Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Earthquake!!! The trail was shaking!

We just had an earthquake here, 11:42 a.m. Here is a link to CalTech that I though was interesting. http://www.seismolab.caltech.edu/earthquakes.html Take a look at the shake movie to see just how fast the earthquake moved and how far it could be felt.

Right now our local TV stations are saying it was a 5.8. That is big time stuff. It is not a 7 earthquake but it is more than enough for you to sit up and take notice. My parents live in Chino Hills, the epicenter of the earthquake. As of now, 1:37 p.m. I have not personally talked to them but I have had word they are fine. I couldn't get a hold of my uncle who lives in WA State so I called Tod's father, who also lives in WA State. He called my parents and spoke to my father. According to my father, it was really shaking there. He said it felt like the epicenter was directly under their house. My nephews from Provo, UT are visiting at my parents house right now and they are doing fine also. Thanks Bryon for doing that. I appreciate it.

In our house, I felt the earth start to shake. I froze a second to see if it really was what I though it was. Oddly enough, one of my first thoughts was, "Wow, it has been a while since we have had one of these." Then I realized what I was thinking...THIS IS AN EARTHQUAKE, AND I HAVE KIDS IN THE BATH TUB. GET UP MICHELLE AND GO GET THEM OUT OF THE BATHTUB. I was sitting on the couch at the time and trying to get the Disney Channel Games turned off so that I could go wash two kids. I quickly got up, told the kids we were having an earthquake and they needed to get out of the bathtub. Spencer instantly started freaking out. He started panic crying...you know the kind that 5 year olds do when their senses get overloaded and the only thing they can do is to cry hysterically. It took me a few seconds to stop the freaking out. I promised him that he would be fine because I was there with him. I quickly got the kids out of the tub and dressed them even quicker. Pants, shoes and socks were a must, just incase an aftershock came. If glass broke, I wanted them to be safe and also have their legs covered. Again Spencer freaked out. Madelyn started to freak out in the Madelyn way which was to try to relate to the situation and make sense of the even that way. She wanted to tell me some kind of story about this or that having to do with water shaking and splashing. I looked at her squarely and spoke in a serious voice. Madelyn I need you to get dressed now!! She got what I was saying and dressed very quickly. At this point you could still feel the house rolling here and there. Once they were properly dressed, we all sat out on the couch and watched the news. When I found out the epicenter was in Chino Hills, I tried to call my parents with no success. Inbetween trying to contact them, I was also trying to contact Tod and my grandparents in Santa Ana. I got through to them first. They were fine but had been trying to contact my parents and my aunt in Chino Hills as well and were not successful as well we decided I would continue to try and let my grandparents know when I heard something. It took a while but I finally got through to Tod. He was the one that suggested calling his dad in WA state. Somehow it is easier for me to reach WA state than it was to reach Chino Hills. Bryon got through. I was so glad to hear that someone had spoken with my parents. When I called my grandparents back to tell them, the told me that my uncle had also been incontact with my parents and my aunt who live in Chino Hills. He also confirmed that they were all fine.

So that is the update as of 1:58 p.m.

1 comment:

Nora's world said...

Hey, Happy Bday. I would be more personal, but I can't find your email address anywhere, not even Tod's, which I thought we had,so you get a generic blog Happy Bday comment.

Holly