On Sunday a new natural disaster term was born, and one I never thought I’d experience as a lifelong Californian: “Hurriquake.”
‘Hurriquake’ is a new one for us, too.
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) August 20, 2023
In the midst of rainfall hitting Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon as Hurricane Hilary made its way to Southern California, a 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck the Ojai area.
Naturally, Angelenos took to Twitter to share how they felt the quake, discuss the new phenomenon and cope with the current state of the world.
everyone in LA rushing to twitter to tweet about the #earthquake and #hurriquake pic.twitter.com/uhf15o2Sx1
— erén (@kirawontmis) August 20, 2023
god coming up with the idea of an earthquake and a hurricane the same day for LA, a hurriquake! pic.twitter.com/0nH56ghMOT
— ビクタア (@VikxGT) August 20, 2023
3 p.m. Hurriquake Hunker Down update: wine open, pork shoulder braising, Breakfast at Tiffany’s on pic.twitter.com/7nBnZPU48e
— Matt Brennan (@thefilmgoer) August 20, 2023
It’s gonna be a big day! pic.twitter.com/Po3AWNrS4L
— Americana At Brand Memes (@americanamemes) August 20, 2023
everyone: prepare for #HurricaneHilary
earthquake: hold my beer.
Hope everyone is staying safe out there! #hurriquake
— ESPN Los Angeles (@ESPNLosAngeles) August 20, 2023
I did not have #HurriQuake on my bingo card today. #earthquake #hilary pic.twitter.com/KYhJIDvmcv
— Russell Buhr, MD, PhD, FACP (@rgbMDPhD) August 20, 2023
HURRIQUAKE from the makers of Sharknado.
— John Cohen (@JohnCohen1) August 20, 2023
All of us in Los Angeles right now #hurriquake pic.twitter.com/w1POonSHB8
— Lauren // Evermore Depression Era (@laaureenblair) August 20, 2023
Could this whole hurricane/tropical storm get any crazier in L.A.?
Earth: Hold my beer.#earthquake pic.twitter.com/MLsaQkdbtm
— Erika Marie • @OurBlackGirls (@xiErikaMarie) August 20, 2023
Babe what’s wrong you haven’t even flinched at the hurriquake
— Thomas Pardee (@Pardee) August 20, 2023
And yes, I did look this up last night: #hurriquake pic.twitter.com/dij8Ad6Su3
— Scott Perry (@scottperry) August 20, 2023
me: under a table trying to tweet a spongebob meme
— Marina Watanabe (@marinashutup) August 20, 2023
Me getting through this #earthquake and hurricane at the same time pic.twitter.com/ZfMZm4JJ0h
— ivan (@ivvaanch) August 20, 2023
My first ever #hurriquake. pic.twitter.com/RrnTxaXdnE
— Nate Lorenzen (@anatelorenzen) August 20, 2023
Hurriquake?!? pic.twitter.com/5Llz9Qf3KK
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) August 20, 2023
us: #LARain or #earthquake
universe:pic.twitter.com/7vMFraaMlW— Ariel (@arisaidthat) August 20, 2023
Did an #Earthquake just pass through, during the hurricane? pic.twitter.com/xj8z4X0HE2
— Leon Langford (@MasonLLL) August 20, 2023
Los Angeles are you fucking kidding me right now #earthquake #HurricaneHilary pic.twitter.com/chjQx10lJ3
— Annie 🖤 (@Annie_Devine) August 20, 2023
An #earthquake during a tropical storm? pic.twitter.com/sme8GXIno4
— bella✈︎ (@lvcybradford) August 20, 2023
Me looking at the torrential rain from Hurricane Hilary when the LA earthquake alert popped up #earthquake #HurricaneHilary pic.twitter.com/ztYjRY62iB
— Xarlos (@JuanCafecito) August 20, 2023
earth really said, times up bitches. #earthquake #hurricanehilary pic.twitter.com/MtypaW9EFT
— Dinithi (@adeedoes) August 20, 2023
Urban dictionary called it in 2010. #Hurriquake pic.twitter.com/opilg2f5xT
— TVMoJoe (@TVMoJoe) August 20, 2023
I’m at the tropical storm. I’m at the earthquake. I’m at the combination tropical storm and earthquake pic.twitter.com/fXsGw2wXqr
— Laura J. Nelson 🦅 (@laura_nelson) August 20, 2023
https://t.co/ZUrOWWbTna pic.twitter.com/smP0OZ4WKU
— Americana At Brand Memes (@americanamemes) August 20, 2023
Hurricane Hilary and the Earthquake teaming up to hit LA pic.twitter.com/CBttyWyz7R
— Sam Stryker (@sbstryker) August 20, 2023
While Hurriquake proved to be the winning term, some were also fans of the term “earthcane.”
Everyone is going toward hurriquake, but I think earthcane is better.
— H. José Bosch 🇵🇷 (@HJBosch21) August 20, 2023
Hurricane!? EARTHQUAKE? HURRIQUAKE?! EARTHCANE?
LOS ANGELES IS FALLING APART IT’S JOEVERRRR 😭
— leslie (@fuslie) August 20, 2023
The memes provided a nice distraction for many processing the current state of LA as Hurricane Hilary, now classified as a Tropical Storm makes its way through Southern California.
