The lady and I (along with about a million other people in the East Bay) were awakened at 4:42 this morning by an earthquake. Although we've experienced one other magnitude 4.2 temblor before, this one seemed especially jarring.

For one, the way this one shook made it feel especially powerful. At our place, there were little rumbles before and after, but most of the energy was in one high-amplitude wave that hit all at once. The best part was riding the house, because it felt like an underdamped spring that kept "ringing" as the wave decayed down. It rattled the liquor bottles (they were safe though, phew!), and torqued the whole house. It was the first time I've experience the house being torqued; luckily 1908 all-wood construction is strong but giving, making it great for absorbing a lot of the energy of the quake.

It's comforting to know that it was the Hayward fault that slipped. It runs about 100 yards from where I work... awesome!

Also, our local Safeway (about which I've written before) had two of its windows broken. Luckily, the Chronicle is there with the photos.

UPDATE: The Chronicle has more on the quake, including why it felt so strong in Berkeley.