Big enough to feel, barely October 2, 2008
There was an earthquake last night, in the wee hours. It was small enough, from here, that I know I wouldn’t have felt it one little bit, if I hadn’t been awake already. It was just a 4.1, and it was centered up near Yucaipa, near Big Bear. I always find it interesting to look at the map, to see where people were who felt it, and how strong they thought it was. 
The relative strength people choose when they fill out the “Did you feel it” form can is interesting, and purely suggestive. A friend I used to work with thought a horrible quake was happening, and she’d hide under her desk, when one of the guys in the group would shake her cubical walls. She’d sometimes get nervous when big trucks went by outside, or when a heavy person strode by on our suspended floor. For her, a 4.1 quake, even from a distance, is a horrible thing. Whereas, having been in San Francisco for the one in 1989, when it didn’t get any stronger I didn’t think much of it. We had aftershocks that were a lot bigger than that.
Sadly, it’s looking like this is all I’m going to have for you today. Have a busy day planned, and prep work that still needs to be done for it, so I’d better get cracking.
Jocelyn October 2
I’m glad it wasn’t a big one! And yes, the subjective nature of the sense of how big an earthquake is tends to be very interesting in and of itself. Good luck getting through your to-do list…
~Kristie October 13
A-HA! That explains it. When we arrived home, I found huge cracks in our concrete and some places are even raised higher than others. I wondered if there was an earthquake. I find it interesting though that this was so small and yet did so much damage here. hmmm…