Earthquake

Ever since the family who lives above me got back from vacation, there have been occasional thuds that shake the walls. The first time it happened, I panicked, thinking it was an earthquake. But since it was almost immediately followed by the sound of a scolding parent and a child crying, I stopped being worried (at least about earthquakes – I’m still wondering how large this child is to create that much noise).

Last night, although there was no thud, the bed shook. And I mean really shook, for several seconds. And it wasn’t followed by any scolding noises.

What’s interesting is that I can’t seem to find any mention of the event in any of the English news sources. Everyone at work nods and agrees it was an earthquake, but for them it’s also a non-event. I had to go to the USGS website to find out that it was a baby quake (4.5 magnitude). It felt stronger because it was centered a mere 50 miles from here. (They actually list the locations in latitude and longitude, but one of the “perks” of this job is that I know work’s location to within GPS accuracy – how nerdly is that?)

There was another earthquake Saturday that I didn’t notice (a 5.6 but centered about 200 miles away) – the news wires picked up on that one. They also mention that Tokyo is considered by many to be overdue for a major quake. And that a lot of little quakes is often a precursor for a large one. Joy.