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Showing posts from March, 2010

Living in Earthquake Country

People back home - or even Americans living outside California - often ask me if I'm not scared living in area with such frequent seismic activity. I can honestly admit that I am terrified of earthquakes - especially because I work in downtown LA on the 31st floor of a skyscraper. The icing on the cake is that there is a fault line that runs right underneath downtown LA. In late July of 2008, just before lunch time, the leaves of my potted plant on my desk started to move suspiciously. Next thing I knew, the ground under my chair was shaking. I know it was only seconds but it felt like forever. I sit nowhere near a window but looked through my coworker's office outside and thought I could see the ground. He told me stand in the doorway. I was determined not to cry - not to show weakness - but there came the tears. Soon after, the shaking stopped. The elevators were out of order for quite some time. So were the landline phones. And even cell phone service was unrealiable. Peop