Confronting New Madrid | Hacker News Reader

Confronting New Madrid

idlewords.com

73 pointsgammarator46 comments

During my stay in Bucharest I got to experience a very slight quake, that wasn't centered anywhere near my location (the epicenter was 100's of km south of where I was).

At first I thought I was becoming unwell, I couldn't focus on my computer screen and I felt like falling. Then after a bit I realized it wasn't me but the world (what really helped is that I noticed the lamps were swinging relative to the building).

It only lasted for 30 seconds or so but I've never in my life felt more disconcerted and panicky (whereas normally in a 'bad' situation I'm scarily cool and composed because that's the way to get out of bad situations this hit me in a much more primitive part of the brain).

All I could think of once I realized it was an earthquake was 'get out' which given the general state of construction in Romania isn't a bad idea at all but would have been a spectacularly dumb thing to do once the quake has started because the staircases are amongst the most dangerous places.

Really odd feeling and I sincerely hope to never experience it again.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/poster/201...

https://twitter.com/jmattheij/status/470134804894470145

I'm going back there in a couple of days and the feeling never quite left me and I'm conscious of it when I'm indoors there.

It's pretty irrational given the chances of a really bad quake while I'm there but Bucharest has had its share of really bad ones:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Vrancea_earthquake

This is somewhat amusing to hear for someone who lived in an area with recurring earth quakes :)

It reminds me a bit of having visitors from Israel in Berlin - in Israel when it rains beyond a trickle everyone goes inside to wait it out. This works because it doesn't rain very often and when it does it doesn't usually last very long.

Of course the same behavior in Berlin would mean you can't leave your home for half the year, and my visitors were astound to see stuff like mothers walking their baby strollers in the rain & general "normal life" activities taking place during medium-intensity rain.

It was quite amusing to the others present too ;). I had the reverse happen in IJmuiden, the Netherlands when some of the people from the Canadian office were visiting and someone set off some fire-crackers. The Canadians hit the deck as one and shouted 'drive-by, get down, drive-by!'...

I think they were fucking with you.

Judging by the bruises they really weren't.

People who live in places that actually have drive-by shootings (note: probably does not include Canada) do not shout "hit the deck! drive-by!" when they hear loud popping.

Gunshots don't really sound like fireworks. If you've ever been near angry gunfire (even from a safe distance), you probably don't forget the difference.

My money remains on "they're fucking with you" but with the bruises added to my priors, my backup is "you were hanging out with really dumb people".

I thought he already said that? I kid! They've banned everything else in Canada, so it's no surprise that they've outlawed firecrackers too.

http://www.nationalfireworks.ca/banned-illegal-fireworks/

I've lived in those places and agree. If anything, we'd have "wtf" looks on our face trying to figure out what the sound was and which idiot was doing it. If we hear gunshots, we make ourselves invisible while carefully assessing source, distance, and whether we're the target. It's usually over before we even do, we roll our eyes, and go back out our business. Sometimes, you'll see such people mock suburban type's chaotic reactions to situations that normally don't happen in their sleepy towns. Mostly, we just don't care if gunfire is happening so long as the bullets aren't coming at us.

Now, moving from an area with lots of drive-by's to an area with redneck neighbors spontaneously shooting in their backyards was an adjustment. Lol...

Do you perceive more danger from the drive-by's or from the rednecks?

Far as shooting, there was little danger from either so long as you don't antagonize them. The drive-by's were more dangerous in terms of stray bullets given rednecks were in rural areas and tended to shoot in directions without many homes. In terms of face-to-face, rednecks are worse as I've never had a drive-by targeted at me but plenty of rednecks made up a reason in their head to start some stuff. And they're usually tough and have back-up with more than 9's. Fortunately, they'll shout or fight 10x more often than they'd shoot so I've never had to use a weapon on them other than these knuckles.

Best to avoid the worst of both rednecks and people in the hood. That said, plenty of rednecks and people in the hood are alright day-to-day. Some are pretty awesome. I had plenty of fun with and learned plenty from both types of people. Hood rats taught how to hustle better. Rednecks taught me how to shoot more interesting guns. ;)

I love it how on HN you can get down-voted for a personal experience with you then adding insult to injury with slurs against my former employees, who did not strike me as 'dumb people' by any stretch of the imagination.

You weren't present, you don't know these people and you know better?

And when you think you may be under fire you're going to go all cool and composed and reason out that this can't possibly be gunfire and so you stand around rather than to panic first and think later?

Really, that's is for me. Bye.

Sorry about that. I don't really think your coworkers were dumb; I just chose a snarky way to re-assert my belief that they were messing with you. I certainly didn't downvote you.

>This is somewhat amusing to hear for someone who lived in an area with recurring earth quakes

"Familiarity breeds contempt"

I had a similar experience back in 2011 when an earthquake hit the very not-earthquake-prone Washington, D.C. region, where I live:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Virginia_earthquake

It took me a little while to even understand that an earthquake was what I was experiencing. My first thought was that someone had just set off a hell of a bomb in the city -- which sadly seemed much more plausible, until I realized there had been no loud report, bright flash, pillar of smoke, etc.

Once I figured out that it was an earthquake, I pulled myself together sufficiently to take shelter in a door frame, which was the only remotely useful piece of advice for surviving an earthquake I could find in my memory. Afterwards I read up on the subject and found that this was just an indication of how out of date my understanding of the subject was (see http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/megaqk_facts_fantasy...), so I guess it's a good thing it wasn't that serious of a quake!

That's an interesting page. I don't think I agree with "If in a high-rise building, stay away from windows and outside walls, stay out of elevators, and get under a table." Three times I've been sleeping in a tall building when an earthquake woke me up. In Singapore, I descended 14 flights of stairs faster than anyone else in the building. I made fun of some coworkers when they emerged five and ten minutes later. In Hawai'i, I got stuck behind some people at about the 5th floor, having started from the 22nd. In Tokyo, I just rolled over and went back to sleep. The Japanese are on the ball; I figured that if there were a real problem I would get a phone call or there would have been a public address.

If the thousand-ton steel-and-concrete building collapses, you're going to die. That's true whether you're under a table or in a stairwell. The building might not collapse immediately, however. If it collapses after you've hidden under a table for eight minutes, when you could have run down the stairs in seven, you're going to die feeling like an asshole. Elevators are an open question. If you're the first on, you might get out quick. If you stop at every floor, that won't be quick. Also, a shock that isn't enough to drop the building, might be enough to screw up the elevator.

If the quake is strong enough to down a modern skyscraper you are even more likely to be violently vivisected by large panes of glass coming out of their frames and hurtling themselves at the ground at terminal velocity.

Of the places I was sleeping, only the Japanese hotel could really be called "a modern skyscraper".

Remember, it's pronounced "njuːˈmædrɨd". I don't think TFA will win any prizes from the Illinois Office of Tourism. It's fine to decry riverfront casino architecture or the unpleasant monotony of driving through Illinois (although I suspect he's never transited Kansas or Texas), but how can you talk about old buildings in Cahokia and not mention the Mounds?

Also a great Uncle Tupelo song (they repeatedly pronounce it for you!):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7CGkuLEs5U

Briefly the name of my new company, too.

I was going to post that song, but you beat me to it!

You probably took that pronunciation from wikipedia. But there is no "nju" in the vernacular (that's like a british thing to say "new" like that). Just "nu"

Guilty as charged. I know how we say it, but obviously I don't know IPA. If only there were a way to correct wikipedia...

"Growing up in Illinois filled me with such a longing to escape that it's hard to imagine someone wanting to live here. [...] The passengers have the haunted, vacant look of people who have just taken an Illinois road trip. [...]"

Hmm. I heard from another native about the snow pile in the mall parking lot being the tallest hill for many miles around, but he did not seem too fazed by that.

"If you enjoyed this post, send me to Antarctica!"

That seems a bit harsh.

(OK, OK, the funding includes a return trip.)

P.S. Was puzzled by 'our front passenger points at a row of low hills and says, with a big smile on her face, “Karsty!”. The car shakes with laughter.'; a search found me this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karst , which I suppose will have to do.

Entertaining and terrifying article. Now I get to loose a bit more sleep on this. (sighs) Going to pass that favor along by forwarding the link to other inhabitants of this power keg (read: death trap) that is the Mid-South.

More seriously, the situation isn't unknown over here. Many of us are told what happened as campfire stories and such. Running the "Mighty Mississippi" backwards plus creating Realfoot Lake [1] left us in shock and awe. Especially after fishing at Realfoot. Then we tried to calm down by asking when the next one is coming and what they did to prevent us from being buried in rubble. The answers... didn't calm us down one bit... The New Madrid fault's potential is so devastating that people either leave the area or just put it out of their mind until some asshole writes another article lol.

The worst thing is we have bad storms, tornados, and potential for a major earthquake. The protections against the first two tend to make the other one worse. And vice versa. Tapei 101 has an interesting solution but Mighty Madrid would probably throw that sucker right out of the ground (or sink it). Not being in the area is literally the only safe strategy. I just hope the Big One doesn't hit during one of the many tornado invasions...

[1] http://www.panoramio.com/photo/3713836

In the mid-1980s, I was at Grinnell College in Iowa. One summer, there was a tornado warning - one on the ground, a couple miles away from campus. A bunch of students visiting from California for some academic thing ran out to the soccer field to watch. The native midwesterners like me told them to get inside NOW (we didn't mention that the part of campus they were on was completely destroyed by a tornado in the 1920s). One sneered, "Hah! You've never lived through an earthquake!" I told him that I won't go into the basement of a brick building during an earthquake if he won't stand in an open field during a tornado. Then I went to the basement, because I'm not stupid. Dunno if they did or not.

Lmao that's hilarious. "Hey, it's one of those things that put objects through brick walls and fling trailers through the air. Let's get close to it!" I nominate them for At-Risk Survivor status on Darwin Award page.

Yeah, seriously. Native midwesterners (I grew up in central Illinois, in a nasty tornado alley) take tornadoes seriously. They were new on campus, or they'd know that the dorms they walked out of to go see the tornado were built because the previous dorms had been destroyed by a tornado.

I have so many tornado stories from Tennessee and Mississippi it isn't funny. My mom says I was jerked off the ground (in her hand) by one when I was a kid but I must've blocked it out. One time we were in the trailer in the bathroom... wishful survival thinking I know... when she got sucked into the vent she was laying on due to air pressure, vacuum, or something. My dad had to pull her off it. Another time at school some people wanted to get to their family [against our recommendations] but two people couldn't pull the door open against the tornado's winds forcing it shut. Another time was a storm rather than tornado with 90mph windows that had me practically crawling to the house, garbage cans rolling down streets, and cars barely keeping on their path. Most recent was when we lost our shed to either a tornado or intense storm. I was temporarily living somewhere else & can't recall details except to say there's no trace of it in the backyard lol. House is fine, though, except for constant roof work.

So, I was thinking on these underground houses as a potential solution to that and then there's this article on New Madrid fault... (sighs)

What a great writer, and the article seems well researched. I note that he's got a Kickstarter to go to Antarctica, just chipped in for that.

Maybe, but his snark is off-putting. For example, "I always attributed this to Midwesterners being a more seismically sensitive people, perhaps due to their vast bulk, but the difference is a matter of objective fact.". I enjoy reading authors who don't throw random insults into their writing.

I think you probably meant "I don't enjoy reading authors who throw random insults into their writing". Or do you really mean that containing no random insults is enough for you to enjoy a piece of writing?

He had more personality than most in his writing. Insults aren't necessary for that but they didn't bother me. He can find out how sensitive people are when he says it to our face and experiences the reaction firsthand. He instead said it safely behind his computer once at a great distance away from the people he's describing. Says more about him. ;)

[edit: way too late] don't enjoy

thx: omaranto

While I understand his humorous writing style, this:

"always attributed this to Midwesterners being a more seismically sensitive people, perhaps due to their vast bulk, but the difference is a matter of objective fact."

Made me stop reading. There is a difference between mocking a place for comedy, and mocking a people for comedy. One is observational, one is just mean.

As a stereotypically bulky midwesterner, I appreciated the attention to detail.

He was definitely making a point of being mean to Illinois, with all the flair of someone who's never spent more than a day or so in Indiana. But (a) he grew up here, so he's entitled and (b) it's not like people are any nicer to the horrid overstuffed tech prospecting camp he lives in now.

As a central Illinois native, I know not to spend more than a day or so in Indiana if I can possibly avoid it. I'm right there with the writer on the need to escape as soon as you can, although I never made it farther than Minnesota.

(Incidentally, I love Minneapolis with my whole heart - it's all the good of the midwest with very little of the bad)

Yeah, but he grew up in the Ferris Bueller suburbs of Chicago, not corn country. So while I sympathize with your urgent need to escape, in his case I think it's a symptom of (perhaps mild) dysfunction.

What sort of dysfunction?

The "being a big old jerk face" dysfunction.

I feel the need to step up and defend my home state a little here. Indiana only looks bad if you've never been to Mississippi...

He grew up in the Midwest. http://www.idlewords.com/2002/10/high_school_reunion.htm

And I'm fat!

Oh I read it as very meta satire. That is, it sounds exactly like what a stereotypical midwesterner who moved to SV and is trying to distance himself from that place would write about his trip back to ingratiate himself with his new cohort.

His wit runs to just this sort of joke so I assumed that it was intentional. Even if it wasn't, still funny.

As a very fat guy, I felt very much the opposite. Context matters. The author was mocking himself and is a precise enough writer that we know the comment was in jest.

And did I mention that I'm morbidly obese? At 300lbs I'm probably worth two Midwesterners, at least in gross tonnage and displacement.

The author's from the area, so he probably was around when Iben Browning[1] made predictions of a 6.5-7.5 magnitude earthquake in December 1990. The predictions made international news, and then punchlines.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iben_Browning

My mother works for the Red Cross in mid MO. Within the last year, I believe, they had a massive multi-state training scenario for a large quake on that fault. It's definitely as close to worst case scenario as MO natural disasters go.

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