My New Favorite Song, and an earthquake

I was jamming out to Amp Radio while driving the other day and I fell in love with my new favorite song and wanted to share it with you.

It took a bit of searching--I didn't know the name--but eventually I found it. I clicked play, wanting to vet the music video before putting up a link, and was just over 4 minutes into the song, the couch started shaking beneath me.

Actually, it was more of a rumble. You know, like one of those massage chairs they have in the mall.

The problem?

Well, the bumpy jitter didn't stop. A moment later, unnerved, I paused the song and listened. Intently. You know, the kind of intent when all your muscles tense up and you're absolutely still and silent, waiting.

Birds were shrieking outside, the house was groaning lightly, but I didn't hear any loud creaks or bangs. Should I move? I glanced up, would something fall and crush me?

Several seconds passed, as I sat, legs outstretched, computer on lap, gazing up at the cathedral ceiling and the an exposed wooden truss directly over my head. Should I move? I listened harder. Did it feel like the shaking was increasing or staying constant?

Constant. Definitely constant.

And then it stopped.

I immediately went to google, but nothing was listed.

So I alternately refreshed google and my 2nd favorite site: the USGS's (US Geological Survey) "Did you feel it?" page.

Since I've moved to So Cal, I've reported on about five or six earthquakes. It's fun to put in your stats, and then check what everyone else reported. It also kind of makes me feel like I'm doing my civic duty, helping some dedicated researcher huddled in a paper-ridden, linoleum tiled office with buzzing florescents overhead, while they puzzle out the next strategy or prediciton.

It turns out the earthquake was near LAX, and was a 4.7. That's the strongest I've felt so far. Of course, I'm over 30 miles away from LAX right now, but still, the 4.7 counts. Doesn't it?

No?

oh.

Well, I've felt the ground shift violently, laterally beneath me. Twice. Does that count?

Good.

Anyway, here's the link (sorry, no embedding allowed) to my current favorite song, Ne-Yo's "Part of the List".

-Bitter

Update: 5/18/09 @ 11:30 pm - An hour after the quake, seismologists revised the quake magnitude from a 5.0 to a 4.7.