Well, so much for the stupid little entry I was going to write about possibly going to Santa Barbara on Friday: we've just had an EARTHQUAKE!!!

It was a 6.5 rock-n-roller centered near San Simeon, just about 40 miles north of here. Our building swayed back and forth - it felt and sounded a lot like riding on a train - pictures were shaken off-center, and some cabinet doors were slamming. It went on for a good 30 seconds, which may not sound like a long time, but it sure feels like it when your whole world is shaking and rattling and booming! I guess some places lost power, but although our lights flickered here at work, they never went out. Even our computers stayed on and didn't need to be rebooted or anything, and our phones continued to work throughout.

Reports are slowly trickling in from family and friends of my co-workers. I called my mom as soon as it was over, and she sounded shaken (no pun intended), but said everything was okay. My Cube-Mate's husband reported seeing the pavement of a parking lot ripple like a wave when it was happening. That would totally freak me out! Other people are reporting not having any power, and it's taken some people quite a while to get through to family members. I've only heard a couple of sirens go by, so I think that's a pretty good sign that there was much damage or many injuries here.

I was e-mailing with Jewel just before it happened, and quickly e-mailed her to tell her about it. She reported that they'd felt it down there in SoCal, too!

Phew! So much for being an average Monday!

This is only the second earthquake I've felt since moving to California in 1995, and this was definitly the worst of the two! Apparently we can expect some pretty nasty aftershocks over the next few days or so. Yeah. Merry Christmas!

For what it's worth,
Hez

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