The Emoticon Earthquake Assessment Chart

In honor of the third large earthquake in a week and the second I have Most Definitely Noticed, I would hereby like to institute a more expressive version of the "Did You Feel It?" website's color coding for "felt responses".

( The Emoticon Earthquake Scale )

Also, for posterity, here is a screen capture of the USGS quake monitor that I snapped right after returning to my chair. This site is the first place to go when a quake hits, because it is a summary of current data from regional seismographs. The "Did You Feel It?" website, instead, is tabulating survey responses from startled natives.

And I don't mean to be flippant about it, really; I know painfully what they can do. But I've got this bizarre fondness for when mother nature decides to Remind Us who's boss. I'd hoped for a few fives when I moved here, so that I could experience some tremors without having to worry about people being hurt. Saturday and today, I got 'em.

Drat. I need to get back to catching up on work.