I had always thought it would be exciting to be in an earthquake, but I was just in my first earthquake (ever) and it wasn’t that fun. Put me in the “sissies” column:

• 5.6 Bay Area Earthquake Near San Jose Scares Sissies, Speeds Up Slow News Day
• Whew, That Was Fun
• 5.6 quake in San Jose rattles Bay Area

We were watching TV when Patrika suddenly just froze, and assumed an attitude like she always does when she’s unsure whether or not the phone or her pager or my cellphone is ringing. I paused the TV, then the house started shaking. It felt like a heavy truck or the subway was going by, except many times worse. The normal vibration one experiences from heavy traffic was made worse by the sensation of the floor moving back and forth sideways. Things on our shelves were rattling, although nothing fell off (this distinction is actually requested on various online earthquake reporting forms, so I guess things could have been much worse).

The whole thing lasted a very long 5 seconds, during which we were unsure whether to leave the house, or do nothing. And now I realize I don’t know what one is supposed to do in an earthquake. Do we stay inside under doorframes and such (and risk getting crushed by my refrigerator), or do we run outside screaming to escape the refrigerator, only to be electrocuted by falling power lines, or swallowed by holes opening up to the depths of hell?

As far as my first ‘quake goes, I had always thought that quakes were a San Francisco thing, with the ‘burbs of San Jose being relatively safe.