the China quake we were lucky!  They are scarey regardless of how STRONG they are in actuality! ONE day we'll get the BIG ONE I think..... I hope I'm not around then!