Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Earthquake!

We just had an earthquake! I was sitting stretched out on my couch, talking to Randal on the phone, when my couch started rocking back and forth just a bit. Then the shaking got a bit stronger. It died a bit after maybe 5 seconds, then got stronger. I watched my heater rock back and forth, and I heard dishes rattling in the kitchen. In all, it lasted about 20 seconds. I actually started to get a bit worried because it picked up a bit in intensity. After the first wobble, there was no doubt - it was definitely an earthquake. Not up and down, like the one Randal felt the other day, but a lazy side-to-side motion, like a car being buffeted by very strong wind (except here, the "car" was a 5-storey concrete building).

JMA doesn't have final stats yet, but they show 3-or-more on the scale thus far. I added a red dot to show where I am:
earthquake, gifu, 18h34, dec 19/06

Somehow I suspect, however, that that was not the Big One everyone is waiting for...

OK, new pic is up on JMA site and it's dramatic (for a little shake). I've marked my area with an arrow. They list it currently as a 1, but it was stronger than that, I think - more like a 2. They had a 2 in Kakamigahara, which isn't very far from here, so it's possible:
earthquake, gifu, 18h34, dec 19/06 (2)

I feel less left out now.

3 comments:

strasmark said...

That's very cool. Now you can say "I've survived an earthquake" - very dramatic. Personally, I've survived several hurricanes and a car crash, if you count "edge of the tail-end of a category one" as a hurricane (hey - it get pretty rainy when that happens!), and "fender-bender" as a car crash. I also survived an earthquake in Montreal - it was a rumble that woke me up. I thought it was a passing truck and went back to sleep.

I'm still traumatized.

Have fun in Bali!

julie said...

I'm actually a 3-time survivor - Quebec City (November 1988), Ottawa (February 2006), Gifu (December 2006).

I even have a T-shirt that proves this.

julie said...

...Wow. I posted that, and now, looking at it, I feel old. My earthquakes are almost 20 years apart. Crazy.