Quake swarm keeping nerves on edge

Folks who keep wondering when the next earthquake is going to strike or who often think they feel one aren't crazy. Experts say they're just being human.

Psychologists and earthquake experts say that following Yuma's recent spate of earthquakes and aftershocks, it's no surprise that some people feel a bit jumpy or hypersensitive to the possibility of yet another rumble. Some people compare the phenomenon to the old cartoon in which boxers start punching every time they hear a bell.

"When anxiety is up, our punchiness is up," explained James Parker, a clinical psychologist in Yuma. "One of the purposes of anxiety from a biological perspective is to put us in a heightened state of alertness so we can respond to whatever is going to occur. So when you have major events like these quakes there are many people who are going to genuinely feel they are sensing something."

Over the past weeks of occasional earthquakes, The Sun has gotten reports about people sensing the onset of yet another quake, which in time doesn't fully unfold. The experience then leaves people to wonder if they are simply sensitive to smaller quakes or if it's all in their minds.

Experts say matters are only made worse given the fact that scientists for years have been warning this part of the world about "the big one" coming one day.

Parker said he's totally open to the idea of people having the unusual gift of sensing quakes, but he stresses that the matter is still more likely a psychological one. He explained that following a disaster people often experience uncommon fears, sense physical evidence of more trouble approaching, and in extreme cases develop physical or psychosomatic symptoms in their own bodies.

"Some people are more suggestive and kind of fall into this social panic," the Yuma psychologist said. "It's not as simple as telling them, 'Don't think that.' The ability to have a healthy skepticism is suspended or non-operational during these periods. With any one of us, when we get anxious our thinking is not as clear."

Many native and longtime Yumans have commented that they don't remember experiencing as many relatively strong quakes in such a short period of time as the current series, or "swarm," of quakes, which began Feb. 9.

Local bartender Laura De La Fuente says she's left wondering when her overhead rack of wine glasses is going to rattle next. The Yuma native echoed the sentiment of many others - that this swarm of quakes amounts to a whole new and strange experience.

"It freaks me out. Every time there's another earthquake it freaks me out," De La Fuente said, adding that many of her friends would agree. "It's the topic of conversation all the time. 'Did you feel it?'" De La Fuente said. "I think a lot of people feel the same way as I do. Everyone talks about the earthquakes all the time."

She expressed annoyance at the anticipation of more quakes.

"You know it drives you crazy. The little ones are so frequent. I kind of expect them," De La Fuente said. "Even when there's not an earthquake it's still in my head."

Experts on earthquakes explain that while huge quakes are obviously traumatic, De La Fuente is right about smaller and more numerous events posing their own brand of psychological abuse.

"I think emotionally the swarms of quakes like there (have been) in Yuma can be emotionally very trying to people," said Bruce Pesgrave, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo. "Everyone is left wondering when the next one is going to be. If they think they feel anything they are going to wonder 'Oh, is this another one?' It's kind of hard on the nerves."

Pesgrave stressed that a swarm of quakes can dole out anxiety over a stretch of weeks.

He added that really big quakes almost bring a blessing. By throwing people into hard-core emergency mode, the adrenaline rush and shock protects them from fully experiencing the trauma. And the initial big quake, he explained, is somewhat novel and curious. Aftershocks, meanwhile, strike after a person has been lulled back into normalcy, ready to be caught off guard again.

"The big ones are really scary, but it's the aftershocks that really wear people down," Pesgrave said, sharing a friend's story about experiencing aftershocks. "It got to the point where every time a heavy truck came by outside the house - even for a long time to come - they would wonder 'Is this another big quake?'"

Although De La Fuente would prefer that earthquakes simply stop, she knows that won't happen and offers a more realistic outlook.

"I just tell myself that they are just earthquakes and there's going to be more to come, so why get freaked about it?" the Yuma woman said. "What are we going to do about it?"

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Darin Fenger can be reached at

dfenger@yumasun.com or 539-6860.