Well...That Was Fun

So I’m sitting with my wife, having dinner in our favorite local Italian restaurant, minding our own business, when at about 8:05 Pacific time, this interrupts and really harshes our collective mellow:

The U.S. Geological Survey reports that a 5.6 earthquake based in the Alum Rock area of San Jose hit at approximately 8:04 p.m.

Bay residents as far away as Sacramento and Sonoma reported feeling the tremor.

There were no immediate reports of major damage or injury.

The USGS reported at least seven aftershocks, all measuring less than magnitude 2.0.

USGS seismologist Steve Walter said the quake hit the Calaveras fault.

Drudge had the police gumball on for a time, and the local television stations will spend the rest of the evening making a huge deal about it, but in Milpitas, a suburb of San Jose, and seven miles from the quake’s epicenter, things seem to be in pretty darn good condition: the electricity’s on in the house. The cable modem is (needless to say) working. The books are all on the shelves, and none of the Remy Martin 1738 hit the floor.

No nuke, no foul, right?

Update: Earlier today, I had interviewed Virginia Postrel for this week’s PJM Political on XM. And apropos of tonight’s shakin’ all over, here’s one of my favorite columns from her, on “Resilience vs. Anticipation“.