A Virginal Experience

Well, I’m not a virgin any more. An earthquake virgin that is (thank you Lynne). I have been initiated at last. It all happened on a quiet Thursday morning. I was drying my hair and had a book-on-iPod going….. which means I couldn’t hear a thing except the book.  And I felt a slight tremble in the floor and a loud-ish boom. I assumed it was loud because I could hear it OVER the  book-on-iPod. It sounded an felt like a big truck had just driven past the house. I say that because when Copp Motors hot rod drivers roared past my elderly Maine house in their semi-tractor-trailer tow truck, it sounded and felt just like that. So I didn’t think anything about it. And then the cell phone started vibrating…… Mark – “Are you all right?” Me – “Yeeeaaahhhh…….. why?” Mark – “Well, we just had an earthquake and I thought you might be freaking out”. FREAKING OUT???? EARTHQUAKE????? Me – “REALLY?? And I thought it was just a truck going by. Nothing is moving or shaking here. Is that all it is? Piece of cake!” Mark – “Well, we are on the third floor and everything shook here.” Hmmm….. And then another call came in. Julie (from Quilting group) – “Did you feel it?” Me – “Well, not really.” Julie – “No (sounding a bit disappointed)? At least you have had your first one! (sounding happy as if I had had my first date)” And then I called Meredythe-in-Maine all excited to tell her I had been initiated. Me – “I think we just had an earthquake!” Meredythe – “Really? Let me check……. Yes, and it was 4.1 in magnitude” Me – “How did you find out so fast?” Meredythe – “It’s on this website….” So I went to the site – earthquake.usgs.gov. The US Geological Service posts all earthquake activity from around the world. And there was my own personal first earthquake listed. How exciting. And all sorts of information about it…. Like it was 6 MILES below the surface and in Milpitas (about 8 miles away). I was also able to get additional information about earthquakes. Like this one was pretty common and no big deal. I guess there are LOTS of quakes between 2 and 5, some between 5 and 5.9 and only a few above 6. Which is a good thing as with each 1 degree increase in magnitude, the amount of energy released is 10 times more.  And, best of all, there is a link to “Did You Feel It?” which of course I had to go to and complete the questionnaire so that I could be part of the Total earthquake experience. The questionnaire asks you things like what type of building were you in, did any major appliances move, any furniture move or get damaged, trees/powerlines, buildings collapse….. the usual thing.  This time I had to say no. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not hoping for a Big One. But it could happen. So I also checked out the section on the site about being prepared. And I printed out the list of stuff we should have on hand. AND I told Mark that TODAY we would start collecting things to put in a safe place. Because, now that I am no longer a virgin I must be prepared.