EARTHQUAKE! Where were you?

I’m linking up again today with Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop!  The question that spoke to me this week was

5) Earthquake!  Where were you when it happened?

Many people may not realize that Seattle is part of the Ring of Fire, the tectonic play ring in the Pacific Ocean, and we get quite a few earthquakes!  Without giving it much thought, I can remember 7  memories of different earthquakes I have been apart of.  The most recent one being just a couple of months ago!  I’m sure there have been more, they just didn’t leave lasting impressions or memories!

San Francisco ~ 1988  I was three years old when the big San Francisco earthquake hit.  I remember being on my Aunt’s bed when the room started shaking.  That’s about all I remember, I was only three after all!  Amazingly enough, I can still picture it!  

Grandma’s House ~ 1992? For this earthquake, I don’t remember exactly when it was, but I know I was at my Grandma’s house.  My Grandma lived on the 4th floor of a 6 story condo ON the water (literally the condo was built IN the water).  I remember looking out the windows and watching as it appeared the condo was swaying back and forth.  Very creepy.  I didn’t sleep much that night, I was to afraid that at any moment another earthquake was going to happen!  It really scared me!

May 2, 1996 I remember my parents were watching the Mariners game at the time.  The memory I have is Ken Griffey, Jr. coming out of the dugout and yelling and gesturing to the crowd telling them to GET OUT.  I just now googled this and was able to come up with the story that went along with it, along with a date…pretty cool technology is!

What was I doing at the time?  I was working on my Science Fair poster.  I remember looking out in our backyard at our deck and watching it “roll”.  This earthquake a magnitude 5.3 and was different because instead of shaking, it was a roller and you could see the earthquake! 

Nisqually Earthquake ~ February 28, 2001 This was the biggest earthquake that I remember, and most memorable.  I was a Sophomore in High School when it occurred at 10:54am.  I was at school when the earthquake hit, I had just sat down at the lunch table when it started.  My first thought was someone at the other end of the table was shaking their leg under the table.  But it quickly became obvious it was an earthquake when the lights started shaking.  This was a LONG earthquake, it lasted 45 seconds of non-stop shaking.  It also was a BIG one, with a 6.8 magnitude.

After the shaking stopped, the fire alarm went off (not sure if it was pulled by a staff member, or somehow it knew to go off??) and we went outside.  The staff did a quick check of the school.  Everyone was okay, and accounted for so we went back inside.  By that time lunch was long over and I moved onto class.  We had televisions in every classroom and I think we spent the remainder of the day watching the news.

About an hour after we came inside, we were informed that we needed to evacuate the building again.  The Fire Department, City and School District needed to come and check the building.  So we went back outside for another couple of hours.  Please remember this is the middle of winter in wet Seattle!  We finally were able to come back inside, but I don’t remember doing much school work!  More news watching and talking about the quake!

When I finally got home, my dad was there.  His work had closed do to power outage.  He had been less then a mile from my school and he didn’t come get me!  How rude!!  He said he figured we (my sisters & I) were all fine, and he enjoyed the quiet!  Hmmmm….not very nice!

January 30, 2009  This one was an early morning earthquake, it hit at 5:25am.  I’m normally a very hard sleeper, but woke up for this even though it was a really small quake (only 4.5 magnitude).  That night I had spent the night at Jaime’s and was sleeping on their couch when it happened.  Brandi woke up too, so we spent the next hour watching the news!  I blogged about that quake HERE.

April 4, 2010  This quake was REALLY small only a magnitude 2.3.  The only reason I probably felt it was right before the shaking started there was a big bang.  Jaime & I were playing WII at the time (11:37pm) and had just asked each other what was that? when the earth started shaking.  It was small, but I still blogged about it HERE.

May 25, 2010  The most recent quake was just a couple months ago, early in the morning (5:21am).  For some reason I was awake when the earthquake started.  I don’t know why, but I had just woke up.  I was laying in bed when it started.  Again it was small, with a magnitude 3.4.  Not many people felt it, because of the time.

This one was also different because it wasn’t very deep, making the shake stronger then it normally would be (I think, or maybe I’m backwards, I’m not an earthquake expert!).  The epicenter was just about 2 miles from my house, which is why I probably felt it (that and I was awake!).

Now What?  Seattle is due for a LARGE earthquake, a 9.1 or higher magnitude.  They said it would happen before Y2K, that didn’t happen.  We got close with the Nisqually Earthquake, but they still are projecting we’re due for a big earthquake in the next….50 years….could they be anymore vague?!!  

A lot of people are “scared” of the idea of earthquakes because they just happen.  They are a natural phenomenon that you really cannot prepare yourself for like you can for a tornado or hurricanes, where you know there’s a chance they are coming.  I however, prefer earthquakes…I’d rather them just happen, then have to worry and have anxiety over the pending arrival of one!

Happy Thursday!!