Earthquake!

Remember the earthquake in Redding, Thanksgiving day, 1997? I sure do. We were stopped at the traffic light at Court Street and Eureka Way and the car started shaking. I told the kids to stop fighting, thinking they were wrestling in the back seat. They were innocent - that time.

The earthquake we experienced last night also sounded like kids - wrestling on the floor above us. We were on the first floor of a three story building. I was enjoying the cooler weather of Newport Beach and talking on the phone to Dennie when the shaking began. My attention quickly left the subject of our conversation, when my chair started moving. Jim looked up, said, earthquake while Bailey jumped up with a puzzled look on her face. It took a couple of nano seconds for me to interrupt Dennie, repeating the word, earthquake, EarthQuake, EARTHQUAKE!

By the time I thought about what we should do, the quake was over. That's why I would rather live where there are earthquakes rather than where there are hurricanes or tornadoes. At least earthquakes are over before one can really panic. At first, it was reported as a magnitude of 5.0 earthquake, but they later downgraded it to a 4.7. There was only one aftershock of 2.7 that we noticed.

The biggest earthquake Ive ever experienced, was a 7.1, in 1992, in Eureka/Ferndale. Doni and I were in an old, wooden, two story import store in Eureka. The store was packed with merchandise - I didn't see how it could possibly meet fire code. The glassware started shaking, the hanging merchandise was swaying, and it sounded like people were running upstairs. Doni looked at me and I mouthed 'Earthquake'. Since the building sat right by the water all I could think of was, if we did make it out of the building, a tsunami would probably get us.

Since a tsunami didn't overtake us, we drove inland to the cute little town of Ferndale. We walked past a Victorian (pictured at left) that had been shaken off its foundation. We continued into town to shop and have lunch. We were sitting in an old building, looking out at main street while having lunch, when a pretty big aftershock struck. Doni looked at me, I looked at her, we looked around and everyone else didn't seem to notice the shaking. So, not knowing what else to do, we calmly ate our food while we watched the buildings sway. People walking the streets and in the shops also acted like nothing was amiss during the numerous aftershocks.

The only other earthquake I can remember being in, was in San Diego. I was at a state-wide convention for my job. It was close to midnight when a big earthquake struck. Many of the women (and a couple of men) attending the conference ran out of their hotel rooms - with little or nothing on. The problem was the doors locked behind them. It was an hour or so before security could get to everyone in order to let them back in their rooms. Needless to say, some of those people still have not lived it down - luckily, I was not one of them.