I'm now a Californian!

[philena]

Let me draw your attention to this magnificent website, which has this week gone on my list of bookmarks:

And why is this on my list of favorites, you might ask? Well, let me tell you! First, here are a few reports for your reading pleasure:

This is from Wednesday

Then this evening

Then just a few minutes later

This one I didn't feel, but I trust my website.

Yes, the earth has been quaking here, and Daniel and I have been feeling it. From someone who's used to warnings hours in advance of tornadoes and days in advance of blizzards and hurricanes, it is really alarming. You are sitting peacefully on the couch, reading your Harper's and suddenly everything starts rumbling. You have enough time to grab the arms of the couch and hold on (as if that will do anything), but before you can figure out whether it's better to stand up and move to the center of the room, duck under the table, run outside, it's all over.

At least we don't need to worry about our gas furnace. That thing just turns itself off at the slightest provocation, except when the repairman comes to look at it.

Update:

And again this morning. Daniel and I were debating the strength of this one. We knew it was weaker than the one yesterday, but we're not so good estimating with the logarithmic scale. At first I guessed 3.5, but then Daniel talked me down to 3.0-3.2. I should've stuck to my guns!

Comments

[russophile1977.livejournal.com]

When we lived in San Mateo we had a 7.1 earthquake and I've been afraid of them ever since!

[philena.livejournal.com]

Yikes! That's huge. How long did it last? This proliferation of little 3.7s has only got me more flighty about them. I'd probably be traumatized if I had to be in a bigger one.

[russophile1977.livejournal.com]

It supposedly only lasted for 15 seconds but I remember the house rocking for a long time. I was afraid to go to bed that night because I was worried that an aftershock would bring the roof down on me! We only had half-power so, even with all the lights on, it was pretty dark inside and we needed flashlights. The phone acted up too. For some reason, people could call us but we couldn't call them. It's a good thing we didn't live right in San Francisco, though, because that's where all the damage was. My father had been standing at a bus stop in San Francisco (the quake happened at 5:04 p.m. so lots of people were on their way home from work) and he said that pieces of concrete were falling off the building across the street. He didn't get home from work until after midnight because Caltrain was delayed. They had to check every inch of the track first to make sure that it was safe. We had aftershocks for months after and I remember one morning, six months later, we had three strong ones in a row. I was happy when we left California that summer!