We just had an earthquake! Matthew and I had just finished watching Duck Soup and were sitting on the couch talking when the window rattled very loudly and then we felt shaking and I said, "Oh! It's an earthquake!" and we both popped up. I was trying to put on my slippers and I said, "We're supposed to stand in a doorway," then I gave up on the slippers and Matthew and I held each other in the nearest doorway and hugged.

I think earthquakes are really fun (as long as no one gets hurt and no property is damaged) so I was surprised to notice Matthew's heart was racing. "Are you scared?" He nodded, and I tried to tell him how exciting I think earthquakes are.

Back on the couch (it was too small to warrant going outside) I immediately went to the Recent Earthquakes page. I went to the page where you can report an earthquake. The quake was not yet on the page so I had to fill out the "New Earthquake..." form. The site reported that based on my answers they would estimate the quake as a 3. I thought it had to be bigger than that.

The earthquake map showed an unknown quake southeast of here:

Next I clicked on the "Real-time Shaking Maps" link. Before my survey it had said nothing. Now it said:

I was reporting to Matthew play by play. One page said it was a 5. Another said 5.2. A real-time shake map displayed the quake's location:

Finally the quake was visible on the recent earthquakes map:

The shake map now showed "621" responses, one of which was mine. We tried to spot our zip code:

I marvelled at once at how many and how few poeople were turning to the web right now. If we had television, I might be inclined to turn it on, but here I have access to so much data. Matthew and I discuss digital versus analog seismographs. I load another map:

As I am reloading, some parts of the site report "Service Unavailable" and I wonder how many people are looking at the site along with me just now. I cannot get the "Real-time Seismogram Displays" to load, so I switch to the Berkeley Seismographic Network.

Here's how the quake showed up in Berkeley:

Here's how the quake showed up in Hollister:

The quake map now shows an after-shock that we didn't feel:

It turns out to have been very small:

The shake map now registers 1491 reports:

Then 2714 [click for the current map]:

An intensity map shows where the quake was most strongly felt:

Before we go to bed, the earthquake is already old news:

"I like that we hugged in the doorway... Is that our first earthquake together, honey?"

"I think so," he answered.

"So romantic!"