Sondra,
     The last earthquake I was in, I was at the hospital and was starting to 
get on the elevator.  Since it was just a couple of years after my head 
injury, when the door opened and the elevator was moving inside, I thought 
sure that the vertigo had returned.  Luck for me that it finally registered 
in my mind EARTHQUAKE !!  and I quickly threw my foot into reverse, and got 
up against the elevator wall.  I thought about going down the fire excape, 
but had second thoughts since it was an open stairwell.  Instead, I stood 
there and looked over to the nursery where the nurse was standing in the 
doorway, while baby basinets were rolling all over the nursery.  Soon the 
shaking stopped, and I insisted on going home to see the damages.  When I got 
home the only portion of the hosue that was hit was the kitchen.  It looked 
liek a couple of kids got on either side of the kitchen and threw stuff at 
the other one.  The frige was open with the eggs, jelly pickles etc at the 
other side of the kitchen, and sme of the contents splattered on the 
cupboards.  The frige was the stoping point for jars of peanut butter, jelly, 
glass containters of oil, splattered everywhere.  I tried to clean it up with 
my plastic dustpan, but that didn't work at all.  So I went to the grocery 
store and got a heavy duty metal dustpan, and proceded to scoop up the 
remains.  It was very unnerving to say the least.  I only visualized what it 
may have been like had the whole house been hit.  I do believe that that was 
the beginning of thinking it was time for me to move.  It was the first 
earthquake that really effected anything in my area.  Now I live in an area 
where the largest earthquake has hit in the 1850's.  The diary that my Aunt 
left tells about the earth tremor that caused cups to fall from the cupboard, 
and oil lamps that fell to the floor started fires.  If I never experience 
another earthquake it will be far too soon.
   Hopefully by now you are gettting some of the springtime weather.  It has 
been cold here  and in the 50's and 60's during the 
day.  I did see that back east had snow...hope it didn't get to your house.
                                    Patti
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