Turn Style - Earthquake Stops Time In Italy

An old clock tower, damaged by last week's earthquake in Finale Emilia, Italy.
Reuters / Giorgio Benvenuti

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Four Earthquakes in One Week? C'mon Man.

Courtesy David K. Lynch (Geology.com)

The Occupy movement isn't the only thing rattling Northern California this week. Four times in the last week the San Francisco Bay Area experienced mild earthquake tremors between magnitude 3.0 and 4.0.

From our condo in San Carlos, I didn't feel the earth shift for any of these mini-quakes, but once or twice in recent months I have experienced the feel of a modest tremor. The first time I thought a giant diesel semi truck had parked in front of our condo and left its engine idling incredibly high. The next time it sounded like the upstairs neighbors decided for some reason to slam the front door three times in rapid succession before rolling a giant filing cabinet across a tile floor.

As a relatively new Californian, I was surprised to find these modest tremors are not uncommon at all, and initially, I found them to be sort of novel and exciting. Lately though, they've been coming more often and closer together. Like contractions. And we all know how messy that ends up.

I was beginning to wonder what all this means. Is this all precursor to a bonafide building crusher? Is the rapture really coming soon? If the 49ers actually lose only one game all year, will the earth open up and swallow the bay area before the playoffs?

Science seems to be no help in unraveling the mysteries of the earthquake. It turns out that issues of geology are not so easily understood nor are they predictably resolved in a matter of weeks or months, over even decades and centuries. Scientists will ultimately be able to better predict the timing of major earthquakes, but they will need just a couple more millennia of study before clear patterns emerge.

In the meantime, out here on the left coast, we're simply forging bravely ahead with our daily business of protesting things, legalizing marijuana, and other stuff like that. All the while, in light of a possible devastating quake, we make sure to conduct occasional reviews of our building evacuation plans, and we keep large sturdy tables around so we have some place to scamper if need be.

Rest assured, here in the San Francisco Bay Area, we remain shaken, but not stirred.

Michele Bachmann: Lunatic or Just an Idiot?

Michele Bachmann, Minnesota Congresswoman and Republican presidential hopeful, "joked" that Hurricane Irene and last week's rare East Coast earthquake are God's way of getting the attention of Washington politicians who are failing to effectively address our nation's fiscal woes. Most people didn't find her supposed attempt at humor to be all that funny, particularly the millions of mid-Atlantic folks who were impacted by the storm and who are still without power.

I really hope she stays in the presidential race for a few more months. America needs someone with her obviously well-honed comedic instincts to keep the political mood from getting too tense.With the ten year anniversary of 9/11 coming up soon, I can hardly wait to hear her World Trade Center one-liners.