My first earthquake!

The Los Angeles area had a 4.4 earthquake this morning - St. Patrick's Day. It happened at 6:26am so it woke most people up, including me. Usually I wake up about that time, but as per my habit, I was in the middle of my snooze between alarms.

The first thing I noticed was the sound. It sounded like really loud, really close thunder. The kind that shakes your windows and possibly your room, depending on where you are. Another thought that went through my head was a really big loud truck driving past? I grew up on a farm, it happens... Once I was fully awake and realized that it had not stopped after a second, I realized what it was. (Mind you, all of those thoughts went through my head in a matter of micro-seconds.)

I try to pretend I'm not, but I was actually pretty scared. This was my first earthquake. I didn't know what the feeling of the room, of the ground, shaking would be. The sounds of the windows and cupboards rattling didn't help either. Boyfriend was still in bed (being lazy like me and not getting up with his alarm) and my first reaction was to grab onto him. We basically just laid there until the rumbling stopped. I'm not sure how long it was, I've heard reports of anywhere from 7-15 seconds. It was probably on the longer side for us because the epicenter, they discovered, was near Encino. The point given on maps is about 8.1 miles driving distance from our apartment, or roughly 5.7 miles directly to our apartment (I estimated based on the mile marker on the map, just like in geography classes.)

I've heard friends talk about earthquakes and how one in Hollywood isn't felt anywhere in the Valley and one friend said it just "feels like you're lightheaded. You don't realize it's the ground moving. You just feel funny." Bull. Although, reports say this is one of the larger quakes in recent history.

I'm also pretty sure I felt an aftershock. Reports say one happened at 7:23am and was a 2.7. I was running late as usual and I heard the windows rattle a little again, right around that time, but didn't feel much. I probably would've noticed since I was up and walking around. Kind of glad I was running late. I didn't want to be in my car, though I may not have noticed then.

Good news is, no reports of injury and no damage found. I did hear sirens wailing past when I finally got in the shower, about 6:45am. I think I read that pretty much all fire and rescue teams were dispatched to check for damage on power lines, water pipes, and bridges. I'm sure they have a whole training session on stuff like that.

 Good Morning! Happy St. Patrick's Day! Welcome to LA, here's an earthquake.