Earthquake alarm?
March 16, 2010 12:18 PM Subscribe
Last night, I felt my very first earthquake! It was a baby, 4.4, no damage done. In fact, what woke me up was an alarm-- not a car alarm, more like the rhythmic buzzing of a very loud alarm clock-- accompanied with flashing lights. It seemed to be coming from another building. What was this? Is there such a thing as post-earthquake alert? I live in LA Ktown, btw, in a 1930s building.
I woke up, too. 4:03 a.m. or so? It shook our apartment, rattled the doors loudly, and the bed trembled, which set of a window buzzer (which goes off when the circuit is disturbed, such as by the window being opened by a burglar, but also apparently by earthquakes).
posted by arnicae at 12:30 PM on March 16, 2010
posted by arnicae at 12:30 PM on March 16, 2010
Yeah, it was probably a burglar or fire alarm or whatever. No reason to think it was some kind of special earthquake alarm.
I felt the earthquake too but I, uh, wasn't sleeping. I WAS ON METAFILTER YO.
posted by Justinian at 12:41 PM on March 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
I felt the earthquake too but I, uh, wasn't sleeping. I WAS ON METAFILTER YO.
posted by Justinian at 12:41 PM on March 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
I've lived here my entire life - through Sylmar, Whittier Narrows, and Northridge. There is no such thing as a post earthquake alarm.
In other news, welcome to L.A.!
posted by Sophie1 at 1:16 PM on March 16, 2010
In other news, welcome to L.A.!
posted by Sophie1 at 1:16 PM on March 16, 2010
Flashing lights are almost always a fire alarm. But most fire alarms with flashing lights typically have a "whooping" sound.
Another possibility could have been a methane alarm. There's so much oil and tar below Wilshire that occassionally you get methane leaks into buildings. And then department stores explode. But I doubt the quake would have opened up a fissure.
Whatever it was, is was probably a false alarm.
And always let the little quakes remind you to be prepared for the big one.
posted by hwyengr at 1:54 PM on March 16, 2010
Another possibility could have been a methane alarm. There's so much oil and tar below Wilshire that occassionally you get methane leaks into buildings. And then department stores explode. But I doubt the quake would have opened up a fissure.
Whatever it was, is was probably a false alarm.
And always let the little quakes remind you to be prepared for the big one.
posted by hwyengr at 1:54 PM on March 16, 2010
It was a modern fire alarm.
posted by puritycontrol at 2:02 PM on March 16, 2010
posted by puritycontrol at 2:02 PM on March 16, 2010
Well, I woke up from an earthquake dream to the actual earthquake at 4:04 AM. So I guess I'm a extra-special snowflake.
I didn't know what it was until I checked the news the next morning. There was a brief flurry of activity immediately afterward - 2 or 3 car alarms - that I had difficulty processing out of context.
Congratulations on surviving your first shaker. There's nothing else like it. And like hwyengr suggests, let it keep you on your toes!
posted by Seppaku at 6:07 PM on March 16, 2010
I didn't know what it was until I checked the news the next morning. There was a brief flurry of activity immediately afterward - 2 or 3 car alarms - that I had difficulty processing out of context.
Congratulations on surviving your first shaker. There's nothing else like it. And like hwyengr suggests, let it keep you on your toes!
posted by Seppaku at 6:07 PM on March 16, 2010
"An" extra-special snowflake, who knows she can't have her way with spelling and grammar.
posted by Seppaku at 6:09 PM on March 16, 2010
posted by Seppaku at 6:09 PM on March 16, 2010
In British Columbia, our school would have earthquake drills with an alarm, and we were taught to stay put & count out 60s in case of a bad aftershock. Unfortunately I can't remember what it sounded like and how to distinguish it from the standard fire bell. Gah, that was over 20 years ago.
There's lots of recordings of fire alarms on YouTube, maybe they have the one you heard. <>
posted by SarahbytheSea at 6:30 PM on March 16, 2010
There's lots of recordings of fire alarms on YouTube, maybe they have the one you heard. <>
posted by SarahbytheSea at 6:30 PM on March 16, 2010
Oops the <> was supposed to read: *an evening of high pitched ringing ensues, to the annoyance of lalalana's cohabitants*
posted by SarahbytheSea at 6:59 PM on March 16, 2010
posted by SarahbytheSea at 6:59 PM on March 16, 2010
In the 1980's there was an actual "earthquake alarm" on the market for an extremely short period of time. It looked like a smoke alarm, except that it was triangular in shape instead of round. We bought them at a True Value hardware store.
It was a "P-wave" detector, so it detected the P-wave that goes out just before the actual earthquake wave hits. The problem is that it really only alerts you a couple of seconds before the quake hits, so for home use it is most likely not going to help much.
I haven't seen or heard of them being for sale for many years though, so I doubt that what you heard was one of these, yet it is possible I suppose.
posted by scottr at 7:47 AM on May 21, 2010
It was a "P-wave" detector, so it detected the P-wave that goes out just before the actual earthquake wave hits. The problem is that it really only alerts you a couple of seconds before the quake hits, so for home use it is most likely not going to help much.
I haven't seen or heard of them being for sale for many years though, so I doubt that what you heard was one of these, yet it is possible I suppose.
posted by scottr at 7:47 AM on May 21, 2010
Actually, I decided to Google it after posting. Here it is:
http://quakealarm.com/
posted by scottr at 7:49 AM on May 21, 2010
http://quakealarm.com/
posted by scottr at 7:49 AM on May 21, 2010
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