rockin’ and rollin’ – earthquake!!!
I was sitting at my computer doing some work after Sam went to bed. All of a sudden the house shook and creaked. I knew what it was instantly. My stomach went into a knot and my eyes bulged, wondering when it would be over. Dave was in the shower. I’d have to rescue Sam and the dog single-handedly, load them into the car and race to the mountains to get away from the tsunami. My gas tank is half full – that should be enough. All of this raced through my mind in the 5 seconds the earthquake lasted. I then went to the USGS website to find out how big it was. Nothing on the site for 10 minutes!!! So I reported it… Here is the link – it’s posted on there now. Pretty cool site. You might be thinking I way over-reacted, but I had one scary earthquake experience in LA when I was 21 that changed me forever. I still don’t relish sitting under overpasses in traffic. And I don’t particularly enjoy going over long bridges in Pacific rim areas (there was an earthquake in San Diego when I was pregnant and commuting over a long bridge 100′ in the air). So back to LA – the earthquake took place when I was working in an office building and we had to file down a single staircase to get out. As soon as the building started shaking I ran to the nearest door jamb like I was trained to do as a kid. As I tore up carpet racing to the doorway in the copy room, I thought it strange that I didn’t pass anyone. I didn’t realize until later that they were all under their desks. One guy saw me running and asked where I was going – that’s when I found out the proper place to hide in an office setting. So I ran all the way back to MY desk (not just the nearest desk!), pulling the cubicle wall apart as I rounded the corner at a sprint. Every aftershock all afternoon I piled under my desk, to the amusement of my cube-mates. Then the most embarrassing thing happened. The last time I dove under my desk, peels of laughter sounded from the cube nextdoor. I looked up to find a heavy man had just walked behind me. It wasn’t an aftershock at all. I’ll never forget the whole experience. It’s funny now, but it really freaked me out at the time.
hi allie, how frightening for you!! but then i thought about you, sammy and caffrey taking off and leaving dave in the shower to fend for himself and thatn struck me as funny!! aunt patti had a similar experience and she said it was terrifying..i hope sammy is all better by now!! we just came back from the surgeon and he said he was underwhelmed by the scans and said i should have the cat scan repeated in 3 months with the contrast dye and then see if i needed to have a biopsy so that is good news!!! thanks for the prayers!!!love , g.g.
EArthquakes are all exciting and terrifying (whether human or other) at the same time. We had an 8.2 for 30sec. in Guam back in 1993. The island had no power/water for two weeks (the usual). My mom was in the tub and was flying all around. I grabbed the dog and went to the front door jam. Funny how things we were taught as a kid just kick into gear. We just lost a few items around the house. Alli—loved your story and can totally picture you all over that office building. You are too cute! Love ya!