May 14 2002
Rock’n’roll
I was woken up by last night’s earthquake, as were the cats, who were sleeping peacefully on the bed with me. When it first hit, they catapulted (no pun intended) off the bed and hid under it — must be some kind of animal hiding instinct. I think it was the deep rumbling sound, which once you’ve heard it, you immediately know it’s an earthquake and nothing else, that actually woke me up, more than the shaking.
The shaking itself started out pretty strong, then paused, then came back stronger. At that point, both John (who was awake when it hit) and I thought maybe this was going to be the Big One. It’s amazing how quickly thoughts can pass through your mind. But it went away again in less time than it takes to tell (earthquakes, like the shootout at the OK Corral, don’t last very long in real life, unlike in the movies).
It was pretty strong, though, considering it took place almost 80 miles south of San Francisco, in Gilroy, the garlic capital of the world. It measured 5.1 on the Richter Scale, which isn’t that much weaker than the October, 1989 quake which measured 6.7 and caused a tremendous amount of destruction. The April, 1901 quake is still the record to beat, at 8.25. That’s one record that can remain unbroken as far as I’m concerned.
Anyway, we’re all fine, thanks to living on bedrock in a retrofitted building. But we have been reminded again that it’s only a matter of time.