Earthquake

Last night, the earth moved for me and my wife. Unfortunately it was not in the way we might have hoped. I was reading my book, on the Mormons, while my wife slept beside me. Suddenly the house shifted from right to left, with an accompanying crack. We sat upright and she asked me, 'What was that?'. I hopped out of bed and looked out of the window. Sometimes the house shakes when a particularly heavy lorry passes on the main road, but at that time of night everything was quiet on the main road. The idea that it had been an earthquake entered my head. I descended the stairs to check but couldn't see any damage. Returning to my bed, I wondered if it had been a quake and what would happen if a bigger one occured. Recent events in Asia didn't help put my mind at ease. As I dropped off, I wondered whether the bed was really shaking.
The next day, I questioned various people living in our village, but no one had felt anything. Finally checking the internet we discovered that an earthquake had indeed taken place 6km from where we lived. It was only small, 2.2 on the Richter scale, not sufficient to be noticed according to the website I consulted. However, I can assure you that we noticed, and it was impressive.
It is quite something to feel a solid structure like a house shift sideways. It brings home the power of nature even in a minor way. Imagine the force that is able to shift the ground beneath our feet. Sometimes it is easy to forget that the Alpes are moving, minor earthquakes such as this are common occurances. Nevertheless, I have lived here 9 years and it was a first for me. Now I understand the anti- seismic appartements blocks in downtown Grenoble.