I'd feel pretty silly if I failed to note yesterday's 5.6-magnitude earthquake - the most powerful temblor to hit northern California since Loma Prieta in 1989. I'd just gotten out of class and was waiting for the bus, sitting on a bench a block away from City Hall. It was 8:04 p.m. when I heard a rumbling in the building behind me. About a second later I felt intensified shaking and settled in for the ride. The quake lasted for about ten seconds before subsiding.
As I looked around at the other folks, I exclaimed, "sweet!" Truthfully, though, I felt plenty of rumbling in my gut as I began to wonder whether we'd gotten the gentle part of a much more serious quake elsewhere. Yes, I actually wondered whether our house was still standing. Students were streaming out of the campus, everyone chatting nervously.
Once the bus arrived and we headed over the hill, I attempted to call Jenny and Vienna. No luck: mobile phones didn't work for almost an hour. Eventually, though, we connected and shared our shake-stories. Aside from freaking our cats out a bit, the quake left our house no messier than we left it.
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