Earthquakes are a daily occurrence in California and most of them are so low on the Richter Magnitude Scale that we don’t even feel them every time. I live next to a fairly busy street so I always assume the windows are shaking because of a passing car, and the floor is moving because of construction work.

My first ever earthquake

During a Friday evening at the pool in Palm Springs, while sun was setting and soft house-music played from loudspeakers, I felt my first ever earthquake. The earthquake was the strongest in 20 years measured in California and it lasted looong (40 seconds).

When the earthquake started, I sat down and said “now it kicked in”. I of course thought it was sunstroke that had kicked in. I felt dizzy, sick and everything seemed to be moving in waves around me. Even the ground felt like it was bending.

People by the pool started to look around, like trying to find who is moving their leg annoyingly making their seats shake. Then my hubby, who was leaning on a side-to-side moving pillar asked, “is this an earthquake?”. The friend group next to us started to clap their hands and chant “Earth-quake! Earth-quake! Earth-quake!”. It took everyone at the pool pretty long to realize what was going on. Usually earthquakes are quicker.

I just tried to remember everything I had read online about what to do if there’s an earthquake. I only wanted to run to an open space near the pool, and I did, that’s where I actually ended up staying legs strongly far apart until it was over – FYI: you’re not suppose to do that.

What are you suppose to do?

First of all, you should stay where you are unless it’s about to collapse. If the ground is shaking a lot, moving feels like an attempt to run home from a karaoke bar after 4AM. If you’re on vaccation in California and there’s an earthquake just try to remember these main points listed.

• If you are outside, stay outside – get out of the pool
• If you are inside, stay inside – go under a doorway, bed, or table if possible OR lean on the strongest wall
• Stay away from the windows or any other breaking or falling objects
• If the building is about to collapse or on fire, then go outside and find an open field
• Outside is not recommended because of all the power lines in the ground and above ground might break

We were lucky enough to be a few hundred kilometres away from the epicenter of the quake – there were minor damages made but no casulties. Everything happened very fast and I hope that I don’t need to participate in future ones. If you ever experience an earthquake just try to remain calm and keep your eyes open. Examine the situation. After the first earthquake there might be an aftershock so stay alert.