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sugarplumkittyTonight was El Pollo Loco night. That's my favorite fast food. Grilled chicken, yum! We were a bit late going and getting back because Eric lost track of time at work and didn't come home on time. It was 8:04PM when I stepped onto the porch. As I went up the steps I thought I heard the metal garage door across the street rolling up but when I turned to look there were no lights on and no movement. The sound got louder and I noticed the house and plum tree moving oddly about the same time I felt the porch shaking. Eric was still out in the yard and asked "What is that?" "Earthquake!" I replied. It kept rolling and I wasn't sure if it would be safer to stay on the porch or run out by Eric. In really bad quakes, the eaves break off the houses and people are killed by them as they run out of the house. I've been taught to shelter in place. Hmmm. Must do some research on where the eaves fall. I've never been on the porch during a quake before.
When it died down I went out into the yard just in case the quake was a precursor to the Big one. Neighbors down the block who had run out of their house during the shake yelled, "Did you feel it?"
"Oh yeah!" I called back. They repeated exactly the way I said it and laughed. We waved at each other then we went into the house to see if anything fell over. The only thing that fell was a precariously balanced empty oatmeal container. The kitties didn't seem upset. I was predicting a 5 magnitude earthquake. Then I reconsidered with the panic factor tossed in and decided my prediction was between 4 and 5. Guess I wasn't panicked as much as I thought. I underestimated it. A 4 you won't feel if you're walking. This one made the house and tree move enough to really notice.
The one thing we worry about with an earthquake this big is if it was centered far away that means somewhere was hit hard. This time it was only about 20 miles away. In Earthquake terms, that's not far at all. We felt it nearly full strength or maybe at full strength if the liquification factor of the valley floor amplified it.
The news shows a store near the epicenter with broken jars of olives all over the floor. The fact that they keep showing olives and nothing else says it was just that row that had damage. They use a bunch of different angles to make it look like a bigger story.
I'm glad that's all it was. Of course there will probably be aftershocks. They said the aftershocks might even be bigger. We find that confusing. If an aftershock is larger than the first quake, wasn't the first quake then a precursor to the main quake and the larger one the main event?
I think Eric is sleeping in his clothes tonight.
** EDIT **
This morning's news shows more stores with stuff that fell off the shelves and one Target where a couple of ceiling tiles fell onto a collection of shopping carts. Conclusion: Minor damage but no injuries.
When it died down I went out into the yard just in case the quake was a precursor to the Big one. Neighbors down the block who had run out of their house during the shake yelled, "Did you feel it?"
"Oh yeah!" I called back. They repeated exactly the way I said it and laughed. We waved at each other then we went into the house to see if anything fell over. The only thing that fell was a precariously balanced empty oatmeal container. The kitties didn't seem upset. I was predicting a 5 magnitude earthquake. Then I reconsidered with the panic factor tossed in and decided my prediction was between 4 and 5. Guess I wasn't panicked as much as I thought. I underestimated it. A 4 you won't feel if you're walking. This one made the house and tree move enough to really notice.
The one thing we worry about with an earthquake this big is if it was centered far away that means somewhere was hit hard. This time it was only about 20 miles away. In Earthquake terms, that's not far at all. We felt it nearly full strength or maybe at full strength if the liquification factor of the valley floor amplified it.
The news shows a store near the epicenter with broken jars of olives all over the floor. The fact that they keep showing olives and nothing else says it was just that row that had damage. They use a bunch of different angles to make it look like a bigger story.
I'm glad that's all it was. Of course there will probably be aftershocks. They said the aftershocks might even be bigger. We find that confusing. If an aftershock is larger than the first quake, wasn't the first quake then a precursor to the main quake and the larger one the main event?
I think Eric is sleeping in his clothes tonight.
** EDIT **
This morning's news shows more stores with stuff that fell off the shelves and one Target where a couple of ceiling tiles fell onto a collection of shopping carts. Conclusion: Minor damage but no injuries.
