I feel the earth move under my feet

So I was in the middle of my flight to Lima yesterday, spending a few poorly-fed stopover hours at Miami International (seriously, Miami, would it KILL you to keep a few restaurants open past 10pm?), when I heard some news...

I guess I sort of knew that Lima had to be near a continental plate because...mountains, but of the potential catastrophes I´d planned for, earthquake was not really in the top ten. I usually plan for Megan-centric problems, like passport loss, hotel confusion, or concussion. Not natural disasters. When I first heard about it, I was obviously worried-the BBC was doing its full-on "QUAKEWATCH: EARTH STRIKES BACK" thing, and they said people were sleeping in the streets in Lima, that cars were crashing, that the electrical system was down and that generally, fire and brimstone were raining from heaven and it was the end of days. But I steeled myself--I figured I had all my camping gear so I could sleep outside if I had to, I had first aid supplies, I had friends in the area, maybe I could actually help some people who had been hurt--and began stockpiling potable water.

My nerves continued until I landed in Lima, at which point...nothing. Total calm. Plane landed fine, driver picked me up, orderly traffic, water and electricity in order, no sign of panic in the streets or fires raging through the city infrastructure. Everything seems...normal. I know it´s not, and I know lots of people were killed and injured, but I think a lot of that must be further south, because I spent all day driving/walking around Lima talking to people, and things are really calm here. Obviously I can´t speak for the rest of Peru, but I´ll keep everyone posted as I head to Cusco and parts beyond.

I now know what an aftershock feels like, which is unnecessarily exciting. It hit while I was taking my morning nap. I expected terror and falling tiles, but I think it was light, because it mostly felt like I was in the bottom of a flimsy bunk bed and the top bunk was climbing down.

Anyway, other than being delicately perched atop sideswiping tectonic plates, Lima is great. I´ve never been to South America before, and it´s a pretty good place to start. Everyone has been so friendly, and I´m really happy with my hotel (beach--and therefore epicenter--adjacent!) and with the food I´ve been able to scrounge. Plus, now the bar for my vacation has totally been lowered--before I had to have great times and take lots of pictures and make magical memories. Now I´ll just be happy if the ground stays relatively steady.

In related news I have an unsettling history of taking international flights just before or closely after terrorism catastrophes or scares. I hit 9/11, the shoe bomber, and the recent liquid explosive scare by less than a week each time (if they had started that terrorism futures market, knowing my flight schedule would totally be insider information). But I´ve never brushed up against natural disasters before. Are my powers of discord and disorder becoming stronger? You be the judge.