Weird Fishes

Yesterday we experienced a 5.4 earthquake, which originated in Chino Hills, about an hour and a half east of Pasadena. Emily and L were out for a walk, returning home from story-time at the neighborhood library. Emily wasn’t aware that the Quake happened. It was only after I called to find out if they were okay that she found out what took place.

My experience was a little more eventful. I was in class on the third floor of one of our classroom buildings. A student was giving a presentation when the building started to rumble and vibrate. In the moment when it paused I grabbed my coffee and followed the rest of the students in ducking under our desks. It’s amazing how much these newer buildings sway! As soon as it was over, we threw out computers and books in our bags and ran out of the room and down to ground level. Fortunately, there was no damage and no one hurt but we all were a little shaken up. Two lessons learned: first, the higher off the ground you are the more interesting the quake is, and second, don’t drink a lot of caffine before a quake, it adds to the shakiness.