I did not feel the earth move under my feet
Bookworm on Aug 02 2006 at 8:59 pm | Filed under: Silly Stuff
I missed the Loma Prieta quake because I was on vacation. Throughout my life, I’ve been around for many smaller quakes, but I’ve managed not to notice any of them. The most recent one I missed noticing was a small one, an hour ago, centered about twenty miles north of me. Somehow, whenever earthquakes hit, I’m in a car, or in a super-reinforced building, or in an area built on solid rock, or any number of things.
It really is quite amazing that I’ve lived almost my entire life in a seismic area without ever feeling the earth move. I’m not complaining, though. I’d be perfectly happy if I never experienced an earthquake. It’s one thing to get a little thrill out of a temblor but, because those little guys elude me, I know the only one I’d notice would be the big one — and I’d prefer not to notice it at all.
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3 Responses to “I did not feel the earth move under my feet”
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I know this is a weird thing to complain about, but I do the same thing, dammit!
I’ll come home and the pictures will be crooked on the walls, something will have moved - and I didn’t feel a thing! I NEVER feel a thing!
Just once I’d like to feel a little one - but I know, just like you; the one I’ll feel will be when the house falls down on top of me!
You haven’t missed a thing. When a big one starts, the thing you don’t know is if every rumble is going to be the straw that breaks the back of the camel built before the most modern earthquake codes. You don’t know when it’s going to end. You don’t know if you are going to end up crushed in a pile of rubble. Give me a hurricane any old day: you get plenty of warning and you can run away.
Funny thing happened to me while I was on vacation visiting Bill O in San Jose. He had gone to work and I was just sitting on his couch reading when a small earthquake started. Immediately, i thought, “This is so cool.” Before I could change my mind it was over and the phone rang. Bill O wanted to know if his house was still standing and all I could not shut up about how great it was.