I wasn't born in California, so earthquakes were a mystery to me. I had heard a lot about them and wondered what it would be like to experience one. So, when we moved to California when I was nine years old, I knew it was just a matter of time before my opportunity to experience an earthquake would come, and I was looking forward to it.

    I'd been living in California for about a month and nothing happened. Not even a tremble. I started to get a bit impatient because everyone had told me that earthquakes happen all the time in California. If that was the case, I wondered, why haven't I felt one?

    It wasn't too long after that, I would not need to wonder any more. It was early in the morning, about 6:00 a.m. I was asleep when suddenly I was awakened because my bed was shaking. I wondered what was happening, and then I knew, "Oh, this must be an earthquake." At first I wasn't afraid. I figured the shaking would stop after a short time, but it didn't. Instead it got worse. The shaking was harder, and it seemed like it would never stop. My brothers and sisters and I ran into my parents' room. They calmed us down and told us everything would be OK.

    When the shaking finally did stop, I realized that an earthquake isn't fun and games. It can be very dangerous.

    I decided I never wanted to feel another earthquake again. However, if you live in California, that's just not going to happen. Earthquakes happen very frequently here, so I finally got used to them. They don't frighten me anymore, but I sure have "respect" them. If an earthquake happens, I take them seriously and follow good safety strategies so that my family and I can be as protected as possible.