Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Earthquake

One of the things I like about living on the east coast is that we don't have earthquakes.  I've experienced the odd earth tremor here and there, but when they happen it's something that only last a second or two.  I've always been pretty thankful that we don't need to worry about earthquakes here.

This afternoon, however, has me wondering if those of us on the east coast are really ok to have no worries about earth quakes.  As I sat at the dining room table looking around online, I thought my sleep deprivation was getting to me.  It looked like the china in my china cabinets was moving.  Then I began to hear them rattle and see them dance.  It was at this point that Madeline and Ellie started asking what was happening.  Seconds before Madeline didn't notice that the house was shaking when I asked her.  In all the ordeal lasted close to thirty seconds.  It started off very gradually and the intensity just got stronger and stronger.  Once the house stopped shaking that's when I started to hear things fall.  Apparently the quake was strong enough to knock Madeline's heavy bookend and books off of her bookshelf.

When I went to investigate the upstairs (the scene of the fallen items) I also noticed that the light fixtures were swaying quite a bit.  It took over three minute for them to stop swaying.  How crazy is that?

3 comments:

  1. I'm glad you guys weren't hurt!

    My first thought when I saw the news was: "The earthquakes followed us!" After a lifetime of earthquakes we move to the east coast and there's an earthquake? We didn't feel it here though, although I saw on the news that they said it was felt as far as Florida.

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  2. Cam, You'll appreciate my total stupidity regarding earthquakes. After a few seconds of watching my china rattle and dance I waked over to it and contemplated whether or not I could try to steady the dishes. Then I thought about it and realized that standing next to a heavy piece of swaying furniture with glass doors probably wasn't the smartest thing I could do. This just goes to show that I really only know how to react to hurricanes, floods, and snow storms.

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  3. We are on vacation in Maine and missed the whole thing!

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