[Rockhounds] Hawaii earthquake & hurricane

[Kitty & Bill Heacox]

Hi List,

Last night as we were preparing for hurricane Flossie we were jolted 
by a 5.4 earthquake.  This brought back memories of the 6.7 one last 
October, but it wasn't as bad, of course.  The epicenter was in the 
area of Kilauea.  At our house a few things tipped over or fell to 
the floor---including some rocks.  The only thing that broke was a 
very old bottle that we found in the ground when our house was being 
built;  sad to lose an old curiosity, but it was free, after all!

This morning we just finished securing things outside that could 
become missiles in the wind---like garbage cans and lanai 
furniture.  We're expecting 50 mph winds this afternoon, and we're 
already getting lots of rain.  There's a flash flood watch in place, 
but our house is on a hill, so there should be no problem there.  We 
are beginning to see a small pond and a stream running through our 
yard, however.  We should be safe from wind because our house is very 
strongly built;  for example, instead of standard hurricane straps we 
have 1/4-inch steel plates that bolt all the overhead structure 
together, and the posts to the piers in the ground.  And we have 
plenty of rocks to weigh things down!

Hawaii is a neat place to live, but between earthquakes, hurricanes, 
floods, tsunamis and lava flows, there are enough hazards to 
counterbalance the pleasures!  That's what makes it interesting as 
long as precautions are taken.

Aloha, Kitty