.... all shook up! (but, not by Elvis)...

... by an earthquake that is. Tuesday night (Oct. 30th) our family was just about to gather at the dining room table to carve pumpkins. Caitlin and I were downstairs. I was making a quick phone call, Caitlin was preparing the table. Scotty and Jared were upstairs directly above us getting ready to come downstairs.

I first heard this load noise and in a matter of maybe 4 seconds all of these thoughts raced through my head: Who fell? What are they doing upstairs, wrestling? No, it's too loud. Just as I was about to call up and ask what happened I noticed the entire house swaying back and forth, everything shook. Realizing what it was I grabbed Caitlin and ran for a doorway. Scotty had grabbed Jared to do the same. But, it was over before we had much time to panic. The phone rang with ward members making sure we were all okay. The "damage" was minimal, a painting was knocked off the wall and several things fell off shelves.

Our first earthquake. (Hopefully our last!) It was 5.6 and the epicenter was approximately 10 miles from our home. I find it very strange that I heard it first, before seeing or feeling it. I now realize that it was probably all the furniture upstairs lifting slightly and falling back down all at the same time.

Within minutes afterwards we sat down to carve pumpkins and watch the local news. I've been warned though. It occured to me that I have this giant water barrel in the garage for water storage... EMPTY. In addition to the counsel given at church about preparing ourselves, the local government of this area encourages all residents to have at least 3 days of food, water, medications, etc... for just this type of emergency. I guess I have some work to do, in making sure we have what we need in an emergency. In a big way I feel like one of the 5 foolish virgins in the Bible. Scotty and I need to get prepared just in case there is another one. Apparently the fault line that shifted intersects with the most dangerous fault lines of the Bay Area. The recent earthquake could cause some shifting in one of the other two fault lines that are next to it.