We had an earthquake last night. It happened in the middle of the night — I was sleeping when suddenly I heard the house creak, and some rustling sounds. Then our apartment started to gently sway, like a swing being pushed by the wind.
At first I thought: should I get under the desk in my office?
Then I thought: hey. This is actually kind of nice, as far as earthquakes go.
I know it’s a ridiculous thing to say, because a much stronger earthquake here in 1985 destroyed much of the city and caused thousands of casualties. I’m not being cavalier here and saying that earthquakes don’t matter. I’m aware of what nature is capable of.
But a Mexico City earthquake, up to this point in my life, has been much easier to handle than a Southern California earthquake. The latter starts out with a sharp rattle. It immediately wakes you up — or at least, it woke me up as a kid — and then, before you can even get out of bed, the shaking gets harder, faster. It’s like being a spider stuck in a jar, owned by a giant child. At any minute he’s going to toss you to the other side of the house.
Mexico City earthquakes, on the other hand, ripple and undulate. You’re not sure immediately if it’s you that’s moving or the house.
In fact, the first time I experienced an earthquake here, shortly after swine flu, I thought I had come down with a bout of dizziness. Took me a good five seconds to realize: wait. I don’t have dizziness-induced swine flu. Crap, this is an earthquake. Then I ran out the door, my heart pounding. (Note: not a good idea.)
Of course, the worst thing about any earthquake, gentle shakes or no, is that we really don’t know how bad it’s going to get. Will it be a 5.5? An 8.5? Will our apartment building be structurally sound enough to handle it? I’ve heard that after the 1985 quake, new apartment buildings were built with extra earthquake protection measures. But you really just never know.
In any case, I’d much rather experience that terror while swaying and undulating, rather than erratic rattling and shaking. Give me Patrick Swayze over Joan Crawford any day.
*Photo above is of damage from an unknown quake, not last night’s minor quake in Mexico. Swiped it from a website about Bible prophecies.
Your image source information made me LOL.
Interesting differences in earthquakes. I haven’t experienced one anywhere and would like to, (just a little one, mind you.)
Sra: I think you’re the only person I know who actually *wants* to be in an earthquake! 🙂 If you’re ever in California I’ll cross my fingers that you get a tiny one.
Interesting comparison. I have never felt even a slight earthquake tremor (knock on wood)!
Love the new blog design btw 🙂
Thanks Leah, glad you like it! I’m still futzing around with the CSS… wanna change some of the fonts. Poco a poco.
We were on a flight to Buenos Aires in late February. The plane had mechanical problems when we landed in Santiago to drop passengers off. Because they weren’t able to repair the plane, we were stuck in Santiago overnight – the very night that the big earthquake happened. It was terrifying. The quake itself was an 8.8. Finally after 6 days (and 120 aftershocks), the airline bussed us through the Andes to Mendoza, where we flew on a charter flight to BA.
It was an experience I hope never to have to repeat, although the trip through the Andes was amazing!
Wow Susan — what a crazy story. Glad that you guys made it out safe and were still able to have an enjoyable vacation.
oh my, glad you are all right…
sweetlife
How did you notice the earthquake?, it happens at 3 a.m. I guess.
I was sound asleep and did not wake up, however my dog started barking like crazy, and then today I found out about the quake.
I remember the ’85 quake, I did not feel it, but I saw it, cars shaking and people leaving their houses. It was truly horrifying.
What an experience, Leslie! We live on the west coast of Mexico and have had a few little shakes, but nothing like this, just enough to watch the ceiling lights sway gently.
I think Mexico City has undulations, as opposed to California’s sharp rattles, because of the bed of unstable marsh it sits on.
Stay safe.
Kathleen
Interesting theory! Never thought of the actual consistency of the land having anything to do with it.
The consistency of the land is a major factor in how damaging quakes in Mexico City can be. Anything built on the old lake bed wobbles like jelly. In ’85 the quake lasted for 4 minutes longer in parts of the city because of the soil. Ask people their memories of the quake…some will tell you how the roads were going up and down like a cracked whip. Others will tell you it just felt like a normal everyday quake. Kinda tells you where in the city they were at the time…
I remember the one just around the Swine Flu. It was just a ‘littlun’ but it was centred on Puebla so it felt quite a bit stronger. A 6.3 in 2007 was pretty powerful. It’s pretty amazing really. A 6.3 in Iran killed tens of thousands a few years back. In Mexico, it’s nothing major. There’s just so many of them, anything not built properly comes down real quick.
Something to ponder…there’s a 7.0+ about every ten years or so, give a couple of years. Last one was back in 2003. Tick tock, tick tock…!
Gary: Well, thanks for sufficiently scaring the crap out of me. 🙂 Hopefully I’m living in a well-made building when the big one hits.
My pleasure! We all live with crossed fingers here in DF… 🙂