That was awesome! Seriously, it was absolutely the coolest thing. Not really as intense as I would have expected a 5.6 quake to be, though. Still, my business partner and I were impressed and excited.

Sorry for the breathless report, folks, but it was my first and I have been unluckily missing earthquakes for years: Seattle's quake of 2001, a spate of microquakes in Spokane later... so I am thrilled to finally get one.

We're in San Jose BTW.

In my first and only Bay Area earthquake (a smaller one than the one you just had) I had much the same reaction. It was just large enough for me to know it was a quake, and I kind of enjoyed the experience.

Then I went to work the next day at the fab and discovered that everyone there was distressed and nervous. Post-traumatic stress: They had all lived through the quake of '89, when some of the freeways and bridges had collapsed.

So, keep in mind that while it's okay to be secretly impressed by the awesome power of plate tectonics, doing so publicly is the sign of a Bay Area newb. :)

Now might be a good time to revisit this USGS earthquake safety page: http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/2005/15/

Thanks for the tip! I'll be quieter about my delight.

I'm in San Jose and WOW very nerve wracking. I'm getting too old for this.

Felt it all the way in my office ~ 80 miles away. Amazing. Never felt anything this powerful before.

So weird. Friend and I were jogging down at the marina and didn't feel it one bit.

I'm so disappointed.

You were jogging. That's why you didn't feel it. If you were sitting still looking a computer screen, then you probably would have.

Wow, he must jog with precision then to have the motion of his legs perfectly counterbalance the motion of the earth, let alone the motion of his surroundings produced by a 5.6 quake!

Any tips on anti-quake jogging?

ps: I hope everyone is ok up there.

Usually if you are driving you mistake an earthquake with the car normal vibrations. I suppose the same happens when jogging.

i was running up some stairs at a park during the 89 quake. didn't feel a thing. it's really quite easy, just a matter of timing.

Jogging + being on landfill must provide some insulation. Different story if you're in a building in the marina, though.

Jogging on a treadmill at the Presidio YMCA -- didn't feel a thing either.

As great as the bay is for people & companies, quakes make it not the best place to have your servers. When the big one hits, you don't want both your people and your systems out of commission for a few days.

That was the biggest one I've been here for so far.

Keep in mind tonight's quake was 20-30x smaller than the one in 89.

Now THAT was an earthquake ;)

Yeah, '89 was something else. OTOH, it was centered off in the boonies (modulo Los Gatos), whereas this one looks to have been right outside of S.J., so a good ride even at less energy.

I'll still take quakes over tornadoes and hurricanes. They're usually harmless fun. Once in a while they're tremendously devastating, but what is life without adventure?

i was listening to loud music and felt vibrations on the floor. at first, i thought some dude was going around with a very very loud bass! however, i soon realized everything else was shaking as well and ran downstairs scared shit!

We were at the preview screening of "Lions for Lambs" at Stanford. The audience definitely felt it and some of them got up to leave. For a while, I thought it was a really impressive subwoofer :)

(In SF) That was one of the longest I've felt - though is was low intensity here but definitely unsettling. It was really a different kind of quake then I've felt in the past.

We're in SJ, about 8 miles from the epicenter. It was a good shimmy.

Time to by the pack of 100 MRE's to prepare for "The Big One" (TM).

One of my favorite earthquakes was around 1999 in the central valley, CA. It wasn't too harsh, but it lasted for a good 30 seconds. 30 seconds is long enough to realize that you're in an earthquake, and to enjoy it.

The waving of the ground was surreal.

Our dorm in Stanford definitely felt it. Most everyone was excited about it.

which dorm are you in? definitely felt it in sae, i was worried the house was going to fall in to the parking lot.

I'm in Branner. Is SAE on the row?

It's technically a "row house" but it's not really on the row. It's up on the hill next to 680, kappa sig, and theta delt.

I did not feel anything either..but wait, I'm in New York :) Never thought I woudl hear anyone describe an earthquake as cool..Last I heard an earthquake was something that killed people.

I felt nothing, as I was driving at the time :( Too bad, I missed the fun.

I'm from Sacramento. Didn't feel a thing. I wasn't jogging either.

Felt it in oakland, but I figured it was a 3.0 or so...

Felt it in sunnyvale. Pretty intense.

isn't it what makes milk more creamier ?

Not an intense quake -- at least up here in Redwood Shores (the land of Oracle) -- but what impressed me was how long it seemed to last. The long ones are potentially more dangerous, if they're also intense.