184. Shaking up the routine with an earthquake
Waking up at 5 AM has somehow become my thing. It started with jetlag, but now it’s more of a habit, and I’m surprisingly okay with it. There’s something quietly fun about being awake before the rest of the world stirs. The darkness feels like mine, as if I’ve caught time in a rare moment- when it’s not running away from me.
This morning, I stayed in bed a little longer waiting for the sun to rise, listening to a YouTuber break down Niko Bellic from GTA IV. I wasn’t expecting a morally-grey protagonist to resonate so deeply at dawn. Not sure why there’s something so compelling about watching this guy navigate a world of crime with a strange sense of honor. Even in chaos, there’s space for complexity. I really got into the lore of GTA all of a sudden this morning. I like listening to random YouTube video essays like this when it pops into my suggestions.
By 6:45 AM, I was out for a run. Although, calling it a “run” is generous. I sprinted until my legs gave out, then walked the rest of the way, blinking through tears I wasn’t entirely sure how to explain. From sadness? From stress? Maybe it’s from the endorphins? Or one of those emotional release moments your body insists on having in public. Either way, I just kept going and kept on walking.
I headed to the library, intent on getting some work done. That’s when the ground started shaking. At first, I thought it was me- a mix of tiredness from waking up at literal dawn and residual emotional weirdness from my morning run… then I noticed the ceiling fixtures swaying, and it hit me: oh, this is an earthquake lol.
I stayed put for a while, watching the lights sway like they were deciding whether to stay attached or swing off the ceiling. My brain was doing that weird thing where it tries to catalog the safest spots in the room- is under the table okay? Near the wall? Outside? But then I remembered I had no clue how quake-proof this building was and decided to just sit tight, half-reading my computer, half-bracing for the next tremor, if it so happens to occur so suddenly.
It was a 6.6 magnitude near Eureka around 10:44 AM, later upgraded to a 7.0 with a brief tsunami warning that was canceled almost as quickly as it was issued. I was checking the live cams stationed around the bay, just to look at the waves. For about ten minutes, the library felt a little still. Then everyone just… went back to typing and reading. I guess we’ve all learned to roll with instability, geological or otherwise.
I had a couple of concerned messages as this was all occurring. My friends and family are all so cute. They care a lot. I got a message from N about him cracking a joke, basically saying like "at least you weren't butt naked on the toilet when the sirens went off." he then proceeded to leave me a 50-second voice message about how there was an earthquake near him and he got a notification on his phone. He said he was naked on the toilet because he was about to go shower, but heard the alarms right away. He ran into the living room. He was so worried that he was going to get trapped in the bathroom and didn't want to be found dead on the toilet if something were to break through the ceiling.
I'm actually pretty used to earthquakes happening. Whether earthquakes are truly dangerous depends on where you are, how prepared you are, and the infrastructure around you. In places with robust building codes, like Japan or California, many earthquakes are more of a “whoa, that was weird!!” experience than a catastrophic disaster. But in areas with poor construction standards or dense populations near active faults, even a moderate quake can cause widespread damage and loss of life.
So basically, it’s not just the magnitude that matters but the depth, location, type of fault, and whether it triggers secondary hazards like tsunamis, landslides, or liquefaction. While the ground shaking itself might not be deadly (most people survive the quake itself), what collapses or shifts as a result often is the most dangerous and scary. So the question isn’t if earthquakes are dangerous- it’s how dangerous they are depending on context.
OWEB texted me in the late afternoon with two very specific requests: help pick out hair dye at Sally’s Beauty Supply and hang out for an hour or so. I got all my tasks done for the day and I was just browsing through Netflix, so I said yes. He’s decided on highlights on his hair, and tomorrow, I’ll apparently be the one applying them. (should I youtube video this?.. yea probably.)
His friend, A, showed up to the house. It looks like I am going to make a new friend today. She was here to watch one of OWEB’s roommates present his biology presentation, and now we’re all sitting under blankets, acting as we’re academic spectators. I am just a layperson to this presentation since I am not very familiar with molecular motors and protein synthesis. It's nice that I learned something new today.
I’m wrapped up in a quilt, listening to our friend talk about eukaryotic initiation.
I gave decorating suggestions to the boys and helped insulate my friend's door
We ended the day getting burritos for a quick bite at nighttime. A horse carriage ride for families galloped next to us while we were on the road.
~ didn't even feel the earthquake much, just shook my ass a lil,
<3 K