Last night, around 8:15pm, the Calaveras fault line experienced a slip-shift tremor, presenting at 5.6 on the Richter scale.
Say what?
We had an earthquake last night.
The epicenter was in the Alum Rock area of San Jose. But the whole Bay Area felt it! It was weird to feel a quake of that magnitude, but I wasn't exactly surprised. It started out quite smallish and not too strong. But after two seconds, it got stronger and lasted some seconds longer. Now... five to six seconds might not seem like a big deal. But the Loma Prieta lasted only fifteen and killed 62 people, injured more than 3,700, and created around $6 billion in damage. How big was it? 6.9 on the Richter scale.
But to be fair, each decimal point on the Richter scale increases exponentially. So, last night's 5.6 is exactly that much weaker than a 5.7. So, a 5.6 is a far cry from a 6.9.... but it's not too far for people to start going nutty and buying bottled water by the bucketloads.
Me? I'm just fine sitting pretty in my two-story apartment, which could crumble like a wilting flower in fast-forward. :)