Today we had an earthquake. Sure, there are earthquakes just about every day. But I don’t feel most of them, so this one seemed noteworthy at 5.4 on whatever scale it is that they use these days. According to the geologist who participated in the post-earthquake online chat in the Washington Post, the Richter Scale is so 2007. Who knew?
I was on the 10th floor of our office building, which is built on some rollers–the better to withstand earthquakes. And the construction seems to have worked, because the building was definitely rolling. After some period of time (it seemed like a couple of minutes, but really I have no idea), the building creaked through its final adjustments as it settled back into place. Then we began the time-honored tradition of telling The Tales of Earthquakes Each Of Us Has Experienced in the Past. They’re basically all the same story. And now I have another version.
OK, here’s my earthquake story so I can join the fun… It was 1987, I think. I was on the football field at 7:40 in the morning doing my Drill Team high kicks when the earth started rumbling. The bleachers were rolling like waves which was most interesting to watch. We all toppled over and waited a minute for things to settle down, and then we were shuttled into the gym for safety. I think half the school went home that day even though the damage to classrooms was minimal. (I spent the day at my Latin teacher’s house watching the Oliver North trial on TV.) That earthquake was a 6.1, I do believe.
I won’t bore you with my (one) earthquake story. Just suffice it to say that it was in Northridge, CA–but three years BEFORE the big one in 1994…
A pre-shock!