(Update, Monday 9th March: I seem to have forgotten to actually publish this post. Oops.)
Just before 9pm tonight Melbourne experienced an earthquake measuring 4.6 on the Richter Scale. There was no serious damage reported.
Mrs Impala and I were home when the entire house wobbled -- it was a fascinating and exciting experience to have a solid brick house built on a concrete slab wobble like jelly on a plate for two or three seconds. I'm glad it was only a minor earthquake, almost one hundred kilometres away from my house, and apparently 8km deep under ground. It certainly puts you in awe at the power of moving tectonic plates -- and Australia is an ancient, quiet continent, far from active. I can't imagine the forces involved in the Ring of Fire.
My cat came into the house just moments before, and sat calmly in the middle of the living room during the quake. My chickens slept through the whole thing, and the next door neighbours' hell-hounds were quiet. My mum's dog and cat were also surprised by it. Talk about mysterious animal senses...
Friday, March 06, 2009
Did the earth move for you too?
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I was near an earthquake epicenter a few years back, a couple of days before the quake, and I felt a pervading sense of inchoate dread during that part of the day. Normally, inchoate dread is not part of my daily menu.
2 days later, earthquake happened and my friend's laptop quivered right off the desk and onto the floor. But by then I was 300 miles away and only heard about it that night.
For every person or animal that mysteriously senses coming doom, there are 1000 who are caught completely by surprise. My current theory is that being capable of being surprised is a benefit to the critter. I suppose if they had lots of warning about forest fires, earthquakes, and the return of gene-engineered sabre-tooths, they'd never get any sleep. Nor would we.
Evadne Cake
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