I was just lying in bed listening to the radio. Suddenly there was a brief jolt---as if someone bumped the bed OR like 20 pounds of tabby cat named Oscar leaping up onto the bed. But then just after the jolt the shaking started. Not too long of a shake, maybe a second. But for the first time ever I heard the glass in the back door rattle---as if someone was trying to force their way into the house. It was pretty creepy for such a small quake.
As it turned out, the epicenter was only about 7 miles away out in Santa Monica Bay off Hermosa Beach. And it weighed in as a 3.6.
For the encore, the following afternoon at 5pm there was a 3.8----centered just a bit further west than the first quake. For this guy I was camped on the couch watching Coraline when the house seemed to be on one giant 'Magic Fingers' machine. For about two seconds everything shook pretty well. Not strong enough to damage anything, but strong enough to let you know that its was quaking!
I'm off to Sydney in a day, so I'll make two predictions. One, there won't be any quakes in Sydney---it's far away from any plate boundaries. Two, I predict they'll be a M5 or so quake in LA. Because all the cool stuff happens when I am out of town...
