Articles
Waimea’s October Surprise - Earthquake
by Bill Jardine Oct 30, 2006
You have all heard of the Richter Scale, of course, and it can pretty hard to understand the difference between a 5.6 and a 6.5 shake down. Well, at this point in time there are a lot of Waimea folks ready, willing and able to tell you the difference in ways you can relate to. For instance, one neighbor told me that the difference between a 5.6 and a 6.5 is like the difference between watching sumo wrestling and actually being in the ring! Another said the difference is between things falling on the floor or things getting hurled across the house.
We just had a really strong 6.5 earthquake and although most folks rode it out with minor damages, there were a few who lost everything. One of our friends had their house bounce of its foundations and burn to the ground. There is usually no insurance for earthquake, so the fact that the house burned may have been a blessing in very bad disguise!
The other strange thing about earthquakes is the way that they seem to be easy on one house and hard on the next. As a rule of thumb, if your house was on deep, soft soil it likely moved around a lot more than if it had been on bedrock, yet exceptions do abound (no pun intended).
There is always a silver lining in these little newsy pieces, and this I no exception. Not only were most damages minor, but it was absolutely amazing to see neighbors and friends helping each other pull things back together. Customers and friends of the Kamuela Liquor Store, for instance, had the place cleaned up and running within a day … and it was a real mess to begin with. I know one lady who was on the mainland when the quake hit. Within a hour or two her neighbors had gotten into her house, turned off broken water pipes and cleaned up anything that looked like it might get worse! Oh, the best part … they “forgot” to tell her that they had.
Now more than ever, it makes sense to use a Buyer’s Agency to procure Waimea property. We work hand-in-hand with home inspectors who will detect any and all earthquake damage as well as inadequate repairs that may have been done. Don’t take a chance. Have your own agent.
