Costa Rica is virtually a “land-bridge” formed hundreds of millions of years ago by the separation of the great land mass that now forms the continents of South America and Africa.  It is a country of many fault lines and is dotted with active volcanoes.  So sure it is going to be a place where occasionally the earth does move under our feet and during the “green” season, yes the sky does come tumbling down.  Well two days ago from the date I am writing this post, Mother Nature got a little “riled-up” as we say down (uh, I mean “up”) south.  We had a 6.2 on the Richter scale earthquake. Normally our little episodes are just called “temblors” and don’t rise to be officially proclaimed “terremotos” (earthquake in Spanish). But this one did.  I probably will never forget the moment the building where my office is located began to shake.  At first I thought nothing of it, but when it did not stop, but instead became increasingly more violent, it definitely got my full attention.  I decided to bolt out of the building along with the stampede of others who had made the same choice.  It was a little scary to say the least.  One young man tripped (or was pushed) and dislocated his knee and had to be taken to the hospital.  But the real panic and ultimate devastation occurred in the mountains to the north of the city. I have posted in the past about Bajos del Toro.  Well that is very close to the epicenter.  My friends at the Catarata del Toro waterfall suffered minor damages, but those in areas like Cinchona and Vara Blanca weren’t so lucky.  Some tourists staying over at the Peace Lodge had to be evacuated by helicopter.  That is probably a little more adventure than they were expecting.  And yes, there were some casualties.  With all that, fortunately the damage was limited to a small area and the rest of the country remains unscathed.  News reports always seem to engage in dramatic hyperbole that makes it sound as if Costa Rica disappeared in a gigantic fault as the earth opened and swallowed us up whole.  But I am sitting here in Santo Domingo, which is about one hour from the epicenter, and all is perfectly normal.  So why am I writing about a tragic event such as a natural disaster in this blog concerning things I love about Costa Rica?  Well truth is, while we have our natural disasters, normally Costa Rica fairs pretty well in them.  We have had our volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods, landslides, etc., etc., but if you look back at history none have been as devastating as you hear and read about in other countries.  For instance, we are far too south to get any real major impact from Caribbean-borne hurricanes.  The active volcanoes like Arenal let off steam regularly and minimally, which staves off the threat of a major and gigantic explosion.  We do get frequent tremors, but they normally are minimal and don’t cause  widespread damage.  All in all, in a country where the beauty of mother nature does pose the risk of turning ugly and violent, Costa Rica’s natural wonders generally remain peaceful and calm.  I grew up on the coast in the Carolinas, the so-called “hurricane alley,” and every year during August, September and October we seemed to be the “bull’s eye” of an approaching monster storm.  I believe I will take the occasional shake-up of the minor temblor over that any day.  However, I would prefer that what I felt at 1:21 PM on January 8, 2009 not be repeated any time soon!

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