Earthquake, The Sequel

I don't know about aftershocks, but there are definitely beforeshocks where I live. A day or two ago I was talking to Dan when I felt a small earthquake. It was very short and not very strong, but it was enough to trigger my fear instincts. My whole body was tense and I was ready to run (even though running somewhere solves nothing in an earthquake). Even when they're small, they frighten me. I tend to get dizzy a lot, so maybe I'm more sensitive to a moving ground than most people. Last time I felt an earthquake I blamed it on "just getting dizzy," until my supervisor asked me if I had noticed the earthquake. But the way to test it is by looking up at the light strings. When I was talking to Dan, I looked up at my lamp. And the string was definitely swaying.

Little earthquake, for sure.


Well last night I woke up to a strange noise, a rattling of metal and glass and wood, and fairly violent shaking even though I was horizontal in my bed. This time the instincts kicked in, but I froze. I was alone, it was 2 or 3:30 in the morning (I don't remember), and I was terrified because it was my biggest earthquake yet. At the time I couldn't really tell if I was awake or dreaming about it. But the fear was definitely real. I remember telling myself, "I sleep right under a window, that's not good," and making a mental note of where my shoes and earthquake kit were, in case I needed to leave the building after. And I also remember thinking, "This is how it could happen, earthquakes can happen in the middle of the night like this, when you're not dressed, it's dark and cold outside, and you're very, very alone." And I remember crying a little bit for no reason in particular. Still, I wasn't sure if it was real or not. I was still half asleep. I thought to myself, "When an earthquake happens in the middle of the night, it will be like this." I thought I was dreaming instead of actually experiencing it.

It was scary. Scary enough that everybody at work (experienced earthquake veterans) said it was scary. Yet a lot of teachers (mainly the older men) didn't wake up at all.