Your story about your fish reminded me of a fish I had -- actually, two goldfish I had -- back in 1990 when we lived in Upland, CA, up against the hills, right below Mt. Baldy. I worked just a couple of miles away from home and, normally, I went out to eat for lunch. But on Feb. 28, I decided to go home for lunch which was fortunate for my fish. I discovered him lying on the carpeting. He had obviously jumped out of his bowl that morning. He must have been there for a little while; he was dried out and even stuck to the carpeting a little. Initially, I thought he was dead and I was just going to flush him down the toilet. But, on second thought, I put him back in the bowl with his fish-buddy and gently moved him through the water to get some water going through his gills. He appeared to be alive after all, and reviving, so I let him be.

Just before I returned to work about 20 minutes later, we had a 3-something earthquake -- just a quick jolt. I went back to work and I didn't think anymore about it until about 3:30 that afternoon when the M 5.4 earthquake struck Upland. I was under my desk immediately -- probably a good move. After the quake I saw that the giant plate glass window next to my desk had a big crack in it. One more jolt might have brought that down on my desk and me.

I bring up this fish story because I've always wondered if my goldfish felt the impending quakes and jumped out of the safety of his water and his bowl. The fish were located on the second floor of our home -- more movement is felt on the upper floor? Fortunately, he was still in his bowl when I went home after the M5.4 -- probably didn't want to try that trick a second time.

That fish went on to live for several years, albeit with a tail that was forever-afterward bent sideways -- obviously from drying out too much when he was lying on the carpet. He even outlived his fish-buddy.

Question is: did he detect the coming quakes -- the 3 point-something, followed by the M5.4. I've always thought that's what made him take the high-dive (about 3+ feet down to the floor). But I'll never know.