As you might have heard, Los Angeles had a good scale 5.0 earthquake last night that was felt all the way to San Diego.
As it happened, we were back from a weekend rally with the Alfa Romeo club and I was soaking in a hot tub when it happened. It was a strange feeling. Though I come from a part of the world where tremors are not uncommon, having lived in Japan has taught me to be careful but this one, at least in Casa Grande was strong. Just as a reminder, Casa Grande was made in 1928 with re-enforced concrete and has survived the big one in 1933 . So we feel fairly safe here.
It felt as if a block of rock was thrown on the roof. We felt the upper level had collapsed. The place rumbled and then went into its rolling movement for about 15 seconds or so. 15 seconds that seemed to never end. You feel utterly powerless, at the Mercie of whatever can happen. It is a very humbling experience.
We rushed out to make sure everyone was OK, our close neighbors and those living alone. What was weird is that we were the only ones making sure others were alright. Most people were there, shaking off the feeling and calling. In fact, some of my friends were acting cool and not phased. I feel that is not an intelligent way of dealing with an earthquake, any quake. We shouldn't be so blase that anything under 6.5 is thought of as yet just another tremor.
Virginia was next to my Great-grand mother's armoire that had heavy things inside, along some good sized crystals on top. It occurred to us that anyone living alone, or alone in their homes could have had something fall on them be left unconscious. That's why it makes sense to us to think of others and be pro-active instead of that make-believe cool. Sometimes the little details make all the difference.