East Petaluma Chimneys Not Strong Enough

Hi,

I had a dream this morning and in the dream I was told that a recent report indicated the chimneys on the houses near Casa Grande High School were not built strong enough to withstand a quake from the Rodgers Creek Fault which lies within 2 miles of that area.

This would be around the general area of McDowell Blvd, Casa Grande Road, Frates Road and Adobe Road.

Quite near there is the Old Petaluma Adobe, a historic park that was one of General Vallejo's homes. Actually his summer home, away from the intense heat where his primary home in Sonoma lies.

http://www.petalumaadobe.com/

Funny you should mention that. I was just thinking about our chimney the other day. We had it checked out after the Northridge quake and they said it was fine, but I have noticed some cracking in the mortar in some places. I just feel like a lot of these houses were really shook during that quake and wonder how they will hold up to a really big one. Even though FEMA and the insurance companies said they look okay, sometimes things are not always what they seem.

I found it so odd because I haven't been thinking about that area at all and I know it terribly well and I'm wondering if something "felt" is on it's way because the Rodgers Creek Fault has taken a definite uptrend in quakes and a couple of months ago there was a very tiny quake along that section of the fault and the first one in a long time too.

I agree, no one taking a cursory glance at a chimney can ascertain if it's in the altogether.

Petra

I guess it is now as Don would say, "Time to sit back and wait".

I live in LA during the earthquake in 1971 in the Woodland Hills area. The quake was 11 miles away in Northridge, but some stones fell out of our fireplace. There were cracks in the house, and some of my good china broke. And that was just a 6.5. It is hard to imagine what a 7 or 8 would do to the LA area. A pilot of an airplane approaching the runway from the air during that quake said that it looked like someone had taken the runway and flapped it like a towel! And that was on the other side of the mountains near the beach! We moved after that. The whole area is one big disaster after another. Fires, floods and earthquakes, and then all over again and again and again.

Nightmoves wrote:Funny you should mention that. I was just thinking about our chimney the other day. We had it checked out after the Northridge quake and they said it was fine, but I have noticed some cracking in the mortar in some places. I just feel like a lot of these houses were really shook during that quake and wonder how they will hold up to a really big one. Even though FEMA and the insurance companies said they look okay, sometimes things are not always what they seem.

I literally have a line that runs straight up the kitchen wall from what I would guess came from the Northridge quake considering I live about 1/4 of a mile from the Northridge mall where the parking structure collapsed. We checked the outside mortar on the chimney and all is fine. However that crack that is patched over stands as a stark reminder each day of just what can happen, when the big one hits.
If I can get my son to get a picture of it I will post it. It is quite interesting to look at actually. I kind of does this swearving thing and then goes up towards the windows. The house is also as old as I am meaning it has been here through both Sylmar and Northridge. That doesn't mean that it would survive another big quake. We all have our places staked out if one should hit depending upon what room we are in or if we are out at work.