OK, so I was sitting here at my computer trying to do some rewrites. OK, so I was sitting here researching making a homemade in-car camera-mount. OK, so I was watching car-mounted video online. OK, so I was sitting here at my computer when my first real L.A. earthquake rolled through, shoving my chair around the office and nearly bonking my head with a falling lamp. Blaaaaaa!!!
Like any good geek, I logged on to the US Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program and found that I'd just experienced a 4.5 local magnitude shock from an epicenter about 25 miles away in Chatsworth.
Now, I lived through a much more violent 5.5 quake in Hiroshima, Japan back in 1989, that literally shook me out of bed and buckled the local roads. (OK, so it didn't help that I was still slightly drunk from the opening night party a few hours prior...) It was then that I swore never to move to a geographically unstable part of the world, so, of course I set up house in Los Angeles. Not that New York City was such a disaster-free zone, esp considering the flooded subways and Brooklyn Tornado this week...
I'm just saying, in an already not-my-favorite day, capping it off with an earthquake just before bed does not add to the favorability factor. Makes me glad I was paranoid about assembling an emergency preparedness kit. I know it's only the transplanted East Coasters who do it, much to the non-challance and slight dismay of native Angelenos, but I think it's money well-spent for a little peace of mind.
And now I'm off to try and get some shaky sleep.
