Rock and Roll is Here to Stay

Now that I am on vacation standard time, and get plenty of sleep on a regular basis, I find early mornings to be almost enjoyable. On the mornings that I need to get up unusually early, for example in order to climb a volcano, I am far less cranky about the hour than I might be otherwise. However, this new found almost-morning-person in me was jolted awake at 5:30 this morning by a magnitude 6.9 earthquake. The temblor was centered in Mexico near the border with Guatemala, and caused some damage in the Guatemalan department (kind of like a state) of San Marcos. Xela, in the department adjacent to San Marcos, experienced power outages for about an hour, and schools in this part of the country remained closed for the day.

As in California, much of the natural beauty in Guatemala can be attributed to historic and on-going seismic activity. Over the weekend, Monica and I had the pleasure of taking respite at one such wonder, Lago de Atitlan. This mountainous lake formed approximately 1.5 million years ago when a massive volcanic explosion emptied the magma chamber below causing the earth to collapse inward. Three volcanos tower above the southern edge of the body of water. From our vantage in the northern lake town of Panajachel, we enjoyed spectacular views of the cones.

View of the south lake shore from Sunset Cafe in Panajachel. There are two volcanoes on the left and one on the right.

 Incidentally, this is the third magnitude 6.9 earthquake I have experienced. The first was the devastating Loma Prieta quake in 1989. The second happened in March of this year when I was exploring the giant redwoods in Humboldt county. At the end of the month I will be in Philadelphia, so watch out Pennsylvanian’s, I bring big earthquakes with increasing frequency.