Earthquake

I stayed in Los Angeles just long enough to experience my first major earthquake! I was at home packing boxes when the floor began to shake. At first, the shaking was light and I thought that a big truck must have rumbled by. But then, very suddenly, the shaking became much more intense. The whole building began to sway, and I knew instantly that this was an earthquake!

When the shaking intensified, both of my cats jerked their heads up, eyes wide with fear, and dove under the nearest piece of furniture. I was surprised to see how frightened they were. I confess, I was pretty frightened too. I stood under a doorway that was relatively far away from the sliding glass doors and waited for the shaking to stop (it lasted about 20-30 seconds). You could literally feel the building rocking back and forth, and there were a host of strange, creaking noises.

I happened to be watching the local news on TV at the time, and they instantly showed a seismograph on the screen. The news anchors were matter-of-fact in their reporting: "Apparently we are experiencing an earthquake. And it's a big earthquake. Our KABC seismograph says it's a 5.8." (It was later officially declared to be a 5.4 magnitude quake.) You know you must be in California when the local news channels have their own seismograph screens ready to display on a moment's notice!

Experiencing an earthquake was different than I thought it would be. Feeling the building move was definitely scary -- no doubt about it. But the period after the shaking stopped was equally scary! Why? Because everyone knows that there are usually aftershocks. And there's always the possibility that the original quake was just a warm-up act for an even bigger one. So while the initial quake is a complete surprise, afterwards you live with the immediate anticipation of more earthquakes to follow in the next few hours and possibly even days. The seismologists on the news kept reminding everyone to be
prepared for aftershocks for the next 24-72 hours. The local news reported every aftershock all afternoon, showing the seismograph readings as they happened. It's unreal to watch a seismograph recording a tremor as it's happening, even when it's far enough away that you can't feel it. Knowing that aftershocks were continuing all through the day was unnerving.

An interesting experience, to be sure, though one I hope to never experience again! Unfortunately, Utah is overdue for a big one as well...