Whoa! We just had a 5.4 earthquake here in southern California. We live about 70 miles north of the epicenter of the quake but our house shook and swayed for a good 20 seconds or more! We're all OK. It was scary though. Normally they don't freak me out too badly but now that we have Cooper it took on an entirely different feel. Cooper was in his swing and I was standing at the sink about 12 feet away as I heard creaking noises coming from Cooper's direction and I looked up and the shaking and swaying sent chills through my body as I realized what was happening and ran to pick up my little guy.
Earthquakes almost always are followed by aftershock quakes - which can be bigger than the first quake. In our house we've always been hyper aware of the dangers of quakes since Bob went through the big Northridge quake in '94 (all the contents of his house ended up in a big pile in each room). We have emergency lighting, supplies, etc. throughout the house. We've had baby latches on our cabinets since before we were married to prevent the contents from falling out and injuring someone in the event of a quake.
Since bringing Cooper home we've been very cognisant of where we place his bassinet, swing and car seat carrier when he's in it to ensure he's never below any heavy objects (including wall decor) that could fall and hurt him. However, what we have not done which we will now do is to update our emergency kits to ensure there is formula and other supplies for Cooper. We're also going to secure a couple of dressers this afternoon - out here we secure large furniture to the wall to prevent them from tipping over during a quake - we have a couple pieces that we hadn't done that with and now we have a reminder to get it done asap.
Per experts at CalTech, this quake has produced 27 aftershocks (small ones) so far, and it was a "thrust" quake.
Wed.7/30 edited to add: as of this morning there's been over 90 aftershocks! Thankfully, they're little bitty ones and we haven't felt any of them.
4 comments:
Glad to hear you are okay. You were the first people I thought of when I read about the earthquake on the CNN ticker last night. This is probably the first of many earthquakes little Cooper will experience in his lifetime!
So glad all is well. Watching it on the news last night was unnerving. Truly one experience to record in Cooper's baby book.
Glad youre all ok. Sounds like you are good and prepared. I think I would completely freak out in an earthquake.
So funny. This was maybe my millionth earthquake, but it was my first with Mia, and it was also the first time I was scared in one. For the 30 seconds I was holding her, all I could think about was her and the one in my belly. And I kept her within close reach for the next twenty minutes or so in case the aftershocks were bigger. Crazy how being a mom changes how you think about everything!!
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