An Earthquake Shakes Your Thinking

In Creating Happiness, Recent Posts by Barbara Jacoby

Earthquake FeatureEarlier this week, we experienced a small earthquake here in southern California. Although it caused no major damage of any kind or any injuries, it still affected many people. After all, when you are sound asleep at 6:25 a.m. and all of a sudden your bed starts to shake, it is more than a little unnerving. As you abruptly wake up, you hear the sounds of the stress as your home is shaken and depending upon your training, you react in any of a ton of different ways. As soon as it stops, you turn on the TV to find out as much information as you can as soon as possible in order to get an idea about what may come next. You need the distraction because you don’t really want to think about what just happened but you definitely are shaken in more ways than one.

Suddenly your perspective on life has shifted. You realize that you never know what is going to happen and life as you know it can be changed in an instant. You find yourself sitting a bit closer to your loved ones and giving everyone an extra hug.

At my home, we quickly learned that we were not all that far from the epicenter. Gratefully, the quake was 5 miles deep so the impact was not as great as it would have been if it were closer to the surface and it did not last much longer than 5 seconds or so. We quickly learned that the likelihood that this was a foreshock to a bigger quake was only about a 5 percent chance but we knew that there would be many smaller aftershocks. And I actually felt a 2.4 aftershock Thursday evening.

The physical impact passed quickly but my mind started racing. Did I respond correctly in the moment? Was I adequately prepared if this was “the big one”? How did the rest of the family respond? Are there things that I need to do so that I can minimize the chance of injuries and loss of property if a larger quake hits? These are the questions that come immediately to mind in the minutes after an earthquake but then as things begin to settle, the reality of what has happened begins to settle in and the big question looms. What if this had been “the big one”?

When I arrived at work awhile later, you could see that the quake had affected my coworkers. Everyone was asking those around them what they felt and how they reacted. Everyone seemed to be moving rather aimlessly around and not able to focus on his or her work. Everyone was very subdued and looking almost vacant.

Suddenly your perspective on life has shifted. You realize that you never know what is going to happen and life as you know it can be changed in an instant. You find yourself sitting a bit closer to your loved ones and giving everyone an extra hug. You now talk to one another just a bit softer and without a judgmental tone in your voice. You look at those around you just a bit differently and find that what may have triggered your anger yesterday just isn’t that important today. And you hope beyond hope that this moment in time will last just a bit longer than it did the last time when something happened that shook up everyone around you.

But, alas, it didn’t happen – or maybe it did. As the week wore on, it seemed as though everyone was still wandering around, totally unfocused. Questions were asked and the answers that were given were completely off the mark. It made you feel confused and asking whether you were on a different planet than everyone else. Whether everyone continued to treat each other in a kinder way is hard to figure out when the interaction seems to have become nonexistent. So maybe, just maybe, this time we have changed in a positive way that will herald a whole new beginning for all of us. I sure hope so.

For information on Earthquake preparedness, visit The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.