Who’s Scared Of Earthquakes? Not Buddy The Cat!

“Oh, did the Earth shake? I hardly noticed?” Buddy remarked.

So apparently the crinkling of a paper bag is terrifying, but the Earth shaking is no big deal.

The New York area experienced a 4.8-magnitude earthquake today. For a fleeting moment I thought maybe some idiot had hit the building with a tractor trailer or something, but as the rumbles continued I realized it had to be natural. Only Mother Nature has that kind of power.

I looked over at Bud, expecting to hear a terrified whimper any second, but he was just laying on my bed with his head up, annoyed that he’d been woken up.

His eyes met mine and I got the sense he was asking me: “Are we good here? Do I have to get up and run around screaming, or is this merely a rude interruption of my nap?”

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“Good boy,” I said, trying to show him I wasn’t scared either.

In truth I was, just a bit. I suppose there must have been earthquakes around here in my childhood, but I can’t remember them. Even though this one was on the lower range of the Richter scale, as I’d later learn, when you’re not accustomed to earthquakes there’s a moment of surprise and understanding when you realize, for all our tech and the leaps we’ve taken as a species, we are ultimately powerless against forces like this.

It’s a feeling you’ll never get from seeing an earthquake on TV. You have to feel the ground shake to appreciate your own powerlessness.

In any case, this was definitely Bud’s first earthquake and I’m proud of the little guy. If you’d asked me before today how he’d likely respond, I would not have guessed he would be stoic.

We salute you, brave little man!

33 thoughts on “Who’s Scared Of Earthquakes? Not Buddy The Cat!”

  1. Nope. Not scared. Strange though.Last one i remember was about 15 years ago. I was at kitchen window and i saw my feral run straight into shelter.

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    1. I don’t remember that one, but I was living in the mid Hudson Valley at the time about 75 miles north of the city so it’s likely it was centered downstate.

      I was surprised when they said today’s quake centered on norther NJ.

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    1. Thanks, Leah. We are fortunate compared to the people of Taiwan. Those photos of buildings at practically 45 degree angles were incredible.

      It’s been a weird week. Did you see the photos of lightning striking the Statue of Liberty?

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    2. After quake went on my merry way to shop for food and my cats toy. He gave me a look saying I DO NOT GIVE A RATS ASS ABOUT AN EARTH QUAKE. I WANT MY TOY!!🤣🤣

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  4. I’ve been through a few earthquakes in California and you’re right: there’s nothing like an earthquake to let you know how powerless people are in comparison to the planet.

    And it’s true that at first, you can’t believe that it’s happening, and think it must be heavy traffic or something. I realized that one earthquake was happening in Santa Ana, California when I saw the board fence next to the driveway rippling up and down. And then I noticed that the driveway was rippling up and down.

    But I’m surprised that you had an earthquake in New York City. I didn’t know there were any fault lines under you.

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    1. I did not know this until today, but it’s called the Ramapo fault system, which runs from the town of Ramapo in New York, then south through New Jersey. Ramapo and the fault line are west of the Hudson, whereas Manhattan, Westchester and Casa de Buddy are east of it.

      The New York Times said the epicenter was 40 miles west of us.

      That must have been crazy seeing a driveway rippling. It’s funny how our brains struggle to process what’s happening for a few seconds before we realize it must be an earthquake. But I suppose it’s so outside the normal context of daily life that we mentally run through a list of possibilities.

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      1. Except for the Loma Prieta, whose epicenter was in the Santa Cruz Mountains and a 6.9, I personally have never experienced any other earthquake that saw highways and such ripple. It’s not an everyday occurrence when it comes to California quakes. Usually we see hanging plants sway and things like that.

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      2. San Andreas fault line under Seattle and Vicinity! 1965. I was SO YOUNG…Sure Eddie. Oops THAT DID IT! circa Leave it to Beaver days, early 60’s, late fifties! Eddie Haskell the con artist! Oh well! That was a classic tv show!

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      3. Thanks for the information on the Ramapo fault. I didn’t know there was one on the East Coast.

        Yes, at first I thought it was a truck rumbling down the street, and then I realized it was an earthquake.

        I had been through earthquakes before in San Francisco but I was indoors so I just went and stood in the doorway. My roommate was standing in her doorway right next to me, so we stood and chatted until it stopped (fingers crossed, because sometimes it’s just a pre-quake and the big one follows).

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  6. WOW clearly his Buddiness is a tower of strength in trying times – we also salute his bravery- we dont get earthquakes in London but we have been in one in the BVi which was a small one but scarey.

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    1. In the new series “Shogun” based on the 1970s book of the same name, a character from London experiences an earthquake for the first time and yells “What the bloody hell was that?!”

      I did not know this before, but it’s based on a real Englishman (William Adams) who really did sail to Japan in the 1600s, became one of the shogun’s most trusted advisors, and was elevated to the rank of hatamoto, aka samurai.

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    1. Indeed. Nothing scares him except vacuums, Swiffers, paper bags, plastic bags, his own shadow, oven timers, emergency alerts, and electric can openers. Other than that he’s totally fearless.

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  8. Pandora and I live in New Jersey 25 miles south of where the epicenter was. My entire house was shaking and the rumbling was very loud. I’ve experienced a few other earthquakes in my life, but it still took a moment to realize just what was really happening! Meanwhile, Pandora slept through the whole event!!

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    1. Who knew cats would be such cool customers during earthquakes?

      They get a lot of tactile information from the ground thanks to their paw pads, so I wonder if they know ahead of time when something like this is happening, similar to the way they can sense movement around them with their whiskers. Between that, their weird hybrid scent/taste 6th sense, and their ability to hear super high frequencies, they get a lot more information than we realize.

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  9. We had one in Seattle that was something like 6.8 or 7. And that one was not fun! Oh dear… I am dating myself! Sigh. I do remember it and nothing about it was fun! Except later I realized that my girlfriend was the one that started screaming! Then the whole school did too! Me included! Can’t remember what year that was… I was pretty young. 5th grade? Oh well. My doctor congratulated me when I told him how old I was! (My oncologist 😁)

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    1. Yeah that definitely does not sound like fun. I can’t imagine ever getting used to it even if you’re a lifelong west coaster. I’m not gonna ask specifics about your diagnosis because i know that stuff is private, but I hope you’re doing okay and I hope Mr. Spunkmeyer is a comfort to you as you’re going through that. Cats are good that way.

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      1. He is a big comfort!!! We haven’t weighed him lately but he is too big for me to pick up! He is a constant source of comedy and comfort! All is well so far and I thank you for your concern! I have been there twice and I am done and hope my body is too! Runs in the family!

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  10. Glad you both are OK. Here in Cali earthquakes happen. (We roll with them – lol.) Don’t know about NY structures but everything around here is pretty much “earthquake proof” in the sense that storied buildings have been built to sway, thus alleviating most of the shock.

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    1. That’s an interesting question so I googled it, and apparently everything here is built to withstand earthquakes while historic structures like the Flatiron Building (122 years old) have been retrofitted with counterweights and “dampening systems.”

      Manhattan skyscrapers are built to sway anyway so they don’t sustain structural damage in heavy winds. There’s a video from January showing Brooklyn Tower swaying in 60mph.

      I know there’s that cluster of skyscrapers in the center of LA and some tall buildings in San Francisco. I don’t know the numbers but they’ve gotta be rated for a much higher resistance since you guys have that huge fault line.

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    1. I really can’t reconcile “Buddy” and “senior” in my head. He’s still a baby to me. Still acts like the same Buddy, still trills and chirps constantly, still sounds like Baby Elmo!

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      1. Spunkmeyer is only 4 (we think)! So he has a few years of bugging us left! Thankfully! He would never be considered “senior” either! They are too special to become “senior”!

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