When an earthquake strikes, the first thing you feel is an utter sense of helplessness — the realization that you are experiencing a force in nature greater than you ever imagined.

It’s not like a tornado or hurricane. Not even like a sudden blizzard that sneaks in from the Arctic Circle. An earthquake sends no warning. An earthquake happens as quickly as a snap of the fingers — it’s like flipping a light switch.

In my experiences with earthquakes in the 15 years I lived in Southern California, I stood on my patio and watched the water in my swimming pool slosh back and forth until a huge wave flooded the yard around me. I watched the upper portion of my house move like a drunken giant aroused from sleep.

The feeling of helplessness is soon joined with anxiety. Questions flood the mind. Is this the “Big One?” How bad will this one be? When will it stop? What should I do? Should I stay inside or run outside into the open? Even though you stand, as I have, in clear, open space, there is the feeling that something is about to fall on your head.

The ground tilts and you can’t walk. To take a step in any direction may leave you in the exact spot you attempted to leave. Not like the rhythmic roll of the ocean, the ground doesn’t move predictably. If by chance you are left standing, you sense that you are momentarily suspended, and then you realize your feet are on the ground and they seem to be walking, but you don’t go anywhere.

There is, understandably, fear and for me this fear was coupled with wonder at how everything around me which I know to be stationary moves with a lightness of a feather.

The quake ends as suddenly as it started. You look around searching for what damage has been done. Is there anyone hurt? Does anyone need help? Is the gas and electric service intact?

You turn the radio and television on. Now that it’s over you want to know how big it was and how long it lasted. It seemed like a long time. The radio says it lasted about 30 seconds and they don’t know how high it was on the Richter scale yet.

You wait. There are always aftershocks and you wonder how big they will be.

Then it’s over. The most popular news stories will be moved off page one to make room for “Quake stories.” An earthquake dominates all conversation. The larger the quake, the longer people will talk about it. In a few days the talk will diminish.

And we’ll be waiting for the next one.

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Marvin Tyacke is a Post Falls resident.