EARTHQUAKE!!!!

 this was the biggest quake I've ever felt. they said it was a 7 but it was super close to us.  plus there were all these big aftershocks after that made the first one seem to last forever.  the initial quake lasted like 1 and 1/2 minutes.  we had over 22 after shocks that first hour over 3's!! 

 the cabinets held.  actually most of the downstairs area did pretty good.  stuff fell over, pictures were off kilter, but it was upstairs.  drawers out, shit flew everywhere.  have been slowly picking up, but then another aftershock knocks crap back over anyway.

 seemed to slow for a bit but this evening we have had aftershock after aftershock and they have not been tiny.  i can tell that everyone in Anchorage is feeling a bit rattled. 

 these are a peaceful walk yesterday at the dog park.  today no walk.  the counter folks were supposed to come measure the counters today but i heard nothing from them.  my handy man attempted to come early but the traffic was ridiculous, he called and said he'd try later, he did come over later for a few hours to do some work.

 i am mighty happy he did as while he was here i noticed that there was a small river of water coming off my water heater.  he was able to tighten some loose connection and it seems okay.  i finally braved a shower this evening. 

 i had just settled down to sleep after work.  i was about out or maybe I'd just dropped off.  either way i was quickly awakened by this quake, it was loud and really shook.  i stayed in bed but eventually, i figured i may have to get out of the house.  Tusker booked outside pretty early and stayed out there through several aftershocks.  Ivy stuck with me.  i eventually went out there and walked back inside with him. he wouldn't go upstairs for several hours. 

 i was afraid to go upstairs as well.  when i did climb out of bed originally i wen to the floor and crawled as it was moving to much to attempt a walk.

 several roads are in a bit of a mess...i clearly did not take these photo's as i never left the house today really...not even to check the mail.  there are some main structure issues coming in and our of Anchorage.  i really figured I'd get a call from work but i guess they unloaded patients as much as they could and cancelled surgeries that were not emergent.

 i am for sure already feeling the earthquake hangover happening.  your head just feels foggy, like it did after my concussion.  i get tired...which is probably also from lack of sleep.  it's a motion sickness caused by the quake. 

 we've had over 80 quakes in the area today.  lots of texting and facebook time with friends.  checking in. 

 my old boom box flew across the room and is toast.  trying to recover the Cd's that are inside and then I'll trash the thing.  time to purge the house of crap....it all is this reminder that i do indeed have way too much crap.

 so lots of clean up but so far i haven't found any structural issues...that i know of anyway.

 the structural issues in town are pretty impressive though.  i think this was centered originally about 7-10 miles north.  7.0 is what they settled on

 i was shaking so hard after the initial quake.  it was the scariest one I've ever felt and I've felt many between growing up in CA and living in AK since 1995.

 for a while i was having a hard time telling if we were having another aftershock or was it just me shaking with fear.

 it's just disturbing in many ways that the earth around us that seems so stable day to day is not at all stable.  feel so bad for those who were in the cars on the roads that collapsed. the one car in the middle of that crumbled road is actually fine as are the folks who rode that crazy ride.  I'm sure they are pretty rattled as well though.

 i think this is the Minnesota off or on ramp.

 back to scenes from my place, post quake.

 i snapped some pictures but i was mostly too scared to return upstairs for awhile either. the aftershocks seemed to calm for a few hours and i finally came up and took a little nap.  i think that was while he was down stairs working...so maybe that made me braver.

 the day is a blur, not sure if that is just because i worked the last three nights and have slept maybe 2 hours total. 

 we all seem to agree that it's gonna be a long night. i opened a wine cooler and figure if I'm gonna be earthquake drunk i may as well be drunk drunk as well. take the edge off the anxiety.

 haven't eaten much today either. 

 i worked 2 nights in ER i think and then the last was in ICU.  i was totally cranky in ER that last night i worked there.  felt bad.  the one DR i worked with is awful.  she's like a cloud of negativity.  most of the ER/ICU docs i work with are calm and that makes a huge difference.  some people are just chaos and chaos just surrounds them. i just grew more and more frustrated.

 i am not perfect so i always hope that when my bad Betsy shows up people are forgiving. i don't think that side of me shows up very often though thankfully.

 i was so happy to be in ICU last night.  it's my total comfort zone.  ER is chaos and i think at my base i like the controlled chaos of the ICU as opposed to the crazy chaos of ER.  i like both but i think it was just too long since i had an ICU day...not that my day was a breeze there, but though it's odd i guess, a crazy day in the ICU feels more calm to me that a crazy day in the ER

 another shot from town...a sad shot of many broken wine bottles at a local wine store.

 great aerial shot someone took.  road out in the valley i think..no longer passable.

 more cabinets emptying out at my place.

 not sure where this is, but a water line broke obviously

 the Seward highway also saw damage from rock slides.

 the really good news is that there were no fatalities.  probably some minor injuries but overall for a 7 quake Anchorage and the surrounding area have done fairly well.  some are without heat or electric and some gas leaks were found so gas is shut off in some areas. 

 there were people who rode this out in that little car down there...they are very lucky to be totally uninjured...much to be thankful for

 i should probably try to eat something.  i may sleep in my boots today, keep my phone and my flashlight handy.

 dogs are asleep right now.  I'm not even sure if i fed them this evening.  I'll go put some food in for them just in case i totally forgot..i wouldn't be shocked. 

 sorry, very scattered as that is how my brain feels right now.

 a rock fell on this truck on the Seward...my friend said she was talking with this guy and never notice the huge rock on his rig.

 this is how our day looked....all hail to the UAF earthquake center for always keeping us informed during these events.

 leaving you in peace....stay safe out there.

thankful for: A no injuries,no deaths B.  an intact home C. Henry's hard soda....sleep come take me away..fingers crossed.