Quake!

Well, that was weird.

Last night at 5 minutes to 1... Bobby and Louis are sound asleep in their beds, and Sam and Chantelle likewise, and I'm enduring another night of insomnia. I'm thoroughly enjoying my fourth episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip of the evening, doing some damage to the box set I bought, when all of a sudden, the bed starts to shake.

In a split second, I run through the options. Perhaps both the upstairs and downstairs flats have coincidentally installed several washing machines each during the day, and by further uncanny chance, switched them all on together on the highest spin setting.

Or aliens are landing.

Or I'm having an attack of some kind.

Then I realise that the tops of the wardrobes are swaying noticeably, and vibrations are shaking the whole flat. I can hear the fabric and structure of the entire block creaking, and I feel a mild anxiety. Obviously the building's not falling down, that would just be silly, but for fraction of a second I'm really annoyed about how poxy unlucky it would be if it was falling down on one of the nights that the boys are staying in it.

By now the shaking's been about 5 or seconds, and I'm really confused. I wonder about aliens again, then feel a bit silly.

Slowly the vibrations subside and in maybe 12 or 15 seconds it's all over. I'm really baffled about what's happened, and go to the boys room to make sure they're not awake and worried, but they're still soundo, and I peer out their bedroom window to look at the river, the Dome, and Canary Wharf, all of which are still there, rather reassuringly. I give them both a kiss, to say well done for their unwitting coolness under pressure. Then another one, as the fleeting image of a big pile of rubble shoots into and out of my head.

Vaguely disconcerted, I lie awake till two then drop off. I should've turned the radio on really, as all would have become clear. Precisely the same thing had gone on at BBC London's studio's in Marylebone High St, rather to the presenter's consternation ...(http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2008/02/27/earthquake_feature.shtml)

So, not aliens then. And not just a Californian phenomenon either...