4.1 south of San Jose

I'm surprised we felt it as much as we did here on Parnassus Heights. I felt the first tremors and called out to coworkers, "Is this a quake or is the floor just rumbling?"

"I don't feel anything."
(Rumbling grows, items sway)
"Okay, that I feel...[pause, assessment]...and I'm headed to a doorway...."

I love how Californians pause when a quake starts to internally assess how worried they should actually get. Of course, being me, I have the USGS Northern California quake map linked on my homepage, so I click there first. I hope my tourist friends got to feel it. Very SF thing to do while they're here.

rate that quake

Via my Facebook feed, friends were having betting pools regarding the quake rating before it got posted to the USGS site. I love San Franciscans who are that jaded. I think quakes are cool, and do that sort of sideways glance to see how long the shaking lasts before determining if I need to get up and do something about it. Other I know, who shall remain unnamed, get all Chicken Little with every little quake. (Which I suppose is ironic as it is the earth falling, not the sky.)

Ramirez reported that the ratings in his pool ranged from a high of 5.1 to a low of "that was just a fat guy walking by."

Shilpa commented that when you've experienced a BIG quake, all these little tremors are nothing. We both find earthquakes interesting. "Shilpa, "It's interesting, tectonic plates shifting and all of that." I am more of the mind, "It's interesting—the earth moved. It was like, I had it right there, and now it's moved!"

Skot Land had the best comment for all of the Nervous Nellies on Facebook: "Skot Land is laughing at all of you making such a big deal out of a 3.5 earthquake. As a native Californian, let me put it to you this way: a 3.5 is the equivalent of getting a hand shake when you were expecting to get laid."

three point five

but almost below my feet. That was a noticeable shove. Epicenter was just off shore, about 40 blocks and a hundred yards west of here.

Is that Carol Kane singing?

'cause I feel the earth move under my feet.

limp but long

That was an interesting quake. It wasn't jarring like usual. It felt more like my apartment became a rocking chair, or a porch swing. What was more interesting was how long it lasted. Generally earthquakes are relatively quick. This one felt like it went on for a while. So much so I had time to ponder: is this getting weaker or stronger? Do I need to put on shoes? Get in the doorway? Run like hell?

What I did though was nothing and waited until the gentle rocking chair came to rest. Let's see that that was.

...

Okay, it's not on the USGS site yet. But now there are sirens wailing in the neighborhood. More later.