Ridgecrest Earthquake Aftermath

cjtoombs

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Well, we came out of the earthquake pretty good, not just us personally, but the whole town. It could have been much worse than it wound up. We had some nick knacks broken around the house and a bit of a mess made, but other than that no real damage to the house or shop. There was some stuff moved around in the shop as well as a toolbox that fell of a stack. Here are some pictures of the shop (the shop was a mess before the earthquake, not necessarily because of it).

The surface plate and stand (probably a ton or more) was moved about a foot and a half away from the wall. Much more and it would have blocked the door.
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All the drawers on this toolbox came out, which moved the CG too far in front and the top shelf tipped off into the floor.
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The T&C grinder and the surface grinder both moved away from the wall. A stack of sheet metal that was against the wall fell over and pushed the grinder stand out a bit.
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There were a few other small items that fell. Neither of the shapers moved, they are on subframes and the subframes are stood on 3/4" leveling bolts that go into 3" square steel feet with a recess for the bolt in the top and knurling cut with the shaper on the bottom. I guess that's a good design, good enough for a 7.1 earthquake. The town is recovering, there was a lot of damage to store's merchandise from falling off shelves, so one of the towns grocery stores (the one I usually go to) is still closed (we only have 4, total). Just thankful it wasn't worse than it was. We were given the week off work for them to get things inspected and pipes, chemical spills, etc cleaned up. So I have some time to get the shop back into shape.
 
Glad you and your family came through okay. Messes can be cleaned.
 
Sheesh! Glad to hear people are safe!

I'm wondering what (if anything) could be done to earthquake proof a home machine shop?
 
In serious earthquake country, it is probably a mistake to have machines bolted or otherwise attached to the floor. When the earth moves, the machine wants to stay stationary (inertia at rest), so it can get tipped over, "tripped" by the anchors. Anchors also make it more likely for machines to get tipped over if they are hit by something like a pickup or a forklift. Rubber feet can also be tripping points (friction.) Lathes and drill presses seem to be more risky than other machines. Let 'em slide freely if they need to! Earthquakes can also tilt the ground locally, and the ground can lift and fall as well.

CJ, it is really good to see that you have come through this so well, considering...

Edit: Heavy tools on benches are also at serious risk.
 
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You're lucky the surface plate didn't take a walk off the stand
Glad you're OK
Very unusual quake pattern
 
In serious earthquake country, it is probably a mistake to have machines bolted or otherwise attached to the floor. When the earth moves, the machine wants to stay stationary (inertia at rest), so it can get tipped over, "tripped" by the anchors. Anchors also make it more likely for machines to get tipped over if they are hit by something like a pickup or a forklift. Rubber feet can also be tripping points (friction.) Lathes and drill presses seem to be more risky than other machines. Let 'em slide freely if they need to! Earthquakes can also tilt the ground locally, and the ground can lift and fall as well.

CJ, it is really good to see that you have come through this so well, considering...

Edit: Heavy tools on benches are also at serious risk.

My company in Southern California put the whole factory on rubber. It is a semiconductor plant and in theory can take a 8.0 quake without breaking anything.
 
You're lucky the surface plate didn't take a walk off the stand
Glad you're OK
Very unusual quake pattern

I think the friction between the stand and plate must have been more than the feet and the floor. The feet were just put down far enough so the stand wouldn't move on the wheels, so it may have done some rolling as well, my concrete is really uneven in the shop, so the feet may not have been down for it's whole trip. The grinders both have rubber feet on them, didn't seem to keep them still, the knurled steel feet did better.
 
CJ, thanks for your post. Good wake up call for shop safety, too much stuff hanging from the rafters.
 
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