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What's all this fuss about earthquakes? We don't live in an Earthquake Zone at Lakeside. Just because there are a few fault lines and we get tremors from Colima and Mexico City doesn't mean much.

You're all looking at those sh*tty buildings and homes in Haiti that have NO STEEL or very little steel in them. Your house won't come crashing down here. At worst case you might get a few hairline cracks. These houses are built of brick or block with concrete between them, Dahlas (Armex) at the base of the wall, Castillos (Armex) at doorways and every couple meters tied into the foundation Dahlas and filled with cement, gravel and sand. The top of the roof should be capped with another Dahla (Armex), then wired to the vertical Castillos and filled once again with cement gravel and sand.

Shira mentioned the 2003 earthquake in Colima. We felt tremors here in Ajijic as our ceiling fans and chandelier were swaying back and forth about three feet. We didn't know what to do or think, since we're from the East coast, so we called our neighbor from California. She said "don't worry about it, it's nothing".

We checked the walls next day, not even a hairline crack.Having lived in earthquake country my whole life-and experienced some big ones- I don't lose sleep over the fact that we live in an earthquake zone- but the Haiti quakes have made me more observant of my surroundings here in Mexico.

As I recall you told us Los Arroyos Sur is built on "Land Fill" probably a combination of soil and construction debris- the largest loss of life in the San Francisco quake was the collapse of a reinforced concrete freeway built on land fill, which pancaked on the section below- 42 people died. My brother had just crossed that section of freeway 20 minutes earlier on the way to the airport and LA- I did not know if he was safe for 36 hrs- we had no phone service.

I don't lose sleep over the fact that we live in an earthquake zone- but the Haiti quakes have made me more observant of my surroundings here in Mexico.

Attached is a photo of a brick facade that collapsed killing 5 people- building stayed put but bricks on the facade did not- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:LomaPrieta-SOMA.jpeg--

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When going to your link "No file exists".

Yes, I told you that Los Arroyos Sur is built on fill, much of it is dirt and not crappy construction debris which some crappy builders use. Building on fill is not a problem. I watched every single house being built here on a daily basis, I can tell you what went into each house, what the ground was like that they were built on and what they were backfilled with.

Let me tell you what else at Lakeside is built on fill: Los Arroyos, Arroyo Encantado, Arroyo Alto, Los Sabinos, Los Olivos, Riviera Alta, Chula Vista Norte and many others.

I am not at all concerned about an Earthquake here. You cannot compare the quality of construction here to the crap that was built in Haiti, which by the way is a THIRD world country. Remember Mexico is a SECOND world country.

curmudgeon - Response was excellent during the 2007 mudslide in Raquet Club, but it took nearly a week to get the Carretera open and much more time to open the main roads and the Arroyos'. It took months to rebuild the main roadway and the Arroyos running through the Raquet Club. People were without electric, telephone and water for at least three days, but CFE responded the next day. I am happy to see that Raquet Club's Board of Directors had the foresight to build the new main road and the new Arroyos better than before.

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What's all this fuss about earthquakes? We don't live in an Earthquake Zone at Lakeside. Just because there are a few fault lines and we get tremors from Colima and Mexico City doesn't mean much.

You're all looking at those sh*tty buildings and homes in Haiti that have NO STEEL or very little steel in them. Your house won't come crashing down here. At worst case you might get a few hairline cracks. These houses are built of brick or block with concrete between them, Dahlas (Armex) at the base of the wall, Castillos (Armex) at doorways and every couple meters tied into the foundation Dahlas and filled with cement, gravel and sand. The top of the roof should be capped with another Dahla (Armex), then wired to the vertical Castillos and filled once again with cement gravel and sand.

Shira mentioned the 2003 earthquake in Colima. We felt tremors here in Ajijic as our ceiling fans and chandelier were swaying back and forth about three feet. We didn't know what to do or think, since we're from the East coast, so we called our neighbor from California. She said "don't worry about it, it's nothing".

We checked the walls next day, not even a hairline crack.

Boy are you mistaken! Have you ever been in a MAJOR earthquake? Not a little rumbling where the chandeliers sway, but one that throws your sewing maching across the roon, and empties out every cupboard in the kitchen? That turns your refrigerator over, and breaks every breakable object in your house? And, where you cannot reach your children because you keep getting thrown to the floor? No. Well, you are in for quite a treat :) I'm from CA and survived the Sylmar quake which actually put about 2 ft of water from our pool in the backyard, into our frontyard. That one quake, after going through countless little rumbles all my life, put a whole new perspective on earthquakes. Enjoy your life in a "no fault area" in Lakeside, because it could never happen to you. I sure hope you are right! My heart goes out to Haiti and every country that experiences this kind of devastation.

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Guest shelley

When going to your link "No file exists".

Yes, I told you that Los Arroyos Sur is built on fill, much of it is dirt and not crappy construction debris which some crappy builders use. Building on fill is not a problem.

Everything in the path of a seismic wave will be shaken. However, the amount of ground motion at any given location depends on three primary factors.

One factor is the distance between the site and the source location of the earthquake.........

The second factor is the total energy released from the earthquake, measured by its magnitude

The last of the three primary factors is the nature of the soil or rock at the site. Generally,sites with deep soft soils or loosely compacted fill will be more strongly shaken than sites with stiff soils, soft rock, or hard rock. For example, during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the shaking experienced in the San Francisco Marina District, which is underlain by mud nearly 100 feet thick, was from three to four times stronger than the shaking measured only a few blocks away on edrock, near the Golden Gate Bridge.........

To read complete article - http://www.atcouncil.org/pdfs/bp1a.pdf

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  • 7 years later...

I sure did. I was sitting on my sofa and suddenly I could feel like little massage waves going thru my back. It happened at least 3 times. By the third time I figured it could be an earth quake so I unlocked my outside metal door just in case. I live on the ground floor of a 3 story building. The building is all reinforced concrete, its located in lomas de santa maria in chapala. Note to self, get earthquake insurance...

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Was in Guatemala for the major earthquake in 1976(?) in which something like 30,000 people died, most from the tile roofs collapsing on their heads, as it happened in the middle of the night. There were aftershocks for weeks afterwards. We moved our beds out into the yard of the house we were renting, far from any walls or powerlines, set up mosquito net over it and slept outside for weeks.

And since most of the gringoes fled as soon as they could,  local Guatemalans were very impressed that we stayed and helped out.

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