Shake, Rattle, and Roll

As we worked our way through dinner (apparently some sort of pastrami-schnitzel) back at the guesthouse, we felt a little vibration.  I initially thought it was my dining companion's efforts to cut through his schnitzel, but the vibration led to shaking.  It wasn't violent, but we certainly felt the floor moving beneath our feet from the (what we later learned to be) 5.8 tremor.

A few seconds after everyone stood and looked at eachother with equally puzzled gazes, our ever faithful and incredibly polite host, a young Afghan named Sammy, came quickly but calmly into the dining room and said, "Excuse me, there has been an earthquake.  Thank you and please go outside if you like."

As frequent witnesses to many Afghan construction projects like the one pictured below, it didn't take us long to make it out to the garden - safely away from any of the surrounding structures.



Thankfully, there was no discernable damage to our compound or to anywhere else in Kabul; though after seeing how they build here, I wouldn't want to be around for "the big one."

Just another exciting day in the foothills of the Hindu Kush.