Subject: Earthquakes

• Hear The Earth Move

  Via the excellent BLDGBLOG: German artist Florian Dombois translates the subaudible sound of plate tectonics into something the human ear can hear, revealing unique geological characteristics of brewing earthquakes around the planet. Says Dombois: Usually seismic waves have a frequency spectrum below 1 Hz and therefore cases are rare where earthquakes are accompanied by hearable sounds. The human audio spectrum ranges between 20 Hz - 20 kHz which is much above the spectrum of the earth's rumb

  November 13, 2006

• Earthquake weather or whatever...

  Yesterday, as Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was submitting to a public humiliation ritual before a Senate committee, his only punishment for letting New Orleans drown (in other countries, such incompetence would result in dismissal from office and permanent disgrace, but in the land of W, Chertoff will probably end up with a medal), and as word came from New Orleans that yet another body had been found in a flood-damaged house, the Department of Homeland Security's plan for dealin

  February 16, 2006

• Cross that bridge when you come it, if it's still there

  Only 6 days after the San Francisco Chronicle first reported on it and 5 days after The Blotter first noted it, the Los Angeles Times today informs its readers about the state of California's bridges. The state: hundreds of bridges are considered at risk of collapsing during a major earthquake because a state retrofitting program to strengthen the bridges was halted in 2002 due to lack of funds. What makes the failure to fund the program all the more appalling is that the state would only have t

  March 12, 2006

• Indonesian Earthquake Relief

  For anyone interested in helping the victims of the massive earthquake in Java, globetrotting raconteur and author of the forthcoming Prisoner of Trebekistan, Bob Harris has helpfully posted on his blog a list of charities assisting the survivors. Bob's post also touches on some of the questions you should ask when deciding which charity to entrust with your money. Questions like WGWCWJGIAMVW? and HMCJLP?

  May 30, 2006

• We're doomed, doomed...

  … or maybe not. The AP reports: Evangelical broadcaster Pat Robertson said Tuesday that God has told him that a terrorist attack on the United States would cause a "mass killing" late in 2007. "I'm not necessarily saying it's going to be nuclear," he said during his news-and-talk television show "The 700 Club" on the Christian Broadcasting Network. "The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that." Robertson said God told him about the impending tragedy du

  January 3, 2007

• Mother Nature gone wild

  "Wild" seems to be the word of choice among headline writers to describe yesterday's weather. The LA Daily News bucked the trend, going with "Crazy", but for the most part, editors across the country agree, it was wild. Of course, in the impressive natural events category, yesterday's weather, wild as it was, is nothing compared to what happened on March 27 forty-three years ago: the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964. At magnitude 9.2, it was the largest North American earthquake ever recorded

  March 28, 2007

• Shake n' Bake

  It's been funny--not funny ha-ha--sitting here on the sidelines watching the changing global-warming debate. While the international scientific community for years has piled voluminous report atop voluminous report detailing that global warming is real, producing all sorts of climatic problems and either is or most probably is human caused, those who originally pooh-poohed the eggheads have gone from saying it's a myth, to it's a normal cyclical weather pattern, to okay, so it's happening, whadd

  July 5, 2006

• Friday's Headlines & Surprises

  No, really? You can finally relax. The Coastline Pilot decided it was time to voice its opposition to alcohol consumption by teenagers. “Drinks, teens shouldn't mix,” the Los Angeles Times-owned community paper serving Laguna Beach declared today. And just in case readers didn't comprehend the stance or--heaven forbid--disagreed with it, the paper explained soberly, “The fact is that young people and alcohol are a combustible mix.” Who isn't listening? “Adults must realize that the he

  August 10, 2007

• Earthquake Strikes So Cal

  Just before noon this morning, an earthquake rocked Southern California--Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles. From the fifth floor of OC Weekly's Santa Ana headquarters, the 5.8** magnitude quake felt like I was standing on a rocking waterbed for at least 12 seconds. The building swayed back and forth. A large corkboard fell off my office wall. An energy drink can stupidly placed (by me) on top of a file cabinet flew three feet in the air. The staff quickly evacuated the b

  July 29, 2008

• "California's Queer Quake"

  About 75 minutes after this morning's Southern California earthquake, Reverend Wiley Drake named the seismic event, "the California Queer Quake," and announced via email to his nationwide followers that "another queer quake [is] trying to get California's attention." Won't you listen, damn it? "Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire," quoted Drake, a resident of Buena Park." "We ha

  July 29, 2008

• Stinkin' Royal George Brett Buys Angels Farm Team

  The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, which has been an Angels farm team since 2001, has been sold to a group led by Bobby Brett and his former Kansas City Royals Hall of Famer brother, George Brett. Majority owner Hank Stickney of Valley Baseball Club Inc., which moved the Quakes to Rancho Cucamonga from nearby San Bernardino in 1993, made the announcement this morning at the Epicenter, the site of many big league Angels' rehabilitation assignments following injuries. With or without the Major Leaguers,

  March 17, 2009

• The Glory of Easter

  Crystal Cathedral

  April 9, 2009

• Rockin' Like a 6.0

  August 28, 2008

• Letters

  October 6, 2005

• Live From Earthquake Central!

  WikicommonsYou know what's funny? Earthquake coverage. To be specific: coverage of moderate earthquakes. NPR's coverage of the devastating Chengdu tremor in 2008 can be called many things, but not "funny" isn't one of them.When a 4.7 quake hits Southern California, as one did last night, you have to expect a certain level of hilarity from news outlets. They're trying to report on an event that everyone knows happened, that everyone knows had few real effects, and that everyone knows happened yes

  May 18, 2009

• Shake and Break

  'State of Emergency: Disaster Response in California'

  October 26, 2006

• We (Almost) Have Ignition

  May 5, 2005

• Foster-Child Meat

  July 17, 2003