It’s been a while since we’ve had a good ol’ earthquake around these parts. Whew! What a day! At 11:42 this morning there was a big jolt followed by quite a bit of shaking. As the news reports have come around and settled down, it seems to have settled on a magnitude of 5.4. I have family all across the country and in Canada and I know in the past some have asked what an earthquake feels like. The best analogy I have come up with is it is like you are standing on a bridge and a big semi truck drives across. The intensity of this shaking will range depending on the structure of the bridge – the bouncier the bridge, the greater the earthquake magnitude. Another less pleasing example is if you are in a building (not on the ground floor) and a really large person walks by causing the floor to bounce or shake. Unfortunately I have been suspicious of earthquakes too many times under this scenario.
All sense of time is lost. Some people thought today’s earthquake lasted 90 seconds. Knowing the time continuum is altered, I guessed it was probably 30 seconds. The reports I have found seem to say it lasted 20 seconds. Twenty seconds may not sound like much, but try sitting still for 20 seconds and just imagine everything shaking - my 5th grade teacher had our class do this for 60 seconds - SCARY! It's a long time! I think part of what messes up the passing of time is that you spend the duration expecting it to stop, wondering if it’s going to get worse and then being shocked that you are still shaking. You also have to contemplate how to protect yourself: Can I stay where I am? Should I get under something? Should I go outside? What is near me that can hurt me?
All sense of time is lost. Some people thought today’s earthquake lasted 90 seconds. Knowing the time continuum is altered, I guessed it was probably 30 seconds. The reports I have found seem to say it lasted 20 seconds. Twenty seconds may not sound like much, but try sitting still for 20 seconds and just imagine everything shaking - my 5th grade teacher had our class do this for 60 seconds - SCARY! It's a long time! I think part of what messes up the passing of time is that you spend the duration expecting it to stop, wondering if it’s going to get worse and then being shocked that you are still shaking. You also have to contemplate how to protect yourself: Can I stay where I am? Should I get under something? Should I go outside? What is near me that can hurt me?
Here is how my 20 seconds elapsed. I was in the galley at work, leaning over the counter reading the newspaper. BIG JOLT! “Huh, an earthquake. That’s funny. It’s been a while.” SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE… “Uh, this is pretty big. Where should I go?” I’m glancing around the room. There is kind of a table that has trash cans stored under it. “I could crouch under here, but last time I crouched at work during an earthquake I got teased…don’t want to get teased.” Looking around for more options. “Well there’s a doorway, I’ll go stand in that, then if anyone sees me I won’t look like I overreacted when this is all done and no big deal. But if the world crashes around me and I’m safe…Ha HA, I’ll show them!” THEN THE WORLD STANDS STILL
The Aftermath:
I come back into the galley and notice drawers have slid open, so I walk around closing those. Then I start to go back to my desk and walk into a crowd of people starting to rush out of the building with cell phones in hand. “Are we evacuating? I guess I should go get my purse and cell phone.” But not everyone is evacuating. “Okay, I’ll try calling Jim.” No cell service. “I’ll check the internet for the magnitude and epicenter.” It takes a couple minutes but I see it’s near Chino and 5.6. I take my stuff and kind of wander around to figure out what people are doing. Some are evacuating but many are not. I go to Liz’s desk and see people are on the phone over there. So I stay there and we swap stories. Jim and I finally get some texts back and forth to each other. I feel a little after shock. But all is right with the world.
Now, looking back at my decision making process, I’m feeling kind of dumb. Had I just been at my desk, everything would have been much easier – DUCK AND COVER! But where I started off in the galley was under a skylight – so that definitely was not the place to stay. But the doorway that I chose has glass all on the outside of the framing on one side. Plus it was a hinged door that could have severed my fingers (drama, anyone?). It reminds me of when I was in elementary school at a sleep over and an earthquake hit in the middle of the night. Everyone else ran downstairs and I ducked under a glass table suspended from the ceiling. Real SMART! And then worrying about what other people thought? Please! Lame!!
Growing up in California and being trained in earthquake safety from day one and it still all flies out the brain.
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