SHAKE, RATTLE & ROLL
By Tom Teicholz at 29 July, 2008, 11:51 am
At 11:42 AM I was on the phone, leaving a message for my editor, a (junk) fax was coming in. I began to hear and then feel a rumbling — at first I thought it was related to the construction going on in my office building– then about a few seconds into it, I realized it was an earthquake.
The rolling waves began to sway the building north and
south. A painting that I have propped against the wall on top of a bookcase fell, and a few books on my desk fell off. I then opened the door and stood in the doorway and found my building mates doing the same — one said she felt dizzy from the movement — we started trading notes — it’s an earthquake!
We stood there for a moment, then felt an aftershock roll under our feet.
Someone said they heard it was a 5.6 epicenter in Chino Hills (that would later be emended to a 5.8).
All cell phones were out (either due to volume or a tower being knocked down). I called my wife’s office, my home, tried various cell phones. No answer.
But I wasn’t panicked. A little while later I spoke to my daughter. She said the dog started barking and she felt a bit dizzy from it. I asked if this was the first earthquake she remembered. She recalled that one night there was one where she fell out of bed. She was right she had forgotten.
There was also one in the middle of the night when the dog was barking and I didn’t know why. I got up opened her crate and she wouldn’t come out, so I closed it and went back to sleep.
There is a strange sort of glee from experiencing such a moment and everything being OK — perhaps it’s the rush of adrenalin and the release of endorphins — whatever — it’s good to be able to talk about it as having happened.
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