Earthquake!

Isn't it interesting how timing is everything? I have spent 3 days researching the almost destroyed Cathedral in Pursical and the earthquake that caused it. In doing so I also found other information on earthquakes in Puriscal including the power, duration and dates. It made me think. What would I do if one hit here now. I looked around my house at the few collectables I found vulnerable if this happened. I decided I would grab those first and put them on the sofa then run outside. Then it happened! At 8:28 on November 12th a 7.0 that dropped to a 6.5 earthquake hit. I was sitting on my sofa watching TV. Suddenly it sounded like hundreds of meteorites were slamming into my roof all at the same time. My dogs froze in place and looked up at me then the whole house started shaking loudly! I felt a little dizzy like my brain had just sloshed, but I immediately got up, grabbed my collectables and put them on the sofa then went outside. By the time I got out there my neighbors across the street were standing in their doorway. The electricity went off just for a minute then back on thank goodness. All I could do was yell at my neighbors that it had scared me to death. Later my neighbor and landlord, Manuel, came over to check on me telling me not to go outside again. He said if the electrical lines fell I could be killed that way! I never thought of that. He told me to stand in the doorway instead.

The earthquake that hit Puriscal in 1990 and did so much destruction caused the country to develop new building codes. My house was built 3 years ago under these new guidelines. It is built to withstand up to a 9.5 earthquake. That still did not give me a lot of confidence having been my first earthquake. Luckily, even with the earthquake being that strong I did not have any damage. I had paintings on the walls hanging crooked and a couple of cabinet door swung open, but that was it.

Now for the interesting sign. I am just guessing it was a sign, but I will always be watching for it in the future. I was sweeping my walk around my house and hundreds of Cutter Ants were running single file down the side of my house headed North. I have seen these ants ever since I moved here, but never doing anything but their jobs of getting leaves and taking them to their homes. This was the morning of the earthquake. I have heard of animals heading for high ground before a tsunami, so why not ants acting unusually? Good enough for me!

Cutter Ant carrying his leaf.

The funny thing about this is the fact that I knew Costa Rica had earthquakes but, for whatever reason, it honestly never occurred to me that one would happen right under me. I have had tornados headed straight for me and then jumped to the other side of the highway. I guess I have a false sense of protection around me. I was the most shocked person in Costa Rica when that hit. Feels silly now, but it is true.

If anyone is interested in following seismic activity across the world I was given a fantastic site. It's a guy that has his station on Youtube. He only comes on live at certain times of the day unless it is an emergency, but there is always information on there. He warned of the earthquake in Iran the day before, and he warned of this one in Costa Rica starting last week. He is a scientist, and this is all he does. He is live at 10:00 PM or close to it, but I don't know the other times. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXFAyj7PViY&feature=youtu.be

My next blog will be about the Cathedral and the earthquake of 1990 in Puriscal.

Pura Vida!