Yesterday my sister-in-law announced she had just received a call from her husband's oldest daughter to say "we're fine. It was scary but we're all safe". I racked my brain trying to recall if there'd been previous mention of health scare or travel to a foreign country. Drawing a blank left me saying "huh?"
"The earthquake," my sister-in-law prompted. "A short while ago Virginia had a 5.8 quake."
Again my response was "huh. 5.8's are nothing. Artillery practice at Ft. Bragg can rattle a house better than a 5.8" Her stepdaughter grew up in Oregon therefore she should know all about earthquakes. So why was she all weirded out over a little one?
Today I added a new entry to my list of major differences between the West and East Coasts - earthquakes*. Allow me to say very tongue-in-cheek, "gee, I found yet another thing they don't have out here." No baby loafs of cheese and no dry-cured bacon; no flavor choices in SoBe or CoffeeMate, and now no earthquakes. I'm in half a mind to call the USGS and complain. The other half my brain is toying with the notion of putting in a request. Certainly the USGS can't think me any bigger a kook than the local grocery store managers.
*According to the USGS, Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California get at least one earthquake a year magnitude 5.8 or better. Since 1900 the East Coast has experienced two (2) including yesterday's quake.
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