No, really – they are!
I wasn’t aware that I actually liked them until the one we got today. It was a pretty good, hitting 5.7 and giving my building a nice shakeup. What’s that?
No, I’m not insane, but thanks for your concern. ^.^
The first quake I ever felt was the Nisqually Quake (2001), and that one was stronger than any I’ve felt in Japan. I was a lot closer to the epicenter of that one than I have been with any quakes here, so I felt that one a lot more.
It was also louder than any Japan quake I’ve felt.
Quake noise has become my measuring stick for how bad a quake is. If I can hear it (and by “it” I mean the actual sounds of the earth shaking as opposed to shifting buildings and whatnot), especially before I feel it, it’s gonna be a big one. Most of the quakes we’ve had here in Japan have been pretty quiet. Just a bit of rumbling and some associated building noise.
The Nisqually Quake sounded like a train was going right past my windows.
I think the reason I like quakes so much is because of how random, and how powerful, they are. You can only do so much to prepare for one, but you never really know what you’re in for. Or when you’re going to get one. Even once a quake starts you’ve no way of knowing how weak or strong it’s going to be. Okay, if you can hear it right away, you know it’s gonna be a good one. The shaking is a bit harder to judge. What may start off as a mild tremble can turn into a righteous shaking. Or it can come on full-force right from the start then taper off. And still other times it’s as though somebody’s got a “quake switch” they’re flicking on and off, causing the shaking to start and stop rather abruptly.
Then there are the aftershocks.
For people who don’t like quakes, these have gotta suck. Just when you think the quake’s passed, you get a reminder (or two, or three, or….) that it was just here. Not that you’d have forgotten that quickly, of course. Aftershocks are like nature’s version of somebody who doesn’t know when to stop tickling. You finally get them to let up and they’re all “okay, okay, I’m finished.”
But they’re not.
They’ve just got to get in a few more shots to let you know they can get you anytime they want.Hmm. Maybe that’s where quakes come from? Somebody (or something) out there is tickling the earth, making it shake and jump, twitching around hoping they’ll let up so it can catch its breath. And once he does let up, he nails the earth again before it’s had a chance to recover.
Man, that guy’s a dick. ^.^