Thinking About Earthquakes

I grew up in the Midwest, where the most severe natural disasters were tornadoes and blizzards.  Even so, the closest I ever got to a tornado was repeated viewings of Twister (and nightmares, but that's a whole other blog post).  My knowledge of and experience with earthquakes was limited at best, closer to nonexistent.

I can think of two instances in my childhood that might be considered earthquake encounters: a book I read when I was about 12, in which the main character was in San Francisco during that big earthquake in like 1870 or something; and an episode of Adventures in Odyssey where Eugene and I think his name was Tom were in LA during a road trip and were in an earthquake.

As you can see, many of my childhood experiences were facilitated by fictionalized accounts via film, radio, books, and tv.  And you wonder why I want to work in this industry...

Anyways, I never really cared about earthquakes besides entertainment value, because I lived in the Midwest and those like, never happen there.  And then, three and a half years ago I moved to Southern California and earthquakes became a very real possibility in my life.  I was actually kind of excited.  I wanted to experience an earthquake!  I mean, who wouldn't be pumped to feel the earth shaking?  I couldn't wait for an earthquake, despite everyone telling me that we were due for "the big one."

The first "real" (meaning it wasn't one of those 2.5's that you think is a large truck driving past your apartment) earthquake that I experienced was a 5.2 while I was working on the 10th floor of a 15-story building.  Now, buildings out here are built to withstand earthquakes, specifically, they're built on rollers so as to roll along with the earth in the event of a quake.  Which means that the building will continue to sway, back and forth, for several minutes after the earth stops shaking.

I was unprepared for the swaying building.  I was also unprepared for the inescapable movement of the earth.  I wouldn't say I flipped out, but I did not do well keeping it cool once the shaking ended. There's just no describing how it feels to have everything around you shaking and there's no getting away or stopping it, no matter how small the shaking is.  I definitely was pretty shaky myself for about a half hour afterwords.

Another weird thing about earthquakes is how the earth shakes differently sometimes.  There are rumbly ones that really are just like a large truck driving past and you barely notice the slight rattling of the window panes.  And then there's the kind of jumpy ones that will bounce you around for a few seconds.  My favorite was the jerky one, at 4am a couple months ago, that felt like a giant tugged on the ground under my apartment a few times.

That one was cool, but also kind of annoying, and I've discovered this is true of every quake I've been through, because when an earthquake starts, you never know how bad it will be.  Will it be that little rumbly guy?  Will it be just a few giant tugs and then be over?  Or will it keep going, and growing, until buildings and roadways begin to crumble and we're living like refugees among the rubble?

Because everyone is always saying, "the Big One is coming! We're overdue for the Big One! Only a matter of time before we fall into the ocean!" That's the thing about earthquakes, you never know if it's going to be the Big One. And that's why I'll probably never fully enjoy one, even though they seem like a fun concept.