The ground starts to roll. You’re sitting at your desk, maybe scrolling through your phone or sipping a coffee, and suddenly the floor isn't solid anymore. It’s that unmistakable, nauseating sway of the earth. Your first instinct is to look at the clock, but honestly, in the moment, time just stretches out like a piece of warm taffy. You find yourself wondering how long did today’s earthquake last while you're still bracing yourself under a doorway or a table.
It felt like minutes. It always feels like minutes.
But here is the weird thing about seismology: what you feel and what the United States Geological Survey (USGS) records are often two completely different stories. Today’s event was a perfect example of that disconnect. While people on social media are claiming the shaking went on for a full minute or more, the hard data from the seismometers usually tells a much shorter, sharper story.
The Gap Between Feeling and Fact
So, let's get into the nitty-gritty of why your internal stopwatch is probably lying to you. When we ask how long an earthquake lasts, we are usually talking about the duration of "perceivable shaking."
For today’s specific quake, the high-intensity rupture at the fault line likely only lasted between 3 to 8 seconds. That’s it. That is the actual duration of the energy release at the source. However, you probably felt it for 20 or 30 seconds. Why? Because seismic waves are like ripples in a pond. If you throw a rock into a lake, the "event" is the splash, which is instantaneous. But the ripples keep moving outward long after the rock has hit the bottom.
If you were standing directly on top of the epicenter today, the shaking was likely violent but brief. If you were 50 miles away, you felt a softer, rolling motion that seemed to drag on forever. This is due to something called wave dispersion. Different types of waves—P-waves (the fast ones) and S-waves (the slower, shear waves)—travel at different speeds and bounce off underground rock structures. By the time they reached your living room, they had spread out, making the earthquake feel significantly longer than it actually was.
Soil, Skyscrapers, and Your Living Room
Where you were standing today changed your answer to the duration question.
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People living in valleys or areas with soft, sandy soil—like parts of the Los Angeles Basin or the landfill areas of San Francisco—always experience longer shaking. Think of it like a bowl of Jell-O. If you tap the side of the bowl, the Jell-O keeps wobbling long after your finger has moved away. Solid bedrock, on the other hand, stops shaking almost immediately once the wave passes.
Then there is the building factor.
If you were on the 15th floor of a high-rise today, you definitely thought the quake lasted longer than your friend on the ground floor. Modern skyscrapers are actually designed to sway. It’s a safety feature. If they were rigid, they would snap. Because they are flexible, they dissipate the energy by oscillating. That means even after the ground stops moving, the building is still swinging back and forth for several seconds—sometimes even a minute—to shed that kinetic energy.
What the Sensors Actually Showed
According to the preliminary data coming out of the regional seismic networks, the "duration of strong motion" (that’s the technical term) was relatively concentrated.
- At the Epicenter: Violent shaking lasted roughly 5 seconds.
- 20 Miles Out: Noticeable vibration lasted approximately 12 to 15 seconds.
- 50+ Miles Out: Light swaying or "dizziness" was reported for up to 40 seconds.
This variation is why you see so many conflicting reports on news sites. One person says "it was a quick jolt," and another says "it wouldn't stop." They are both right.
Why Your Brain Inflates the Time
There is a psychological element here that we don't talk about enough in emergency management. It’s called tachypsychia.
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When your adrenaline spikes during a life-threatening or startling event, your brain starts processing information at a hyper-accelerated rate. This is the "slow-motion" effect people describe during car accidents. Because you are taking in so much sensory data—the sound of the house creaking, the sight of the water in your glass moving, the physical sensation of instability—your memory of the event expands.
Honestly, if you thought today’s earthquake lasted two minutes, your brain was just doing its job. It was keeping you hyper-aware of your surroundings to ensure you survived.
The Aftershock Reality
We can't talk about how long the shaking lasted without mentioning that it usually happens in "clusters."
What many people describe as one long earthquake is often a primary shock followed very quickly by a significant aftershock. If an aftershock happens 30 seconds after the main event, your brain just glues them together into one long, terrifying experience. Seismologists at institutions like Caltech or the University of Tokyo spend a lot of time untangling these "wave trains" to figure out where one event ended and the next began.
Today’s activity followed a standard decay pattern, but those initial minutes are always the most confusing because the "coda" (the tail end of the seismic wave) can ring through the earth for a surprisingly long time.
How to Check the "Real" Duration
If you want the official word on how long did today’s earthquake last for your specific zip code, you shouldn't rely on your wall clock.
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The best resource is the USGS "Did You Feel It?" (DYFI) portal. This is a crowdsourced database where thousands of people input their experiences. The USGS takes this subjective data and cross-references it with "ShakeMap" instrumental data. It’s a fascinating bridge between human perception and cold, hard science.
By looking at the intensity maps, you can see how the duration and "felt intensity" dropped off as the waves moved through different geological formations. You might find that someone just five miles away from you had a totally different experience because they were sitting on granite while you were sitting on silt.
Practical Steps for the Next Few Hours
The shaking has stopped, but the "event" isn't necessarily over. Since we’ve established that the initial duration is often just the beginning of a seismic sequence, here is what you actually need to do now.
First, check your gas lines. You don’t need a wrench yet—just use your nose. If you smell rotten eggs, get out. The duration of the shaking today was long enough to potentially loosen older fittings, even if you don't see cracks in your drywall.
Second, look for "hidden" damage. Walk the perimeter of your home. Look at the base of your chimney or where the house meets the foundation. Small cracks now can become big problems if a large aftershock hits in the next 24 to 48 hours.
Third, secure your "falling hazards." If today's quake lasted long enough to make your bookshelves wobble, they aren't anchored well enough. Take ten minutes right now to move heavy items to lower shelves. It's the simplest way to prevent injury during the aftershocks that are almost certainly coming.
Finally, don't let the "earthquake brain" get to you. It's normal to feel like the ground is still moving for a few hours afterward—this is called "phantom shaking." Your vestibular system (your inner ear) is just a bit recalibrated from the stress.
Stay off elevators for the rest of the day. If today's earthquake lasted long enough to trigger "stop" sensors in some lift systems, they might be prone to glitching during smaller aftershocks. Stick to the stairs. It's better for your peace of mind anyway.