EArtHquAkE!

I had all these tidbits percolating in my head and brewing into a series of good blog posts, but they'll just have to wait while I explain that:

1) Yes, there was an earthquake near Jakarta today. 7.0 magnitude if you're curious.
2) Yes, I felt it.
3) Yes, I'm ok.

I was in the computer lab on the fourth floor with my last class of a busy day, when suddenly I had a weird feeling of vertigo. It took me a couple of seconds to realize that the feeling of unsteadiness was external and not internal.

Now, really I should have been more alarmed, but this being a Midwestern girl's first real earthquake (my mother tells me I slept through a modest one in Indiana at the age of 18 months), I was more curious. I did not climb under my desk, and what's more I didn't even give my students instructions to do so. I joined them at the window to watch the trees down below slightly swaying as though there were a breeze for the duration (15? 30? seconds)

The aftermath was actually more unpleasant than the earthquake. Students flooded the halls, and we didn't know whether to evacuate. The fire alarm (which unlocks the emergency exits) was slow to go off, the students don't take evacuation very seriously, and I ended up with a more grumpy and rushed end to my day than I would have liked.

But still: an earthquake!

I was wondering what effects my apartment had felt, and on the way home I was imagining broken glass on the floor, or the books on my unsteady shelf upset, but there was nothing. Not even the toiletries around my sink had been overturned. So you'll just have to take my word for it.