31 October 2007

I don't like earthquakes

Here's the USGS map moments after that big one near San Jose:


See at the very top of the map, that square just to the left of Concord? I felt that one this afternoon. And see that other one a little below it, covering the "le" at the end of "Berkeley"? I felt that one this evening too. The first one was a short, sharp jolt. The second one was just a little wiggle.

Imagine how edgy I was feeling when the ground started shaking like crazy all of a sudden! There were creaking sounds and I decided that on a couch under a ceiling fan across from free-standing bookcases was not the best place to be, so I jumped across the living room to stand by the front door. The building just kept waving back and forth, back and forth. I didn't want to exaggerate on how long the shaking seemed to last so I low-balled it at about 20 seconds. (Definately longer than the one that freaked me out last winter, which was about 10 seconds long.) But official word seems to be between 20 and 30 seconds in most places. So, yeah, I felt that big one near San Jose.

I'm fine. Cats are fine. Building is fine. We're just a little shaken up, so to speak.

Check the updated map here: Recent Earthquakes.

I'm listening to the news right now, and an expert is saying that earthquakes along this particular fault tend to produce aftershocks that are even larger than the initial quake within the following 72 hours. Can't wait to see if that happens. I don't think I'll be sleeping much tonight.

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