Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On!

I had planned to FINALLY start updating this scree and let you know more about the surgery I underwent last August, but then something a little more important came up...

Yesterday at 4:27 pm, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake hit Humboldt County. Although not as large as the Loma Prieta quake that I experienced in '89, this was still a good sized shaker. It started rather innocuously, so I just sat there. Then there was a loud "boom" and the place started shaking back and forth with quite a bit of force. The power went out and I watched the rhody bushes out back shaking as if in a strong wind. I could hear things falling in the office (nothing broken though). I got to the nearest interior wall and waited for the shaking to stop. It seemed to shake for about 20 seconds. Afterwards, I went through a mental checklist of things (water, checking for gas leaks, powering up the battery radio, etc.). I waited to hear the sirens of a tsunami alert, but the radio said there was no threat.

I drove down to the coffee roaster to see if there was any damage there, but the flashlight I had was pretty dismal (note to self - get better flashlight for roastery). Again, checked for gas leaks and other than a few things that fell off the wall and no power, everything appeared fine. I went back today after power was restored and everything is okay.

Charlie is out of town on business, but we've talked a few times since the quake. It appears that Eureka came off worst in this. Lots of broken windows, a few buildings knocked off their foundations, chimneys toppled, etc. There are lots of pictures on the web and a couple of videos. My favorite is the PlazaCam looking towards Tavern Row. You can check it out here.
And here's a video from inside the Arcata Co-op.

I will write about my recovery from surgery soon. And this time, I mean it!