Recently in Earthquake Category

This comes from an account of the Spanish exploration of California under Gaspar de Portola, the first governor of California.

As the expedition entered Orange County on July 28, 1769, they experienced a series of violent earthquakes that changed the course of the Santa Ana River. They prayed and watched the native Indians do the same. As a result the account notes that:

Father Crespi later wrote that at that very moment a violent earthquake struck and the river was thus proclaimed Rio de Los Dulcime Nombre de Jesus de Los Temblores.

An earthquake Web site cataloging earthquakes through history notes:

The earthquake history of California serendipitously begins with the first overland expedition through the State in 1769. In response to the perceived threat posed by Russian expansion into the northern Pacific and growing British presence in the northwestern Pacific, Spain embarked on the colonization of present-day California through the establishment of a series of Franciscan missions, supported by military garrisons at San Diego and Monterey. In the summer of 1769, Gaspar de Portola led the first expedition from San Diego to establish a land route to Monterey.

On July 28, while camped along the Santa Ana River, about 50 km southeast of Los Angeles, a sharp earthquake was felt that "*** lasted about half as long as an Ave Maria." From the diaries of three members of the expedition, we know that earthquakes were felt on nearly a daily basis through August 3, as the party traveled northwestward to near San Gabriel and then westward across Los Angeles to the Pacific. The diary of Fray Juan Crespi (Bolton, 1927) mentions no fewer than a dozen aftershocks, some described as violent. After August 4, no further earthquakes were mentioned as the expedition traveled into the San Fernando Valley and exited to the north.

Get those emergency supplies ready. Caltech scientists working with the United States Geological Survey have modeled the next big quake based on last week's temblor in China. Here's their scenario for a 7.8 magnitude event along the San Andreas fault in Southern California:

_10 a.m.: The San Andreas Fault ruptures, sending shock waves racing at 2 miles per second.

_30 seconds later: The agricultural Coachella Valley shakes first. Older buildings crumble. Fires start. Sections of Interstate 10, one of the nation's major east-west corridors, break apart.

_1 minute later: Interstate 15, a key north-south route, is severed in places. Rail lines break; a train derails. Tremors hit burgeoning Riverside and San Bernardino counties east of Los Angeles.

_1 minute, 30 seconds later: Shock waves advance toward the Los Angeles Basin, shaking it violently for 55 seconds.

_2 minutes later: The rupture stops near Palmdale, but waves march north toward coastal Santa Barbara and into the Central Valley city of Bakersfield.

_30 minutes later: Emergency responders begin to fan across the region. A magnitude-7 aftershock hits, but sends its energy south into Mexico. Several more big aftershocks will hit in following days and months.

Major fires following the quake would cause the most damage, said Keith Porter, of the University of Colorado.

Here's the latest quake map depicting western China

The Times found some Sichuan immigrants in the San Gabriel Valley who are anxiously awaiting word from their relatives in China's Sichuan Provence, which was devastated by a 7.9 earthquake earlier this week.

But Monday's earthquake has thrust a community used to being overlooked and misunderstood to the forefront of Southern California's bustling Chinese American community. For the Sichuanese who gathered for lunch Thursday at Chung King restaurant in San Gabriel, it was a bittersweet experience.

"We feel extreme sadness," said Tang, a nanny. "The only way Sichuan is being mentioned now is through this tragedy."

It's been a nightmarish week for the lunch group, many of whom met after overhearing one another speak Sichuanese at a supermarket.

The Chinese community in the United States was founded mostly by Southern immigrants from China's coastal regions. That's why the Cantonese and Taishanese dominated Chinatowns for decades. That changed with the influx of immigrants from Taiwan, then Beijing and Shanghai.

Though there are no statistics available, observers say Sichuanese immigrants began arriving steadily in the San Gabriel Valley in the 1990s. Many took the route of earlier immigrants by seeking jobs in restaurants or the import-export business. The number of Sichuanese living in Southern California is unclear because they lack the family associations and student groups that are ubiquitous with immigrants from Hong Kong, Taiwan and areas of mainland China.

Elsewhere:

For the first time since 1949, according to Sina News (as translated by Google), China will accept help from other countries as it recovers from the quake:

After the disaster, many countries and international organizations issued statements one after another, the people of China expressed condolences, some countries have begun to China financial and material assistance. The international media also to China's earthquake was significant, concern is comprehensive, and the first time for China immediately started rescue operations that respect.

May 13, the State Council Information Office held a news conference.  In the conference, the Ministry of Civil Affairs disaster relief Secretary, said Wang Zhenyao, China is very grateful for the generous assistance of the international community, will accept donations of time and timely delivery of disaster areas.

Finally, here's a translated blog from Sina.com that points to Google maps, and other information from the quake zone

In the News

Both the LAT and the Riverside Press-Enterprise delve into the rash of violence at the Soboba Indian reservation outside San Jacinto. PE includes a timeline of incidents that stretches back to 2007. I've heard that the tensions are long simmering and likely go back many more years if not decades.

Speaking of OIS, I stumbled on a law enforcement Web site (Officer.com) that carries discussions of several of the more recent shootings, including Tuesday's Covina shooting.

Speaking of law enforcement -- how about the confluence of TV and Sheriff's department causing a reexamination (and temporary closure) of the Sheriff's Academy in Whittier. Here's what the DN says.

On the blogs:

Nice back and forth between Proctor and Ortega for the coveted WWE Pasadena belt. There's an interesting revelation or two in there...Just in time for Judgement Day this weekend.

Elsewhere:

Speaking of Judgement Day there's lots of news coming out of China in the wake of the devastating 7.9 earthquake, there's also plenty of local connections.

Oh almost forgot, it's Bike Week in Pasadena, but that' doesn't make things any safer as Hector Gonzalez, city editor of the Star-News just pointed out in an e-mail:

so much for bike-to-work week:HACIENDA HEIGHTS<NO1>ZZSG<NO> <NO1>(CNS)<NO>- A bicyclist in his 60s was killed today when his bike and a car collided in the Hacienda Heights<NO1>ZZSG<NO> area.<QA>

The accident occurred about 7 a.m. on Los Altos Drive at Hacienda Boulevard, the California Highway Patrol reported. The man, who was not immediately identified, died at a hospital.<QA>

 

 

I've bee surfing the web today to see how much information is able to flow out of China in the wake of the devastating 7.9 magnitude quake that shook Chengdu Province this week.

The raw news and photos are grim:

AP is reporting that as many as 12,000 are now dead and 20,000 are missing.

Here's some Chinese media reports via Google translator. 

Here's a page of video images from near the epicenter.

Emergency.com reports.

What about the Pandas?