For the 2nd time in 5 days...

[tenaya]

...an earthquake has gotten me out of bed. Sunday's woke me up from a sound sleep, but it was a rolly one, I could definitely feel the wave motion. Today, I had woken up and was pondering what needed to be done when the china windchime I have hanging from a window crank started to tinkle. I have it hanging there for that reason as those little precursor waves (which I forget what they're called) will cause just enough movement to get me a 'wake up' tinkle. Then, came a lot of shimmying. Think of sautéing mushrooms in a skillet, and how you pick up the pan and shimmy them back and forth to keep them from sticking. That's how it felt.

The closest I was to a mild/moderate earthquake was a 4.7 that was only a few miles away. I was on the 2nd floor of the hospital at work. You ever pick up a box of raisenettes and give it a shake to see if any are left? You give it a good all around shake to bounce that puppy loose from sticking to the sides. That's how I felt, just like that raisenette. I had to hold onto a bed railing to stay on my feet.

Then I always go turn on the tv to watch the newspeople get all excited and make fools of themselves. They want to do "THE SKY IS FALLING, THE SKY IS FALLING!" and they run over to Cal Tech for the details of the coming apocalypse. And the cal tech people so obviously just want to give them all a nanny whack for asking the stoopidest questions and being quasi-hysterical. It's always a good show. *g*

Now, what was I going to do today?

Edited for this addition: Those early waves are called P waves or Primary waves and are sound waves. They travel faster than the secondary waves. So, I suppose a bit of a gap between the two would mean that the observer is some distance from the epicenter. Huh.

Comments

[elke-tanzer.livejournal.com]

Cool idea about the windchime. Glad you're OK!

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

But you're a local gal, too, aren't you? Did you feel it?

[elke-tanzer.livejournal.com]

My apartment and I were both rather rattled, but fine.

[khek.livejournal.com]

Yikes! I'm glad you're okay. I don't think I could live in a place where shaking ground happens frequently enough that you've come up with an early warning system!

What do the varmints do during an earthquake?

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

The only creature I've ever observed in a quake has been my cats when they've been sleeping on my bed. We wake up and look at each other with a 'do you think we're going to have to get up?' expression. And when it quits shaking we just go back to sleep. *g* I had a dog once that went kind of hysterical after a big one; it took a while to console him.

[dopeydora-67.livejournal.com]

That must be so scarey, especially not knowing if is going to be a big one or not. I am glad that you are alright.

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

Thank you for being concerned. Everything out here is built pretty well so there really isn't a lot of anxiety about safety. Me, I fear tornados a heck of a lot more than earthquakes! I guess people get used to what they know.

[nausica2.livejournal.com]

Glad you are okay!