Earthquake!

We interrupt the previous post to bring this breaking news:

I was sitting at my desk this afternoon, reading on my computer monitor, when I felt a vibration, a wobbling of the building. My office is on the 5th floor of the building, and I can sometimes, every now and then, feel a little vibration in the floor if a piece of machinery gets moved, or something heavy gets dropped in just the right spot. It only lasts for a second or two, and it’s just barely enough to notice.

But this afternoon, just before 2:00, the rumble continued for 2, 3, 4, 5 seconds and more. The intensity was more than just noticeable, it was obvious. Ten seconds, 11, 12….

Nothing in my office or on my desk was moving, so there was no fear of anything like debris. But it felt like the whole building was swaying. Twenty seconds, 21, 22….

The thought of a bomb came and went. Is this an earthquake? I wondered. This is totally cool!

The thought of evacuating the building came to mind, but since nothing inside was falling, I dismissed that caution. Then after about 30 seconds, the movement stopped. Oh, shoot. That was fun. (Might have been 60 seconds, might have been 15 seconds. Time went all weird on me during the excitement.)

I opened my office door and walked into the hall. My coworkers were all in the hallway, too, already talking about it. “Was that an earthquake?” I asked. No one knew, but there were several humorous theories posed.

I went back to my desk and called my wife. “Did you feel that?” I asked. “Feel what?” she answered. She was in the van, driving down the road.

I posted on my personal Facebook page. I few seconds later, my mom texted me wondering if she was going insane because she felt her office shaking in my hometown, (about 100 miles east).

Checking the local news sites and Facebook, turns out it was an earthquake, up in Virginia.

That was awesome! I immediately wanted to feel it again so I could savor it. It was a really cool experience. Granted, it wouldn’t be so cool if there were injuries or serious damage anywhere. But for me, here, the shaking building was exhilarating.

Here in the southeast, we get tornadoes and hurricanes every once in a while, but an earthquake only maybe once in a lifetime. In fact, we had a tornado hit near our area a few weeks ago. And we’re preparing for a potential hurricane landfall this week.

Hurricanes – been there, done that. Earthquake – cross that off the “hope to never experience” list.

Bullgrit