I was awakened by terramotos (earthquakes) at 1:37 this  morning.

Mild rocking and rolling for about 12 seconds the first time; same sensation about three minutes later but only for about six seconds, if that.

I was mindful that two deadly quakes occurred

…in Venezuela and Colombia recently, so I wondered if these two might turn into something more than cradle-swaying.  Was happy they didn’t.  I figure (perhaps erroneously) that as long as we’re having many smaller quakes, it’s less likely a massive one will occur.

Costa Rica is situated mostly atop on the Coco tectonic Plate

The other two, bigger quakes were on other, far larger tectonic plates. But CR’s Coco plate is pinched between two bigger plates, so I presume it is affected by movement from the other plates.

Costa Rica’s most recent great quake was the 7.6-magnitude Nicoya Peninsula earthquake that struck on September 5, 2012. That’s .1 smaller than the Northridge earthquake which I experienced in January 1994, so it was a big one!

There have been several 6 point Richter Scale quakes here since then, with greater loss of life due to the shallower depth of the quakes and landslides.

Costa Rica, like the entire west coast

…of North, Central and South America, lies within the Ring of Fire.

Those of us who have lived our entire lives on the Ring are no strangers to earthquakes and volcanoes. They’re so commonplace in many regions that they usually elicit shrugs and semi-calm moments of simply waiting them out.

There are exceptions, of course

… and they become worldwide news: the eruption of Mount St Helens and the Northridge quake were two events that I experienced personally.  So, I’m well aware of the potential for enormous devastation!

But because neither of those two events inconvenienced me terribly, I have less fear of them than I probably should.  As previously mentioned, my mind goes into a Spock-like, eyebrow-lifted, “fascinating” mode. So, I just wait out these frequent Costa Rica shakes, wondering if perhaps I should move from my bed to an arch-supporting part of the abode.

So far, I haven’t felt the need to, and arch-supported places are literally two steps away on  both sides of my bed, so I haven’t felt the need to move there while the shaking resolves.

But even though these quakes don’t unnerve me in the least (so  far!), I can’t help but ponder the power it must take to move a landmass enough that sentient beings can experience it.  The immense power of that is confidence-shaking. It doesn’t seem that such a thing should even be possible, and yet, there I am experiencing it in real time!  It’s mind-boggling, gob-smacking, an environmental magic with the immediate, very real potential to be either magnificent or monstrous.

Just heard from Cindy that the quakes woke her

She’s going to try to go back to sleep for a while; she’s turning her phone off, so not to worry if she doesn’t respond right away at daybreak.

I’ve eaten breakfast already, so I’ll probably stay up, or just close my eyes and doze off in the loveseat next to Charli.

Charli wasn’t at all upset by this morning’s quakes, either.  I always look to her first to see how she’s dealing with them.  If she ever darted underneath the bed during one, I’d know to head for an arch supported area!!! Critters can tell us a lot about what’s coming when we watch their responses.  She’s MY early-warning system!