QUAKE! and the power of the internet

Yesterday I experienced my first Southern California earthquake. It happened at about 1030AM and the kids were both sleeping on the floor in our living room.  It was like something had exploded. The house shook for about 5 seconds.  I was like, wait, was that an earthquake?  Should I grab the kids and stand in a doorway?  So of course I jumped on Twitter and searched for earthquake. Sure enough, there were other people trying to find out what just happened.  Then I posted on facebook. Within a few minutes a geologist friend of mine on the East Coast sent me a link to this:

So it was a 3.9 quake. Small for California but relatively powerful for this area.  Usually, I am told, quakes this far south are less intense but last longer.  I just did a little more reading and apparently this quake originated off of a newly discovered fault called the San Joaquin Hills Thrust.  It is not visible at the surface like the San Andreas Fault but evidence of ancient sea life in the hills of this area led researchers to hypothesize that this area was underwater and the fault caused the hilly terrain of this area.  Fascinating!

Now I feel like I should get my Earthquake Preparedness Kit together just in case we get "The Big One."  Better start watching Doomsday Preppers. HAHA.