Yeh,

Is the room moving or is it just me?

I used to try to estimate the Richter scale of earthquakes in Calif. I got pretty good at it. A 5.8 or 5.9 is easy to rate.

We Californians or ex-Californians take earthquakes in stride. I've watched cars in a parking lot wave like a field of tall grass. A friend watched a airport runway wave like gentle waves on the ocean.

One night, while cuddling with my wife after a time of passion, we felt an earthquake, about a 4.9 or so. We were listening to soft music on the radio. The announcer came on shortly after the tembler and asked, "Did the earth move for you too?"

So, for us, earthquakes can be the punctuation for our 'activities.'

Regarding climbing under a desk or table. That is not the recommended procedure. A strong table is not a good place by the most recent research. You want to be under or next to a strong desk (strong drawer pedestals on each side) or next to a solid object that will not tip over.

Tables will usually get flattened by a collapsing wall or building. The corner of a room away from glass is sometimes a good place to crouch. You want to be in an area that will become a pocket if there is a collapse.

Researcher have looked for these pockets in the aftermath of building collapses and found the table and door ways were not a good recommendation.

When the Cypress Structure (a concrete elevated double deck highway in Oakland) collapsed during the Loma Prieta earthquake on Oct 17, 89 (my daughter's 7th birthday Party) the cars that got sandwiched held up the top level enough to protect people who had stopped their cars and were crouched next to them. They expected hundreds of deaths in the collapsed Cypress Structure. Instead, they spent days digging out the many survivors. The stories of survival became the nightly news highlights.

Many of us with earthquake experience prefer them over hurricanes and tornadoes. The injury rate is much lower for earthquakes.

So, buck up east coasters. LOL Learn how to survive them and you will be fine.

My best to you all who got your first experience of the ground shaking under your feet.