What's the big deal?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080729/ts_nm/quake_losangeles_dc_8
I always find it interesting how people react to an earthquake. This morning a 5.4 quake "hit" L.A. and of course, people seem to want to talk about it. It's hardly surprising considering the distress that a little precipitation causes in L.A. that generates news reports like "Storm Watch" like the Apocalypse is coming.
I was in my class at UCLA in a large semi-subterranean auditorium. What was funny is that we were talking about anxiety disorder (it's Intro. to Psych.). Several people immediately got up and were going to start racing to the exits but the professor calmed everyone down and his lack of panic seemed to stop people before the reaction created chaos. I was just sitting there yawning. Certainly if the earthquake was more jolting I would have probably moved or hid under something but people trying to hide under that miniature swing-up desk attached to our seats was hilarious.
A girl screamed - really loud.
A projector and speakers that hang from the ceiling near me were swinging quite a bit and people sort of panicked, but understandably moved from their seats beneath them.
The professor asked if this was the first earthquake for some - about 10 hands went up. If it's your first quake, then I guess I understand some alarm, but I think the girl that screamed was not one of those people. Regardless, it was apparent that nothing was collapsing around us, and beyond a little swinging of appliances, there was no residual evidence. Supposedly there have been aftershocks but I haven't noticed any.
Now that I'm at work, I am feeling more panicked because a co-worker (a psychologist, mind you) is freaking out and relaying her experiences with earthquakes to another co-worker. Another is going on about why we don't have an earthquake response policy and why we didn't evacuate the building? I think it odd - unless you are in a high-rise building (and ours is 5 floors) - to instinctively want to evacuate. Why evacuate and have a building fall on you - if there is some instability. If the building I was in seemed unstable, then yes, I would run like the devil. But to run out of a building into the street where there are MORE buildings seems a little nuts.
How many of you have experienced earthquakes, and if so, what do you do and how do you feel?
I always find it interesting how people react to an earthquake. This morning a 5.4 quake "hit" L.A. and of course, people seem to want to talk about it. It's hardly surprising considering the distress that a little precipitation causes in L.A. that generates news reports like "Storm Watch" like the Apocalypse is coming.
I was in my class at UCLA in a large semi-subterranean auditorium. What was funny is that we were talking about anxiety disorder (it's Intro. to Psych.). Several people immediately got up and were going to start racing to the exits but the professor calmed everyone down and his lack of panic seemed to stop people before the reaction created chaos. I was just sitting there yawning. Certainly if the earthquake was more jolting I would have probably moved or hid under something but people trying to hide under that miniature swing-up desk attached to our seats was hilarious.
A girl screamed - really loud.
A projector and speakers that hang from the ceiling near me were swinging quite a bit and people sort of panicked, but understandably moved from their seats beneath them.
The professor asked if this was the first earthquake for some - about 10 hands went up. If it's your first quake, then I guess I understand some alarm, but I think the girl that screamed was not one of those people. Regardless, it was apparent that nothing was collapsing around us, and beyond a little swinging of appliances, there was no residual evidence. Supposedly there have been aftershocks but I haven't noticed any.
Now that I'm at work, I am feeling more panicked because a co-worker (a psychologist, mind you) is freaking out and relaying her experiences with earthquakes to another co-worker. Another is going on about why we don't have an earthquake response policy and why we didn't evacuate the building? I think it odd - unless you are in a high-rise building (and ours is 5 floors) - to instinctively want to evacuate. Why evacuate and have a building fall on you - if there is some instability. If the building I was in seemed unstable, then yes, I would run like the devil. But to run out of a building into the street where there are MORE buildings seems a little nuts.
How many of you have experienced earthquakes, and if so, what do you do and how do you feel?