Last night I was sitting in bed, winding down watching a little television, when everything started jumping sharply. 

Don't ask me what  T.V. show I was watching because I cannot honestly remember - not only was the program not important, but my priorities changed real quickly when things started bouncing.

• first thought; 'oh hell no'
• second thought; 'this is a big one!'

• first action; look up at the ceiling to see if it's coming down
• second action; look for my pants (don't want to run outside without pants - survival includes some dignity)

Then it was over ... everything stopped.  It was quick, hard and done [insert your own bedroom joke here]

This was not like other earthquakes I had experienced in Costa Rica.  Most last longer and have a wave or rolling feel to them where things sway like standing on the deck of a boat.  This earthquake was stronger, quicker and sharp - with things going up and down.

Quick conclusion: This earthquake was real close to home!

Location, Location, Location

I live just outside of Moravia, San José - with a great view overlooking the Central Valley from the Northeast.  As I write this entry the city looks sunny with high puffy clouds.  Last night the lights twinkled bright.

As it turns out, I was correct in my thinking the earthquake's epicenter was close.  In fact, it was too close to home:

According to the Costa Rica Volcanological and Seismological Observatory (OVSICORI) this 'sismo' was a 4.3 magnitude, at a depth of 7.5 kilometers (4.6 miles), originating only 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from my home.

Admittedly a 4.3 magnitude shaker doesn't sound like much when compared with some of the recent major earthquakes around the globe:

• 6.5 magnitude: March 05, 2010 in Indonesia (Southwest of Sumatra, offshore at a depth of 22 km)
• 8.8 magnitude: February 27, 2010 in Chile (West of Maule, just offshore at a depth of 35 km)
• 7.0 magnitude: February 26, 2010 in Japan (Southeast of Ryukyu Islands, offshore at a depth of 22 km)
• 6.9 magnitude: February 18, 2010 China-Russia-North Korea border region (just offshore at a depth of 574 km)
• 7.0 magnitude: January 12, 2010 Haiti (Southwest of Port-Au-Prince, inland at a depth of 13km)

But when you combine this 'terremoto's' combination of strength, shallow depth and close proximity to my bed ... it made for quite a jolt!

By contrast, Costa Rica's January 8, 2009 deadly 6.1 magnitude Cinchona earthquake with an epicenter near the Poás Volcano (Volcán Poás), 30 kilometers (20 miles) Northwest of San José at a depth of 4.5 km felt like a long, rolling boat ride in my location [I rode that wave while standing on top of a ladder while my son looked at me with a nervous smile].

The Earth is Alive and Kicking in Costa Rica

The natural forces that make Costa Rica beautiful are still hard at work. 

Costa Rica has several mountain ranges that cover a large part of the country.  Nestled within the mountains and standing majestically elsewhere on their own are 50 known volcanoes, with several being active at all times. 

Whether it is the tectonic plates continuing their work at creating mountains or volcano's bringing up their molten lava to produce more surface area; many consider these otherwise natural constructive forces to be 'destructive' - especially if there are people or property in the right place at the wrong time.

As but one example, Costa Rica's long-dormant Turrialba Volcano (Volcán Turrialba) has been making locals nervous as of late.

History books have long listed Turrialba's last major eruption as being in 1866.  However, the volcano started coming back to life in 2001.  In 2007 new fractures and funaroles opened and molten sulfur was observed for the first time in 25 years.  Regular earthquakes starting mid-December 2009, increased in both frequency and amplitude until the Turrialba Volcano erupted on January 5, 2010 - spewing ash on nearby farms and even parked vehicles at the nearby Irazú Volcano National Park (Parque Nacional Volcán Irazú).  The villages of La Central and El Retiro of Cartago Province were evacuated during the eruption and remain on alert as the volcano's new activity is closely monitored by scientists.

Not allowing itself to be out-performed, the neighboring bigger and more popular Irazú Volcano decided to get some attention of its own by emitting at least 9 tremors within a 30 minute period on March 2, 2010. 

With its last eruption occurring in 1965, Volcán Irazú's explosive power is not such a distant memory.  However, an earlier Irazú eruption in 1963 is more remembered for its timing; coinciding with former U.S. President John F. Kennedy being in the nearby capital of San José, where volcanic ash covered the city during his official state visit.

Regardless of what causes the earthquakes, plate shifting or volcanic activity, the bottom line is Costa Rica gets shaken on a regular basis.

¡Pura Temblor!

In Costa Rica an earthquake can be a great opportunity to make some new friends, meet  the new family across the street and/or reacquaint yourself with neighbors you haven't talked to in a while do to busy work and life schedules.

It's easy and timely, because everybody is standing outside just like you and there is definitely something to talk about.

The one modern impediment to this long-standing social event is the cell phone.  Now that everybody in Costa Rica has a phone in their pocket, the crowd of people standing outside can all be talking at once without having to talk to each other. 

Adults thirty years and older are making or receiving phone calls while the younger kids are busy texting as fast as their thumbs can fly over the keypad.

Where to Get Good Information

Immediately after the initial earthquake passes and people feel as if their lives are no long in danger, they want information. 

It's hard-wired into our human anatomy to want to know; what happened, where did it come from, who else felt it, is there any damage, is anybody hurt, etc., etc., etc.

Recent worldwide natural disasters have demonstrated beyond a doubt that the single best source of up-to-date information is via the Internet.

Social networking resources such as twitter and facebook connect the world with people that are actually on the scene of the incident, reporting what is in front of them.  Re-tweets and forwarded posts bound around the globe at fiber-optic and satellite download speeds to computers, held held devices and Internet capable cell phones everywhere.

Even news outlets and government agencies monitor this data for their own initial information until such a time that responding representatives and officials can make their way to the areas affected and report back.

The trick in relying on such unmoderated resources is to separate fact from fiction and emotion from objective information.

For those wanting to monitor what others are reporting from a variety of sites, Big Brother is here to help (as always).  Google in monitoring everything everybody is doing on the Internet uses their powers for good in this instance by allowing users to search 'Latest Web Updates' for specific topics such as "earthquake costa rica" ("temblor costa rica"), etc.:

As for official data when it comes to; location, strength, affected areas, warnings, evacuation orders, etc. ... there are several resources:

The most comprehensive resource for worldwide seismic activity is the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) earthquake monitoring site where data from around the globe is collected and shared in real-time.

Costa Rica earthquake and volcano activity are studied and monitored by the government's Volcanological and Seismological Observatory (Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica or OVSICORI).  Their web site also shares the collected information real-time and this information may be more up-to-date and accurate than the USGS site in regards to Costa Rica activities because it is their local monitoring equipment taking the actual readings.

Both the USGS and OVSICORI web sites have direct links to Google Maps that give detailed location information;

Of course, if you are real close to one of these events ... the immediate need for a digital map confirming what you already know may not be a priority.  But the information can make for a good blog the next day!