On Easter Sunday, 2010, in Solana Beach, California - I awoke from a nap to a long and strong earthquake. I immediately knew that it was far and very powerful. My building make slapping noises, squeaks and rattles. I could feel a distinct back and forth motion, and some slight rotation or whatever that was. And then well into the shaking, it intensified, then it petered out! This earthquake lasted about 40 seconds. It was not the first large earthquake I have felt!
While the quake went on and on, I struggled with my i Phone, trying to get my fingers to push onto a seismogram app I have. I couldn't get the app to go, until the very last. I caught the last few seconds of some pretty large waveforms! The waveforms almost maxed out on my app. This app is called i Seismo, and is put out by Objectgraph.
Once the quake was over, I checked on the USGS recent earthquakes CA/NV page, and saw one big red square. It was centered south of Mexicali, and the night before I had been watching a 3.5 and 4.1 near the Cerro Prieto volcano. This is a cinder cone that still emits heat and steam, powering the second largest geo thermal power plant in the world! It did not surprise me that a 7.2 magnitude earthquake like that one I felt on Easter manifested in this area. We are talking about one of the few areas of technic spreading on the surface, and not under sea.
Will, immediately, I picked up my various cameras - and started documenting the events and the science around it. So I will share my adventure and the quakes I feel here.
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