Earthquake

I'm at Mom's house this weekend, after flying back from donating stem cells. Today around 4:30 a major earthquake hit. Andrea, Gabby, Haley, Mom and I were all downstairs, and we all jumped into doorways. I was crouching on the floor clinging to the door jamb so I didn't get thrown out of the doorway! It was so sharp and hard, we really thought the the roof might come down or the house might fall off its foundation. (Bear in mind that we're native Californians and have been through *lots* of earthquakes!) Finally it stopped and after the aftershock we were able to assess the damage. The lawer's bookcase in the living room with all the antique books had fallen down and been destroyed. Lots of paintings fell off the walls, and the fridge had come open and lots of condiments fallen out and smashed. The power was out and the gas was leaking so we had to run outside and turn it off at the meter (our neighbor helped).

Although the official magnitude was only 6.5, we were fewer than 30 miles from the epicenter. The general consensus has been that this one was far stronger feeling than any we're had locally in decades (including a 7.2 in 1992). Luckily everybody was ok, and while the house is a mess it doesn't look damaged. Just a block away another Victorian fell off its foundation, so we were pretty fortunate. The power came back on at around 8pm, so we have lights. PG&E came by to check that we'd properly turned off our gas, but they've got so many emergencies that it might be a few days before they can get the gas working. So no heat or stove for now, but at least we can see to clean up :)