Day: April 15, 2008

Earthquakes!!!

Today has been a nerve racking day. By my count we have had 8  earthquakes so far. The Nevada Seismological laboratory at the University o f Nevada has a story about the swarm of quakes. They haven’t even added the ones this afternoon. Our house is in the area on the map just to the west of the epicenters.

When I look a the official list I see I have missed several of the smaller ones.This is the list I have been compiling looking at the USGS earthquake map. If you look at the USGS list we have had 22 earthquakes so far today. The list below is just the ones I have noted. Other than the damage to my nerves we don’t seem to have any damage so far.

Earthquakes Tuesday April 15, 2008

7:59 am magnitude 3.4 (nn00241152)
8:20 am magnitude 2.6 (nn00241158)
11:32 am magnitude 2.5 (nn00241206)
2:26 pm magnitude 2.8 (nn00241226)
2:29 pm magnitude 1.9 (nn00241228)
2:32 pm magnitude 3.3
2:47 pm  magnitude 1.8

Amtrak from Reno to Emeryville

Last Friday I took the Amtrak train, The California Zephyr, from Reno to Emeryville just across the bay from San Francisco. On Sunday I took the California Zephyr for the return trip. I was going down to Oakland to celebrate my daughter’s birthday with her. I have been wanting to make this trip for some time. The round trip cost for the train was $92. The driving distance is about 420 miles. At 20 miles per gallon and with gas costing $3.85 driving would have cost me $80.

The route over the Sierras is basically the same route that the first transcontinental railroad took. The trip was incredibly scenic, very relaxing and comfortable. I enjoyed the trip immensely.

This train has a reputation for rarely being on time and often being hours late. I don’t know if that is an accurate representation of its record but for my trip we were only about an hour late on Friday and coming home we were only a few minutes late. Since the  trip takes about six hours I just relaxed and didn’t worry about any schedules.

Next time I am going to try another train route. Amtrak offers bus service from Reno to Sacramento where you can catch the Capitol Corridor train. The cost is the same.

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