A 5.4 Temblor Rattled My Chin Ups Today

An L.A. earthquake interrupted my third set of chin ups at the gym where I work out today.

It’s located on Hyperion, a very busy street in the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. The gym’s upper deck has very small windows. The main floor fronts on the street, with a sidewalk style entrance and expansive floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

I was midway through my chin ups when the earthquake hit. At first I thought the vibrations were from speeding cars or rescue vehicles rushing along the “mini freeway” outside. (Don’t think I’m crazy—a traffic accident took out some street level windows of the gym last spring).

Feeling the ground moving underneath the machine, I jumped off and (rather greenly and, apparently, loudly) wondered:

“Earth… Quake?

Everyone just nodded and smiled, but I know they were thinking: “That bleach has gone to his head.”

I’ve only experienced one other tremor in Los Angeles. That quake, back in 1997, felt like the ground was slowly rolling in waves. Not today. The rumblings felt explosive, uneven, more sudden. The windows shook as if a large 18-wheeler had just sped by, leaving a gust of wind in its wake. I wondered if it felt anything like a hurricane.

I moved on to bicep curls. I figured it was the Universe telling me that I had done enough chin ups for today.

For the record, I did 22.

And the good news: back at home, only a candle broke.

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