Earthquakes and Cats

We decided to go see the movie Avatar in 3-D in Eureka on Saturday Jan.9,2010 but when we arrived it had been sold out. So we decided to go home and see the movie on another day.

Fortunately we were home when the Earthquake hit. The cats were on our laps as we relaxed and sipped wine while reading or watching football. The day before my neighbor cut some redwoods down that were very close to his home.

When the earthquake hit it sounded much like the trees did when they hit the ground. This time it felt like he had cut one down and it landed on our house.

The cats flew in different directions and My wife said calmly it's an earthquake get over here under the door jam.

The quake went BAM,CRACK then rock and rolled the house for a few seconds during which we heard glass breaking in our bedroom. It was a framed photo of our cats and a couple of owl artifacts that fell from the bookshelves.

At this point the adrenalin rush was at peak levels and I was in high gear thinking about what to do next.

I immediately went out and turned off the main gas line from the propane tank then went over to check on our neighbors to see if everything was o.k. at their house.

We looked all over for the cats and found one of them crouching under the Futon and the other trying to break through the window in the Sun room.

They were "freaked" out and it would take a while for them to recover.


My wife told me later that she noticed our female cat which had been resting and purring on her lap to sitting up abruptly and acting very alert and frightened.
The cat had sensed it coming before it hit!

That night the cats stayed close to us but didn't sleep well and were very alert.
Another aftershock sent them under the bed at least once early in the morning.
They continue to act wary this morning perhaps they feel the small aftershocks that we don't.


Just before I woke up the male cat was walking nervously on my chest and legs but finally settled down between us. I stroked his head and noticed that he seemed tense and wary of what might come next.
Cats know more about some things than we do.