Earthquake. (Again.)

Just after four this morning, I was rather rudely awakened by an earthquake. It was moderate as they go - 4.2 on the Richter Scale - but still an experience I'd prefer not to have. That's especially true since it's our second quake in less than a month. We had a 4.5 one around midnight on October 10th. According to a seismologist I heard on the radio today, while two significant quakes so close together is somewhat unusual, it's not entirely unheard of either. And there didn't seem to be any talk of them being prequels to a major event. The CBC News site reports there are actually some 200 quakes annually in the Western Quebec Seismic Zone, which covers the regions of Montreal and Ottawa. How comforting.

The October one did feel worse to me. I happened to be awake because Dan had just come back from hockey. It felt as if someone was shaking the bed to try and wake you up. It seemed a lot longer too - about thirty seconds. Today's felt much shorter, but I might have been asleep for the first part of it. (Paisley, conversely, took more notice of this one, sitting up and looking around.) I woke up pretty groggy. My rational brain was telling me that yes, this is an earthquake. The sleepy part of me thought it was Hershey scratching - only a giant, Clifford the Big Red Dog sized Hershey thumping away on the floor. This time I noticed in particular the rattling of the light fixture over the bed ... and thinking how perhaps it isn't such a good idea to be sleeping right under it! Still, it didn't perturb me that much that I had trouble going back to sleep.

Of course I don't like earthquakes; I don't suppose anybody does - with the possible exception of seismologists. However, I'll write this blog entry and gradually forget about it. Earthquakes are one thing you can do absolutely nothing about. Even hurricanes are predicted these days; quakes, not so much yet. But there's no point spending life worrying all the time, particularly about things you have no control whatsoever over; I already do enough as it is. (And if I really did need any worries, I think a plane crash is probably far more likely than a huge earthquake, statistically speaking.)

I worry a bit though, because we don't have earthquake insurance. I did look into it a few years ago after a larger quake and even then it was well over $800 - and overall rates have gone up significantly since, so I suppose that figure would have too. (Living so close to the water doesn't help because we could be subject to flooding, although it's awfully difficult to imagine a tsunami rising from our placid little bay.) That's a lot of money for a slim chance. I do like peace of mind ... but I also like my bank account, and in this case the risk doesn't really offset the cost. Still, I fervently hope and pray that earthquakes will be fewer and farther between than ever in my future!