Temblors - 3 and counting

It was a typical Tuesday evening. I was at the Banana Leaf, a Singaporean restaurant in Milipitas, California. I was savoring a spicy Pad Thai while my friend was wolfing down a "Red Curry". At around 8 PM on October 30 2007, I suddenly felt this strange thing in my head, the kind of thing you feel when you are too exhausted from working and feel dizzy. The last few days had been hectic and I guessed that it was catching up. But this was different. I felt like I had a tad too much to drink and this was confusing as it had been a while since I drank any alcohol. I looked around and saw people do their thing, nothing out of the ordinary.

Then came the strong rumbling noise and the strong shaking of the table and the kitchen. People were confused, bewildered and wore a puzzled look. They were still contemplating what was happening. My earlier experiences told me that this was a pretty strong earthquake. The shaking lasted for a good 15-20 seconds and during the last 5 seconds was when people realised and started to panic and head out. A few were still puzzled and unable to comprehend what was happening around them. I guess people do become unresponsive during such events.

I was about to head out when the shaking stopped. Phew...this was the strongest I ever endured. My brush with plate tectonics started sometime in the 90's. I do not remember when, but the first one was in Bangalore, India. I was in my bedroom when a 2-3 pointer occurred and even before I new it, things were back to normal. The second one was in Santa Clara, California sometime in August 2004. This was a 3-4 pointer and I was at work. Like I described earlier, I had this strange feeling in my head before the shaking actually started. I wonder why that happens and, surprisingly, a few seconds before the quake.

Seeing the trend, I can infer that all the earthquakes I experienced are getting progressively stronger, with the latest one being a 5.6 on the Richter scale and occurred just 5 miles from where I was. What does that say about my luck with quakes in the future? Anyone wanna be around me now ? ;-)

(FYI- The latest quake had the epicenter near Alum Rock which was 5 miles from where I was and 8-10 miles from my home. The center of the quake, on the east side near the intersection of the Hayward and Calaveras faults, northeast of San Jose, was not reassuring. The geological survey recently said Hayward endures a major quake about every 140 years. The last big one there was in 1868, or 139 years ago. Hmmmmm....)