A 5.8 earthquake hit the area. UPDATE: 5.9!
Epicenter was between Richmond and Charlottesville. Update: Mineral, VA, about 30 miles (as the crow flies) from where I live.
Sadly, I did just the wrong thing.
I was eating lunch when the entire house started shaking: Walls, windows, stuff. I thought it sounded like a train coming. So I thought it was a tornado. I dashed into an interior closet until it ended.
The kitty condo fell over, but whether that was as a result of the quake, or because Tigger was scared to death and leaped off it so quickly, I couldn’t say. I didn’t even lose internet access.
But I am, quite frankly, scared shitless. I’ve never experienced a 5.8. I’ve slept through various minor quakes in CA and NJ, and experienced a minor one in Washington state that shook the chandelier, but nothing like this.
They’re evacuating buildings all over the region. Company in Northern VA has been evacuated. It should be all over the news any minute now.
I am going to have some chocolate, because I think I need something other than adrenaline coursing through my veins. Chocolate heals many wounds.
Update: My 3 p.m. conference at work was canceled due to earthquake. How often do you ever get to say THAT?
Update 3:42 p.m.: Gracie is still under the bed. My guess: She won’t come out unless I give her tuna. Time to make a Kroger run.
If the skies are clear, chances are it’s not a tornado. But then again, most of East Coasters have never felt a decent-sized earthquake. We’ve had one or two down here that rattled the shower door in its track, but that’s about it.
Glad you’re OK!
We felt it for about 30 to 60 seconds in central Ontario, but it seemed very mild. My neighbours thought I was kidding them.
Yes, Elisson, I know, but it sounded like a freight train, and the thought process leaped there. By the time I saw the sunlight, it was over.
Glad to hear you are fine.