I promise that I am going to write more about my trip (before I forget every detail), but today I have to tell you very important news. Did you hear that there was an earthquake off Cuba today?
I can tell you that there was, and it was at 2 eastern time, because I felt it. Here! In southwest Florida! And it was, pardon my French, fucking freaky.
I was sitting in my office chair and realized that it felt like it was vibrating slightly. Then I noticed the lamp was shaking. And the closet doors were vibrating. And the ceiling fan, which was not on, was shaking.
It probably wasn't two minutes, but that is a really long time to wonder if it's an earthquake or if your building is about to collapse.
This is actually the second time I have felt an earthquake, but this time was longer and, well, not violent, but more noticeable
To me, anyway. Mom didn't notice. She was walking from her room out to the lanai, and then sat down in one of the chairs that, while it isn't a rocking chair, kind of bounces, so it all blended together for her. But it took a while for me to feel normal again.
I did hear about that earthquake! There was also one in the Philippines where a blog friend is visiting; it was a severe one. I hope he and his family weren't impacted.
ReplyDeleteOh, I hope not! I recognize that I was as lightly impacted as one could be.
DeleteI have never felt an earthquake and I'm absolutely terrified of them. I mean, give me a good old-fashioned midwestern tornado any day!
ReplyDeleteI grew up with big snowstorms, and of course down here it's hurricanes, but like you, I wouldn't want earthquakes to be the storms I had to deal with. Not a fan!
DeleteScary that you felt it so far away. I live in California, and earthquakes are pretty common here. I do not like them, you never know whether they are going to be trouble or not. We had one on Sunday morning that wasn’t strong, but it startled me for sure.
ReplyDeleteMy brother has lived in the SF Bay area for years, so he's used to them. I'm not!
DeleteIt was a 6.4, from what I read. That's a big quake!
ReplyDeleteOne thing to know is that the farther you are from the epicenter, the longer it goes on. There are s waves and p waves and I forget which is up and down and which is side to side, but they move at different speeds and that's why the time stretches out with distance.
I was at a funeral once when the church pew did a sudden hard lurch upwards, downwards, upwards again, and then it rumbled with the jitters. The hanging lights were swaying violently and I debated whether I would have time to leap across the aisle to push a guy out of the way if one fell--but I joked later that the late 96-year-old Al was waving goodbye to the crowd.
I felt it, too! The lampshade in my office started shaking on its own and my desk chair was making weird noises like it was moving even though I was sitting still. I legit thought the floor was caving in, lol. So weird!
ReplyDeleteIt was SO weird! Weird and wrong.
Delete