I Feel The Earth Move

My first earthquake occurred while I was on the checkout line at a supermarket in San José, Costa Rica. I didn't understand what was happening at first. Why were the shelves undulating and pitching forth their contents? Why had the cashier fled the store? When I realized it was an earthquake, I thought, I'm going to check out of my life waiting to pay for milk. How mundane.

It ended well. I paid for my groceries and walked out to the parking lot. When I started my car, Carol King was blaring from the radio "I feel the earth move under my feet, I feel the sky tumbling down." Welcome to the violent world of plate tectonics.

Earthshaking became a way of life. It would randomly occur while I was driving, sleeping, stirring soup. Drinking hot coffee during a temblor was especially tricky. Once, the entire country was jolted from bed at 4:00 am. A 6.2 quake had struck, and there was a whole lot of shaking going on.

On Thursday, a powerful earthquake hit the Central Valley of Costa Rica, leaving death and destruction in its wake. I saw a report on CNN, and tried to find more information on the Internet. Most of the reports were sketchy, so I went to the site of the country's major newspaper, La Nación , where I was able to find more details. I have friends who live in a little town that was especially hard hit. I called Karen's cell phone, connected briefly but the call ended after several seconds. I thought I heard her voice. I called back and was put straight into voicemail, where I left a message. Karen called back an hour later. She was in Boston, but she'd spoken to her husband in Costa Rica and he was okay.

When I moved from Costa Rica, it took some time before I stopped flinching every time the boiler fired up, or a heavy truck rumbled by. The slightest shaking still sends me into alert mode. I check for exits and am ready to flee if necessary. Earthquakes are rare here in Rhode Island. Maybe we're due for one.