Earthquake

We had an earthquake in Melbourne yesterday, and since then I’ve had a lot of people asking whether I was okay, so I thought I’d put something on here.

I’m fine thanks, and in the city, while there’s a small amount of damage to some of the older buildings, there’s no major damage and I don’t think anyone was hurt. We were very lucky. We hardly ever get earthquakes, and though at  5.9 it was the biggest we’ve had here since records began, it’s nothing to what some places have endured. 

So here’s how I experienced it. I was making breakfast when there was a loud bang and the whole house shook. My first thought was that a construction truck had crashed into the house, but then, as things fell off shelves and it continued to shake I realized it was an earthquake. I think it’s the first one I’ve experienced that I’ve been aware of — that’s how infrequent they are here.

The trembling of the house and things rattling on shelves  continued for a short while afterward — maybe a minute or two — I wasn’t timing it. One weird thing was that the surface of a long (non-glass) mirror I have kept vibrating for several minutes, which told me that aftershocks must still be happening, even though I couldn’t feel them.

My dog however didn’t turn a hair — she’d had her morning meaty bone and was happily snoozing on the end of the bed, so I guess the mattress deadened the shaking. 

So though it was the strongest one we’ve had, for me, it didn’t feel bad and I was more curious than worried. I might have been more worried if I lived in an apartment high up, but my little house is old and sturdy and on the ground, and I didn’t feel endangered at all — for me the dominant feeling was fascination — “so this is an earthquake, eh?” As I said, we were very lucky.

So thank you all for the good wishes and concerned enquiries — I really appreciate it.  And now, since we’ve had pestilence and earthquakes, I’m on the lookout for clouds of locusts. :)