Earthquake!
August 24th, 2011Anyone who lives in an earthquake prone area can make fun of those of us on the east coast yesterday, but this was a big deal! This is the first time that I have ever felt an earthquake. I had just been to the dentist, and I was at our house, swapping cars with Gabe so he could pick up the kids after work. I was in the doorway on my way outside, and the house started creaking. At first, I thought that it was really windy (after all, there has been a lot of talk of a hurricane coming our way). Then, it was just confusing. The whole house was shaking. I also noticed the trees were still. It wasn’t the least bit windy. And why was the floor moving? It probably lasted about 20 seconds or so. I looked at Gabe, and I can’t remember what I said, but it was along the lines of, “what is going on?” Gabe said, “um, is it possible that it could be an earthquake? Could that happen? The ground was shaking.” Wow! I knew that he was probably right, and reports on Facebook confirmed that not only were we feeling it but friends all over the east coast felt it, too. A call to a friend on the way to work confirmed that we had experienced tremors from a 5.9 earthquake centered in Virginia. Wow!
I thought it was most interesting to hear about what people thought was happening when the earthquake started. Many people at work thought that someone was coming down the hall with an equipment cart. Another thought that the person next to her office was moving furniture. Someone else thought construction work outside of the building was to blame. Another friend thought her kid was jumping around upstairs. One thought it was a jet or helicopter. I heard accounts of people thinking their washing machine was off balance. My grandmother in Atlanta thought that, too, when the leaves from her plants were shaking.
The bottom line is that none of us who are from here could reason out what was happening when it started. It did not occur to us that we were experiencing an earthquake. I find it fascinating how our brains tried to process it into something we could understand. “Obviously, it must be very windy! The house is creaking.”
It was a surreal experience, but I’m glad it wasn’t a scary one. It was just a little disconcerting!
August 25th, 2011 at 2:41 am
I love hearing about everyone’s reaction. You are so right too: how most of us tried to rationalize what was happening. One of the most bizarrest things to happen ’round here!