I thought that when I left California that earthquakes would no longer be a concern. Guess again. Turns out that I'm now living very close to the juncture of 3 tectonic plates: Cocos, Caribbean and Nazca. It's the Cocos plate that is causing a bit of a ruckus lately. As in, just after 11 pm last night, I was pleasantly drifting off to sleep when the house started to rumble. I grappled with the mosquito net as the bed was shaking and landed bum first on the floor. The 2 dogs scooted into the bedroom with their tails between their legs. M, who was sitting at the dining table when the rumble started, now stood in our bedroom doorway braced against the jamb. I slid along the floor towards him with Pinta and Soozi trying to get their noses under my arms.
Our 2nd story is supported by 14 sets of steel columns and the reinforced cement block rooms of the 1st floor bedroom and laundry room. The 2nd floor was swaying. It was like sitting in a small boat in a short swell. The 6 sets of sliding glass doors and screens shuddered in their jambs. The roof was creaking and the glassware on the kitchen shelves tinkled. It seemed to last a very long time but probably was 5 seconds. I felt the undulating waves of vibration build to a crescendo and then roll past us into the night.
We stayed in the "shelter" of the bedroom door for a few minutes. Not sure what to do next. The lights went out, leaving us in pitch dark. Pinta was shaking, Soozi stayed close. We were just getting comfortable that the worst was past when the aftershocks started. It is now 18 hours later and we are still feeling aftershocks about every hour. M read in the Tico Times that the earthquake measured 6.7 with aftershocks ranging form 4.0 to 5.1 in the first hour. Fortunately, our cellphones were charged up We checked in with friends in the area and received messages that power was out all over. Everyone was fine and no reports of damage other than a few broken glasses. For all the swaying, we only found a couple of plastic spice bottles had vaulted off the shelf. A few pictures were askew.
By law, our house is designed to withstand a 6.0 earthquake. This is the 3rd 6.0+ earthquake in the last 10 months. I'm feeling confident that if these quakes stay in the low 6.0 range that we will be fine. I'm hoping that the Cocos plate isn't planning any really big moves any time soon.
Update June 30
We are still experiencing aftershocks. I'm sitting on the upstairs deck and enjoying breakfast. The house just shuttered again! The dogs popped up on their feet and trotted to the door. Looking at the Seismic activity site from the University of Costa Rica, there are a dozen recorded earthquakes in the last 24 hours.
The blue dot on this map is where our home is located. The orange dots signify an earthquake measuring between 3.6 and 4.8. The green dots are quakes below 3.5. It's no wonder that the earth is moving under our feet.
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