Holy shit! I just felt an earthquake for real!!

kmmssg

I came in to work some extra hours today and my boss was in his office. Our chairs started shaking and our desks were vibrating.  I honestly have to say that hasn't happened around here in the 35 years I've been here.  It was a 4.0 south of Galesburg so nothing big but certainly a surprise.  Definitely puts the people of Nepal at the forfront of my mind.  Certainly nothing compared to what they suffered, just quite the surprise.

AddieCake

Yikes!

lyndausvi

Yikes.

I remember my first one.

My sister and I were out late the night before drinking with friends.  I was sleeping on the floor at my parent's apartment in Tokyo. You see my sister and I could not sleep well in the same bed. So we took turns sleeping on the floor throughout the summer we were there.  

 Well I was getting pissed she was shaking my "bed".  Then I realized I was on the floor.  All the sudden an announcement in Japanese came over the speakers.  I'm assuming they were saying there was an earthquake.    It was a decent sized quake, but not a lot of damage.  We were fine. 

That was crazy first time.

madamerwin

I just looked up Galesburg - are you in Michigan? I didn't know Michigan had earthquakes, ever.

I still remember the 1989 earthquake in the Bay Area. I was four, and since they did earthquake drills in preschool, I just jumped under the table and yelled at my sister to do the same, and (since I was so young and it seemed like a normal thing), I thought it was kind of exciting. Luckily there was very little damage in our area.

Despite how much damage earthquakes can cause, I still find tornadoes infinitely more terrifying.

kmmssg

tfmrserwin said:

I just looked up Galesburg - are you in Michigan? I didn't know Michigan had earthquakes, ever.

I still remember the 1989 earthquake in the Bay Area. I was four, and since they did earthquake drills in preschool, I just jumped under the table and yelled at my sister to do the same, and (since I was so young and it seemed like a normal thing), I thought it was kind of exciting. Luckily there was very little damage in our area.

Despite how much damage earthquakes can cause, I still find tornadoes infinitely more terrifying.

Yes I am from Michigan

JennyColada

The 1994 Northridge earthquake was on my parents' 13th wedding anniversary. :P

buttercup1958

As a geology major, I find earthquakes very interesting. Earthquakes happen everyday, most of the time they are too small to be felt. Places are considered active if earthquakes have happened between 200 to 10,000 years. 

ohannabelle

I hate earthquakes. There was one a few years ago (I think the 2001 Nisqually quake) and it wasn't giant, about a 6.8,  but we weren't far from the epicenter. I could actually hear the sound of the earth plates shifting, and it was a horrible deep ominous sound. Absolutely indescribable. The earth groaning. 

It's frikking scary to see the floors rolling like waves, and every window in the house shaking. Even if there's no serious damage, it can seriously shake you up. 

The earthquakes in Nepal last week have been taking second place to Baltimore on the news, but the situation is tragic. The death toll is at about 6000 and rising, about double that many injured, and the mountain terrain and lack of helicopters is making it difficult to reach possible survivors with food and water, or medical assistance.  Roads and established trails are buried under avalanche and rock slides. Lists of survivors and pleas for rescue are being hiked in and out by volunteer mountain climbers and trek guides, as best they can in unstable terrain. Communication is sketchy. 

Prayers for the people of Nepal, the hikers and visitors from all over the world (many of whom are still missing) and a reminder to give to legitimate disaster relief organizations. Please. Even a little. 

falsara

My Mom was pregnant with my little sister while we were living in California for Northridge.  I was in DC for the one a few years ago that cased some cracks in the Washington Monument.  We had a few in Okinawa while we were there too.   

theartistformerlyknownas

tfmrserwin said:

I just looked up Galesburg - are you in Michigan? I didn't know Michigan had earthquakes, ever.

Weak ones very rarely, like 3 in the last 50 years. No damage or injuries from this one.

JennyColada

lolo883 said:

tfmrserwin said:

I just looked up Galesburg - are you in Michigan? I didn't know Michigan had earthquakes, ever.

Weak ones very rarely, like 3 in the last 50 years. No damage or injuries from this one.

HAhaha, I see that photo all the time for "CA storm watch 2015. We will rebuild."

sophhabobopha

Scary! I lived in CA for most of my childhood, and I thought earthquacks were so exciting.

madamerwin

sophhabobopha said:

Scary! I lived in CA for most of my childhood, and I thought earthquacks were so exciting.

Yeah, I did too!

zitiqueen

I felt it too!

kaitlynmichelle

I'm shocked I've never felt one considering where I live. My workplace is matching donations to Nepal (as is the government) so what I donated ended up being matched twice. That made me very happy!

sophhabobopha

tfmrserwin said:

sophhabobopha said:

Scary! I lived in CA for most of my childhood, and I thought earthquacks were so exciting.

Yeah, I did too!

I almost never felt them.):

Viczaesar

tfmrserwin said:

I just looked up Galesburg - are you in Michigan? I didn't know Michigan had earthquakes, ever.

I still remember the 1989 earthquake in the Bay Area. I was four, and since they did earthquake drills in preschool, I just jumped under the table and yelled at my sister to do the same, and (since I was so young and it seemed like a normal thing), I thought it was kind of exciting. Luckily there was very little damage in our area.

Despite how much damage earthquakes can cause, I still find tornadoes infinitely more terrifying.

I remember that one too; I was six, and the epicenter was just a couple of miles away.  I was at the after school program in the cafeteria so we hid under the tables, and I remember being terrified that the big wall clock was going to fall on my table and break.

Ditto also on the tornadoes!

allispain

lolo883 said:

tfmrserwin said:

I just looked up Galesburg - are you in Michigan? I didn't know Michigan had earthquakes, ever.

Weak ones very rarely, like 3 in the last 50 years. No damage or injuries from this one.

Ugh, that meme. People were posting it all the time following the quake in VA a couple years ago. Making fun of how people were overreacting about the quake. Problem was, the big cities only had minor damage (like the crack in the Washington Monument), but central rural VA had some major problems, which no one covered on the news. DH's old HS was declared structurally unsound and had to be demolished. The local school kids had to split their school week because they had to share the middle school space - MWF was for high school and TRS (yes, Saturday) was for middle school kids. For an entire year. The HS still hasn't been rebuilt - the students go to school in mods in the middle of a field. But since no one cares about a poor, rural county, by all means, let's pretend like nothing happened.

(Sorry, it really bothered me when it happened, and it [obviously] still bothers me - I was terrified because we lived near the epicenter and our house's foundation bucked so much I thought there had been an explosion underneath it. We had cracks in the foundation, lots of stuff fell and broke, our cat was injured because of the fallen glass, etc.)

theartistformerlyknownas

allispain said:

lolo883 said:

tfmrserwin said:

I just looked up Galesburg - are you in Michigan? I didn't know Michigan had earthquakes, ever.

Weak ones very rarely, like 3 in the last 50 years. No damage or injuries from this one.

Ugh, that meme. People were posting it all the time following the quake in VA a couple years ago. Making fun of how people were overreacting about the quake. Problem was, the big cities only had minor damage (like the crack in the Washington Monument), but central rural VA had some major problems, which no one covered on the news. DH's old HS was declared structurally unsound and had to be demolished. The local school kids had to split their school week because they had to share the middle school space - MWF was for high school and TRS (yes, Saturday) was for middle school kids. For an entire year. The HS still hasn't been rebuilt - the students go to school in mods in the middle of a field. But since no one cares about a poor, rural county, by all means, let's pretend like nothing happened.

(Sorry, it really bothered me when it happened, and it [obviously] still bothers me - I was terrified because we lived near the epicenter and our house's foundation bucked so much I thought there had been an explosion underneath it. We had cracks in the foundation, lots of stuff fell and broke, our cat was injured because of the fallen glass, etc.)

Yeah that would definitely be shitty in cases where actual damage had happened. In this case though it's more of a novelty that "hey we're in Michigan and felt an earthquake, that's cool!" 4 magnitudes - pictures might fall off a shelf. 5 and up is where structural damage starts. This was was a 4.2; DC was a 5.8. Big difference. (Nepal was an 8.1)

ohannabelle

allispain said:

lolo883 said:

tfmrserwin said:

I just looked up Galesburg - are you in Michigan? I didn't know Michigan had earthquakes, ever.

Weak ones very rarely, like 3 in the last 50 years. No damage or injuries from this one.

Ugh, that meme. People were posting it all the time following the quake in VA a couple years ago. Making fun of how people were overreacting about the quake. Problem was, the big cities only had minor damage (like the crack in the Washington Monument), but central rural VA had some major problems, which no one covered on the news. DH's old HS was declared structurally unsound and had to be demolished. The local school kids had to split their school week because they had to share the middle school space - MWF was for high school and TRS (yes, Saturday) was for middle school kids. For an entire year. The HS still hasn't been rebuilt - the students go to school in mods in the middle of a field. But since no one cares about a poor, rural county, by all means, let's pretend like nothing happened.

(Sorry, it really bothered me when it happened, and it [obviously] still bothers me - I was terrified because we lived near the epicenter and our house's foundation bucked so much I thought there had been an explosion underneath it. We had cracks in the foundation, lots of stuff fell and broke, our cat was injured because of the fallen glass, etc.)

Yes, people might joke about minor earthquakes, because in the grand scale of earthquakes, some kids having to use a temporary school and a few compromised buildings being replaced, stuff falling off a shelf is considered very minor. It's a damned inconvenience, but not even close to tragedy that shouldn't be joked about.

Here's a picture of Langtang village before the Nepal quake. A medical clinic, some tea houses and hotels and guest houses, a few hundred people. 

On the day of the quake, a bustling little stop along a popular trek and filled with the Nepali families who live there, and visitors from Canada, UK, Spain, Greece, Russia, US, Malaysia, Australia, France, the Netherlands, and I'm guessing I'm forgetting a few countries.

And, the village after the quake and avalanches:

Bet those kids would love to go to school in a portable building for a year. Except there are no kids left. 

I wouldn't be offended by people joking with a silly meme saying, hey, that wasn't a serious earthquake. Because it isn't, and you were really really fortunate.

kmmssg

@ohannabelle - such a truly tragic comparison in those before and after photos.  Those people are in my prayers and we donating to help.  Not that this makes me anything special, because it doesn't.  I just want you to know that I do not at all compare what happened here to Nepal.

ohannabelle

Oh, I didn't think you were comparing, no worries.

And I don't mean that it isn't scary. I get that, I get really scared. 

It's really damned unnerving when it happens. I get jumpy for days.

But when it's over, it's okay to laugh. That's what I meant. It's okay to post silly non earthquake earthquake pictures like Lolo did.  If my house is standing and nobody died, that's what we call a good day. No complaints. 

allispain

ohannabelle said:

allispain said:

lolo883 said:

tfmrserwin said:

I just looked up Galesburg - are you in Michigan? I didn't know Michigan had earthquakes, ever.

Weak ones very rarely, like 3 in the last 50 years. No damage or injuries from this one.

Ugh, that meme. People were posting it all the time following the quake in VA a couple years ago. Making fun of how people were overreacting about the quake. Problem was, the big cities only had minor damage (like the crack in the Washington Monument), but central rural VA had some major problems, which no one covered on the news. DH's old HS was declared structurally unsound and had to be demolished. The local school kids had to split their school week because they had to share the middle school space - MWF was for high school and TRS (yes, Saturday) was for middle school kids. For an entire year. The HS still hasn't been rebuilt - the students go to school in mods in the middle of a field. But since no one cares about a poor, rural county, by all means, let's pretend like nothing happened.

(Sorry, it really bothered me when it happened, and it [obviously] still bothers me - I was terrified because we lived near the epicenter and our house's foundation bucked so much I thought there had been an explosion underneath it. We had cracks in the foundation, lots of stuff fell and broke, our cat was injured because of the fallen glass, etc.)

Yes, people might joke about minor earthquakes, because in the grand scale of earthquakes, some kids having to use a temporary school and a few compromised buildings being replaced, stuff falling off a shelf is considered very minor. It's a damned inconvenience, but not even close to tragedy that shouldn't be joked about.

Here's a picture of Langtang village before the Nepal quake. A medical clinic, some tea houses and hotels and guest houses, a few hundred people. 

On the day of the quake, a bustling little stop along a popular trek and filled with the Nepali families who live there, and visitors from Canada, UK, Spain, Greece, Russia, US, Malaysia, Australia, France, the Netherlands, and I'm guessing I'm forgetting a few countries.

And, the village after the quake and avalanches:

Bet those kids would love to go to school in a portable building for a year. Except there are no kids left. 

I wouldn't be offended by people joking with a silly meme saying, hey, that wasn't a serious earthquake. Because it isn't, and you were really really fortunate.

Well yes, obviously what happened in Nepal was much worse. I wasn't talking about Nepal. I was simply observing/complaining about the fact that in the case of that particular VA earthquake (one of 2 I felt while I lived there), there was no coverage of the actual damage that did occur. People focused on the banal as opposed to the people whose homes, schools, etc. were condemned.