We just had an earthquake! Granted, little ones happen a lot down here, and I don't ever feel them but this one was different. It was a 5.8 out in Chino Hills which is about 40 miles south east of where we live. I was standing in the bathroom and I heard a crashing sound and I thought that our upstairs neighbors were just being noisy again but then our shower door started to rattle and the building felt like it was rolling. In my head I was thinking "What is going on?...Oh no, an earthquake! Get in the doorway, Emily!" I ran to the doorway and just stood there panicked watching the closet door swing back and forth for about 15-20 seconds. It wasn't a violent shaking, just a gentle rolling and it made me a little dizzy, kind of like being sea sick and I could hear the building rumbling. It was a pretty scary experience though because I no idea where my hubby was or if he was safe or if I was going to need him to protect me and take care of me. He was going to go out to lunch with his team today and it was about that time but he could have been at the office still but I just didn't know. So I think that's why I was scared, because I was alone and didn't know if Brent was safe. I also didn't know if it was a warm up to something bigger or if my building was going to all of a sudden fall into the earth. Lots of exaggerated panicked thoughts because I've never experienced this before. As soon as the closet door stopped moving and I felt that it was probably over, I turned on the news and got the details. I figured it wasn't an earthquake too near to us or things would have been falling off of shelves and the power would have gone out. I also immediately started trying to call Brent but I guess all of the other 12 million people in LA county were doing the same thing because I couldn't get calls out. After about 20 minutes, and hitting redial about 1,000 times, I finally got through to Brent. He is fine. He didn't seem as panicked as I was. He did say his building swayed for a few seconds. He's felt little quakes at his building before and he was with a big group of people. I'm so thankful that we are safe. And I'm thankful that no people were hurt anywhere, and that the aftershocks have all been 3.8 or less. It was a good feeling to know that if it did get bad enough or close enough that we were in danger, that we have our 72 hour kits (Thanks Mom & Dad Gray!!!) and I have a good friend that lives around the corner.
Man, that really freaked me out! I think the adrenaline has finally worn off. Looking back it wasn't that bad, it was just my first experience and I was home alone. Who knew you could have so many thoughts in just a matter of a few seconds? Anyway, long story short: earthquakes = scary. But we're fine.
4 comments:
Oh my gosh! That's exactly how I felt! Those thoughts were running through my head too! I think I was being a little dramatic in my post, but it was my first real earthquake to feel and it did freak me out! I have calmed down now of course and I know it wasn't THAT bad, but it did scare me at the time.
I would have been freaking out! We had had a couple of Tornado warnings here and I have been home with the kids by myself. They are pretty scary. I think of the worst possible situation that could happen to us. It is good to hear that you guys are okay though!
We were all just sitting in the living room, I was feeding Adam and it really scared poor Kevin, I just had him come sit by me b/c I was not under anything heavy. It was scary, I was pretty shaken up for about a half an hour or so. I was afraid of aftershocks or such... But I am glad that nothing horrible occured and it seems all is well again in sunny so cal...
I was in TJ's asking this lady about apples!! it was kinda nice that I was with people, its a little scarier being on your own. Now I just need to get on with some of my own 72 hour kits.
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