Feeling an Earthquake: California 2008

Last month, my wife and I went on a holiday to California. It was an opportunity both to get to know the area, and to meet with family and friends. For about 10 days we traveled and enjoyed not only such a state but also Arizona and Nevada; we went to the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, and even drove up to San Francisco. It was a lovely trip, one that will bring us a lot of great memories..., until the last one.

It's July 29, 2008. We got up a little late before we got back to LA suburbs late from San Francisco, so we slept longer. At about 11:30 am, my brother in law and I went down to the kitchen to have breakfast, while my wife was working on her computer on the upper level, in one of the bedrooms. Sitting on the kitchen, we never knew what was about to happen.

Our focus is in the hash-browns being cooked when all of a sudden there's a sound, a sound that starts as if someone was running on the upper floor, but someone really overweight... and is he tumbling down the stairs? No, right now I think it's a train that is passing by right besides me in the kitchen!

The house starts shaking, just as if it was a shoe box that someone lifts and shakes to see if there is something inside. My brother in law and I just look at each other with a blank face and a glance in our eyes that say "what on earth is happening?" Our friend, the owner of the house who has been living in California for 25 years just looks at us and says "oh, it's an earthquake", the same way you would tell your spouse "oh, it's raining outside" on a Sunday morning...

They said it lasted less than 30 seconds, maybe even half that time. For us it was much longer. It was an amusement park's ride, only not paying, with no fun, with no lines for getting in, nor way to get out. We could only wonder if the roof would be falling on us at any moment.

How much longer will this world be moving? All of a sudden, its strength decrease and, doing just the opposite of what you are suppose to do, I run upstairs to check on my wife. She was just sitting on the bed, calm, waiting for it to finish. Of course, she is a woman, so she won't panic like us. "Are you ok?" "Yes".

My brother-in-law would describe what he feels saying he thought an underground river was swallowing the house... Yes, maybe it's a little too much, but I can tell it was scary as hell, a magnitude 5.4 earthquake, 4 miles from its epicenter.

For the rest of the day, not only the TV would just talk about it, but also we would be dizzy, and feeling the aftershocks. No physical harm to nobody, just a TV fallen and things tossed around.

So much time wanting to get to California, now I could only think on getting out of there before the "Big One" strikes... Yes, the "Big One"; they said in the next decade the strongest ever will hit California. They say it may even separate the state from the rest of US... I'm not waiting there to see. I just want to get out! Never been through something like it, nor want to be again.

The next day we got on our plane back home. It's been a wonderful experience, the whole trip. While the plane is taking off, a scream comes out of our mouths... We survived!!