So we had an earthquake this morning.
As a native Californian I have ridden a few out.
My mom tells the story that when I was a baby
there was a really big quake and it rocked me back to sleep in my crib.
I am no stranger to quakes.
In 1990's there were a couple big bad ones that I was privy too...
one had me rush out of a bathroom in a restaurant because the walls were bowing.
The second was so big, it cracked my grandmothers apartment building and my mother and I drove in to be with her and return to her blackened home for some valuables as the aftershocks kept rattling it, it was like being in a bouncy house but the house was a 3 story apartment building.
(I do not recommend this and my mother does not always make the best decisions)
I think there were 10+ aftershocks that day....
This mornings earth movement was mild compared to those.
It has rattled a lot of people near the epicenter and
there are no serious injuries reported which is great!
I was on the phone with a cousin who lives in Mexico and said
" oh we are having a quake"
the line was silent
and then I said "it is still rolling but we are fine."
that is how caviler I can be when I identify the type of quake.
it rolled for 20 seconds.
the plants swayed, the coo coo clock chains swayed the cat paced up and down the hallway...
then it was settled.
No need to take cover, no bowed walls or cracked foundation or turning off the gas.
I have not felt any aftershocks.
We are about 200 miles away from the epicenter so that comes as no surprise.
As soon as it stopped I got a call from a friend who lives around the corner
frantic and panicked and out of sorts and firing rapid questions my way
she is from Florida, so is not prepared for earth movement:
" OMG what was that !
is there a Tsunami warning
where do we go if there is one
I don't like those
I am shaking
What should I do
what is the protocol
hubby is just sitting here like it is no big deal "
I tried REALLY hard to not laugh and assured her that what she just felt was a
MELLOW experience for an earthquake and that she was safe
Normally you brace yourself in a doorway
DO NOT run outside
wait for the shaking to stop than go about your day.
If there was a Tsunami warning out cell phones would siren
and that street across from your house is taller that your house...
go up there if there is a warning.
stay away from windows and anything that could fall on you
BTW your house is a single story...
the safest kind
you are in the safest house for an earthquake...
you are safe and laugh it off.
(I think I said safe a million times to try and soothe her)
She thanked me and hung up
I checked on her two hours later and she said she was still shaking.
She takes her time processing things I guess...
I laughed a bit while making breakfast
it was alright...I could not do anything to prevent it
we were together and safe
it was over
just a normal California day as far as I was concerned.
Happy Thursday!
I am going to make some 4th of July tacos now
2 comments:
I love this. I'm from Wellington, which sits right on the boundary of the Pacific plate and Australian Plate. (When I say right on it, I mean almost every time I leave the house, I drive across the fault line.) We're used to earthquakes too. And like California, always talk about The Big One. But after the big Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes over the last eight years or so, I'm much more nervous, having seen the destruction that can occur. The Kaikoura earthquake caused a lot of damage in Wellington, but it was variable. Major buildings have been demolished as a result, half our parking garages and cinemas are closed or are being rebuilt as a result. But we just had one ornament fall off a shaky table.
I live in a house on stilts on the side of a hill, which shakes even in the wind (like today), and shakes a lot in an earthquake, though I didn't experience the Kaikoura earthquake (I was on holiday). So I had to laugh at your comment about your friend and her house. I experienced an aftershock from Kaikoura when I was staying in a single-story house with a concrete foundation, in a vineyard. I don't think I've ever t felt so safe in an earthquake! lol
Haha! Also born and raised in California. Friends in my town were freaking out, and none of us (me, my husband and my dogs) noticed anything.
Post a Comment