Where We All Stared At Each Other Blankly

Not that we were in any imminent danger - though that was only known after the shaking stopped.

The rumbling began and after about 5 seconds where it didn't stop, we all got out of our cubes into the "cube hallway" and basically, looked at each other dumbfounded. I turned around and saw only one guy in the doorway. He must've grown up near LA or something, because that didn't even occur to me. After about 15 seconds, the thought crossed my mind that maybe I should consider getting the hell out of the building, but then 10 seconds later, it stopped.

The freaky thing about earthquakes is that you don't know where it's happening. It could be that what you're feeling is mild (less than 4.0), and the epicenter is nearby. Or it could be that it's moderate (less than 6.0), and the epicenter a bit far away. Or it could be really bad, like 7.0, and it's a couple hundred miles away. Thankfully, it was behind door number 2. A moderate earthquake of 5.4 about 70 miles away.

Still, 5.4 is nothing to sneeze at. Though, some of the folks here were sneezing at 5.4 like it was nothing, since they had been though 6.5. But I didn't grow up here, and the earth shaking any amount is just a little bit scary. Not to mention, all I keep thinking when we get these quakes is that I'll come home and find a crack in my foundation or something (which is a little bit of irrational paranoia, but still). Luckily, we are a ways away from a major fault-line. That doesn't make us immune, but at least we're not sitting on the San Andreas Fault. Our main problem is wild fires, and the nuclear power plan up the road in San Clemente. That's probably enough to worry about.

Maybe sitting on a fault line would be preferable.

Comments

  1. I have good friends that have just moved to San Diego and felt like they could officially call themselves "Californians" after the recent quake. I'm sure it was really scary!

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