Sunday, August 12, 2007

My First Earthquake

Earthquakes happen all the time here. Most of the time they are so small that you don't feel them. Once in a while one happens that you can feel, although still quite small. Last night was one of those earthquakes. I was in bed reading and heard a rumble and felt the house shook. It was over in an instant - for a moment I thought someone had slammed a door really hard; it was that quick. But yet it was unlike anything I had ever heard or felt. I asked Stella, who was drifting off to sleep, if she felt or heard anything. She hadn't and I said that I might have felt an earthquake but wasn't sure. I made a mental note to look online the next day and see if there was any seismic activity around 11:45 on Saturday night. And sure enough, there was an an earthquake that measured 2.7 centered in El Cerrito, less than three miles from us.

I wondered how long it would be before I experienced my first earthquake. I find it kind of exciting, in a weird way. Let's just hope all future ones are all small like this one, although experts think a big one is likely in the bay area within the next fifteen years or so.

2 comments:

Shannon said...

Ooooh, that's a little freaky! That would be one of the major things holding me back, as far as relocating to that part of Cali goes.

Stella said...

I still think it might just have been me snoring!