Oh great, large earthquakes in Norcal

[lobsternoob]

Apparently there were 2 separate 6.5 earthquakes in Northern California today, thankfully from what I saw earlier there were no injuries reported. The thing that worries me is sometimes quakes up north trigger quakes down near my area. The quakes themselves don't really scare me, I remember Loma Prieta, and we had no power for over a week from that, plus some damage to the house we were at then, but not nearly what some others experienced so I can't complain.

Just has worried me a lot lately, what happens to my tanks if we get a decent quake here, not to mention the aftermath of power loss. Last time we had a 4 day outage from storms I lost some fish. Also last time we had a fairly small quake here one of my tanks shifted a good bit on its stand. Scares the heck outta me having literally hundreds of gallons of water on my floor, and nothing I can do with my fish. Thankfully most of my tanks are acrylic, so they have some flex to them, makes it much easier for them to survive some vibrations. Been thinking about some kind of tie down system to keep tanks from moving if there were a decent quake, but also the stress on the stands could cause a failure from side to side movement, stands just aren't made for that, not much of anything is.

Sorry for the large rant, of course I never seem to be able to make small posts. It is definitely something that concerns me, and any other members in fault zones. The up side though is the fact that I can go down south for some really good jade collecting, it is always good after a quake and storm waves.

If anyone else here in California (or anywhere for that matter) has any ideas let me know, I may sound a bit paranoid I know, but what's the saying? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and the boyscouts say always be prepared!

[Northernguy]

Not something I would want to deal with!
With all the wild fires and earthquakes in California I am surprised so many people still live there.I wouldn't want to be there when a big quake hits.
You can use deep cycle batteries with a power inverter for your tanks or get a decent generator for the house.It'll give you a few days.
Solar battery chargers are great for recharging,if its sunny!

[lobsternoob]

well, its not all bad NG, but unfortunately all that equipment you mentioned I can't afford ATM, I do have 2 small backup power sources, but they don't run too long. Honestly, the least of my worries are fires and quakes, the crazy people here are the scariest thing. We have some real nutcases and leftovers from the 60's-70's that are way out there.

We aren't having any quakes down here yet, but usually if they have them up north or down south a slightly smaller one follows here soon.

[incorporeal_x]

I live right on the Calaveras fault and we get earthquakes monthly. They're usually too small the feel but there were three in two days this week that were pretty significant.

[korith]

I'd make an emergency fish kit/plan. I'd probably get a few 5g buckets to temporarily house fish if a tank springs a leak. Or large rubbermaid bins, they sell for 4-5 bucks at walmart sometimes. Can also use those 5g buckets to store dechlorinated water, just put a lid on it and have them handy. A lot of towels, a few of those battery powered air pumps to run air stones in case of power failure. Lids of some sort for your tank, to help retain the heat, in case you have a power failure. Also can wrap blankets around the tank, or get foam board. Maybe get a shop vac as well just in case, to get the water off the floor as quick as possible.

For your stands, you could strengthen the supports by adding a few cross braces. Also if the stands are against walls, you could get a brace and have the stands secured to the wall near the top. I actually did this at my old apartment, was very easy to do, and my friend (who lived in the apt downstairs) was the one who suggested that idea:p Perhaps add a lip around the top of each stand to hold the tanks in place.

Can't think of anything else.

[lobsternoob]

I live right on the Calaveras fault and we get earthquakes monthly. They're usually too small the feel but there were three in two days this week that were pretty significant.

Yeah, we get small ones fairly often here too, usually too small to feel in my area usually all thatll happen is people all around town will be asking eachother "you feel the earthquake?" and the answer is always nope.

All good advice Korith, I'm covered on most of those fronts, I have to have at least 20 5g buckets, have a couple battery pumps, a shop vac, all that good stuff.