Is that true that during the 94' earthquake in California, it knocked out all the power in Los Angeles ?
Aug 24, 2010
in
Earthquake Questions
And it completely freaked people out when they went outside and saw the Milky Way just blazing away overhead. They had hundreds of calls to 911 with people asking if the sky got affected by the quake.
Is that true?
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
6 comments
LaurelHS on August 24, 2010 at 1:20 am
Actually, Urwumpe, telephones with land lines do work during power outages. I have one and I’ve been able to use it during a power outage. Cordless phones don’t work, though.
According to this report, 61% of businesses in the area affected by the quake lost electricity. That’s hardly "all the power in Los Angeles."
Urwumpe on August 24, 2010 at 1:20 am
Unlikely. The Earthquake happened at about 4:30 AM, So it was really dark night then in January, but an Earthquake does not mean instant darkness – you have lots of fires and smoke around you. The people would have many other problems for the next four hours until sunrise to deal with.
I can’t find out if all power is cut, but it is likely, at least for a short time to protect the people from electricity.
Also, I can’t really understand how you can call 911 if all power is knocked out… No electricity, no telephones. Not even mobile phones.
Keith on August 24, 2010 at 1:20 am
This claim is made by Terence Dickinson in his astronomy book "Nightwatch". I have no idea if it’s true, or what his sources for this claim are.
Raymond on August 24, 2010 at 1:20 am
Are you sure you mean 1994? That was the Northridge earthquake? January?
I cannot find information about any major power outage (although I am certain that there must have been some local outages).
Capercorn on August 24, 2010 at 1:20 am
I have not heard that, but if it is true… Well, that’s hilarious.
Further evidence of the fact that California sucks.
GeoffG on August 24, 2010 at 1:20 am
Yes. This was one of the worst earthquakes in recent history and resulted in massive power failures. The astronomical implications are described in Terence Dickinson’s book NightWatch. Apparently callers believed that the "silver cloud" overhead had _caused_ the Earthquake!