Whole lotta shakin goin on

I wake up each morning to the sounds of howler monkeys. It's wonderful and ordinary. But yesterday morning was a little bit different. They were much louder. Much longer. Far more talkative. Other than that, the day was pretty ordinary. Until 4 or so in the afternoon, that is. I was brewing up a pot of soup when all of a sudden the whole house began to sway back and forth. Now, I'm not from California but even an Arizona girl like me knows when there's an earthquake going on. It seemed to last forever – probably 10 long seconds – then it was over. Nothing fell. Nothing broke. Apparently the earthquake was in the Pacific about 30km southwest of Quepos (which is near Manual Antonio National Park). Perhaps I've been in the jungle too long, but I think the monkeys knew it was coming.

The shaking brought to mind an article I read a few years ago about home construction considerations in earthquake prone areas. From what I remember, the article mentioned that building a house on stilts would allow for more movement without structural damage. It also mentioned that wood was preferable to concrete as there was more give, and, in the event of a collapse, there was less chance of being crushed. This was also mentioned in regard to roofing material. If a tin roof falls on you your chance of injury is far less than if it had been tile or wood. Remembering this article made me feel far safer about living in a wooden house on stilts with a tin roof. Then I also remembered that I had researched all of the fault lines throughout Central America before I ever moved here...just in case. So, the monkeys are still very talkative today. Maybe it's mating season, or perhaps this time they are just discussing yesterday's quake. As soon as I master Spanish I will have to learn monkey, it would certainly come in handy around here.