Mr UD was at the computer, following developments in Libya.
UD was putting on sneakers, getting ready to take a short, post-operative stroll through her azaleas.
Suddenly their house loudly began to shake. LOUDLY. As if it were about to collapse on them.
Les UDs raced out of the house; they heard shouts up and down the street.
I checked my roof for a massive tree that might have fallen on it, but I knew I wouldn’t see that. No tree could make our house do what it just did, vibrate violently in every corner for over a minute.
Earthquake. 6.0 magnitude, epicenter Mineral Virginia.
Very scary. I’ve never been in an earthquake before.
Out on the street, on a beautiful late summer day, I stopped some kids who’d been in the park nearby.
“Yeah! Everything started to move! We saw a window in a house across the street and it was moving!”
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La Kid was alone in an elevator at the Congressional Quarterly offices in downtown Washington.
“It shook from side to side. I thought It must be broken in some way. Then I got to my floor and the door opened and the earthquake was over and I was greeted by a scene of all my co-workers freaking out totally… They evacuated the building and told us we could take the rest of the day off.”
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Photos from the DC quake.
August 23rd, 2011 at 1:56PM
We felt it here in scenic Upstate NY – I’ve posted video of swaying crystal prisms.
Glad you’re o.k.!
August 23rd, 2011 at 1:56PM
welcome to the club,
now take it like a Californian!
August 23rd, 2011 at 3:15PM
Earthquakes can be very noisy – something I didn’t realize until I was in one. This one was pretty small and quiet in Boston, although the church steeples swayed.
“My God, I thought it was a flashback from the weekend!” – department secretary
August 23rd, 2011 at 3:50PM
We had four bookcases fall over. The floor was a sea of books.
August 24th, 2011 at 11:14AM
I was in Berkeley in 1989 when the 7.0 Loma Prieta quake hit. I was outside on campus at the time — wind blew and trees bent double and I had no idea what was happening. When I got home, the stove had bounced across the kitchen and the water had splashed out of the toilet, and my cat was embedded claw-deep half way up the upright murphy bed, afraid of the floor. Worst part was the freeway collapse the the people who died or were trapped. Quakes are scary indeed.