Earthquakes

A Japanese astronomer has predicted that Tokyo will fall victim to a major quake some time this week.

Reading this made me think of something I haven't thought about in a little while.

Maybe it was a phenomenon centered around McMinn County. Maybe that's why I bring it up: I was always curious.

I was in the seventh or eighth grade when this happened, which would put it around late 1989, 1990 or early 1991.

Does anybody else remember when some scientists predicted a lot of major quakes in the world based on the gravitation pull of the Moon and some of the planets which had fallen into an odd alignment?

Quakes were predicted in Turkey, and in Asia, and also along the New Madrid faultline. And the quake that was predicted along the New Madrid fault was supposed to be a biggie....along the lines of the quake in the early 1800's that made the Mississippi run backwards, was felt in Cincinnati and made church bells ring in Charleston.

People really took the prediction seriously. There were ads on TV for earthquake insurance and we actually had earthquake drills at my little school in Riceville, Tennessee.

And on the day and the time of the predicted quake, we all had to climb under our desks. Which was unpleasant for me, because I shared a double desk with a kid named Travis, who blamed his lack of deodorant use on his religious convictions.

I haven't thought about those days in a long time.

There was no earthquake, obviously. Otherwise, I'd think about it quite often.

Good times...good times.