Drop! Cover! Hold On!

I felt two earthquakes today -- one at 2:41pm (a 4.0 magnitude) while I was in a meeting and an aftershock at 8:16pm while at home (a 3.8 magnitude). Both were centered just across the Bay near Berkeley, about 11 miles from San Francisco, and classified as small. No injuries or damage reported.

I was scared. Though it seems like I am the only one out here that is scared by an unpredictable jerking of the earth that can down power lines, break apart concrete sidewalks/walls/bridges, and create tidal waves. For me, it's the ensuing aftermath of destruction that is the result of an earthquake which scares me - fire, tsunamis, live electrical lines in the street, falling and flying objects, downed cell phone lines, stalled transportation and damaged roads that separate me from being with Jack.

The earthquakes that I have felt in the past usually feel like a little sway or a rumble for 2 or 3 seconds and you think maybe you just got dizzy for a moment. The earthquake this afternoon felt like a violent jolt followed by rumble. Like somone dropped a truck on the roof. I actually didn't feel the earthquake in the evening as much as I heard the whole house rattle for a couple of seconds.

Today's quakes occurred within 3 days of the 22nd anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake (7.1 magnitude) that struck Northern California in 1989 during the World Series. That earthquake killed 63 people, injuring and leaving thousands of people homeless.

What's so funny is that we had a statewide preparedness drill,  "The Great California ShakeOut", just earlier this morning. At 10:20am, 8.5 million Californians participated in the disaster drill. We were instructed to get under our desks for 1 minute. Public transportation stopped. People in Target ducked under their carts. Hilarious, right? Until 4 hours and then another 6 hours later when two earthquakes struck for real!