I Feel the Earth Move Under My Feet...

...I feel the books and DVDs come tumbling down...

The Quake was centered in the La Habra / Brea area directly east of me

Friday night we had a little excitement in my neighborhood.  I was watching an old Cary Grant movie on DVD around eight o'clock, when we had an earthquake.  It was a little one, a 3.4.

It turns out this was just a foreshock.

Then, at 9:10, a bigger one struck.  I had just decided to go to bed, and was in the doorway of the bathroom.  I ended up just standing there while everything shook around me.  I stood for what seemed like a very long time in the doorway (20 seconds is an eternity in these circumstances), holding onto the door frame, waiting for the house to stop shaking all around me.  It was disconcerting, to say the least!

It's been quite a while since we've had such a strong quake.  It took a few minutes for my heart rate to return to normal.

My cat Jack hid under the bed.  He didn't come out for a LONG while.

An AP photo showing the damage to a La Habra Walgreens Store

The phone started ringing.  I had several calls and texts asking me if I was all right.  I was fine.  The house was fine.  I had photos and DVDs and books topple, but nothing was broken.

This turned out to be a 5.1 magnitude jolt centered in the La Habra/Brea area which is directly east (and perhaps a little south) of me.

Lucky for me, the power didn't go out.  I quickly turned to a TV station showing the news. Reports were just coming in about the quake from the news media as a third quake (this turned out to be a 3.6) struck around 9:30 p.m.

Trader Joe's in Brea
It's just wine, folks, not blood.  Luckily no one was hurt
This photo was sent around via Facebook

Around ten o'clock, my neighbors came to check on me.  They had been at a restaurant on the east side of Whittier when the bigger, 5.1, quake struck.  They watched in amusement as their waitress ran out of the restaurant, screaming.  Then George turned calmly to Ray and quipped, "I sure hope she put in our order first.  I'm starving!"

Beauty Supplies hit the floor in La Habra
Photo NBC Los Angeles

Of course, it's hard to go to bed after an adrenaline rush like that.  I stayed up, watching the news coverage on Channel 9 while we continued to have aftershocks.

We had a lot of them.

There have been more than 140 aftershocks from Friday's quake

It was funny watching the news.  They were live at Caltech with seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones.  They had an earthquake sensor that would buzz when there was a quake.

I like Dr. Lucy.

Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones

As I was watching TV, I felt aftershock upon aftershock.

After each one, about 2 seconds later, the buzzer at Caltech would go off and there would be a small delay before they'd read off the magnitude:  2.6!  2.4!

It was rather funny at the time.

A bit freaked out, I had a tough time getting to bed.  The thought ran through my mind that perhaps I needed to stay dressed "just in case".  I finally went to bed around 1 a.m.

I was awakened frequently through the night by aftershocks.

The Chevron station in La Habra

Saturday I ran around doing errands, and things seemed fairly quiet.  Then, as I was sitting eating a late lunch, around 2:30 p.m., another aftershock hit.  This was a 4.0 and strong enough to really unnerve me.

The aftershocks continued on Saturday evening. Again, I had trouble going to bed.  It's like your whole body is on Red Alert.

With all of these experiences, I'm always wondering if it's building to something worse, or if we have already experienced the worst of it.

Life in California.  It's always exciting.

So, that's my big report.  Nothing broken at my house.  Some homes "red-tagged" in Fullerton, I believe Poor folks!  (That means the house is so badly structurally damaged that people have to evacuate.)  No one killed or seriously injured, thank goodness. Just lots of nerves jangled and homes rattled.

My cat Jack just wants to sit in my lap a lot now.  (This is a new thing for him.)

I see we've had 14 earthquakes in the greater Los Angeles area already today, as I write this.  Time to replenish the earthquake kit and restock the pantry with canned goods and bottled water.

Life goes on.