My First Earthquake!!!

I love Virginia for its moderate weather. There is the occasional tornado, the yearly big snow, sometimes rainy weather or the weakened state of a hurricane coming up the coast. So an earthquake, certainly a 5.8, felt from North Carolina up to New England and Toronto, comes as a bit of a surprise.

I myself was sitting with my mom and grandmother, eating a lovely lunch of subway before Nana went to her hair appointment down the block. It's not uncommon for a building in Springfield to shake with the passing of a large truck, and that particular shopping center backs up to the highway.  So my own reaction was definitely delayed. It was only the continued strength and length of the shaking that gave the first hint. The second hint was the three employees of Subway running from behind the counter to get out of the building. It was then that my mom said, "we need to go outside," as my grandmother said, "let me just get my purse." I walked out holding my sandwich (I mean, why stop eating?) as we gathered with strangers in the parking lot watching other buildings empty and people mill around.  And then came the full blown realization that we had indeed, in safe and moderate Virginia, felt the ground shift and move beneath our feet.... we went back into Subway and kept eating.

And as we ate, we did our part to jam up the cell lines and periodically called family to check in. It was when I called Becky that the scope of the quake came into focus, she and Nate were woken up from napping by the house in Colonial Beach shaking.  She gave us the initial news report she had just watched...that the epicenter was from Mineral, VA, close to Fredericksburg.

As exciting as the afternoon was, it was highly entertaining to listen to the radio broadcasters on my slow chug back to Chantilly to check on the dogs I'm caring for. The normal 40 minute drive crept into almost two and a half hours as most people left work with buildings closed for the afternoon.  People called in and gave reports on the traffic and damage where they were, and the radio guys kept up a good banter. "The tweet that the Washington Monument is leaning is unconfirmed...I repeat, nothing has been reported as wrong with the Washington Monument." All in all, we each have stories to tell, and the damage was minimal....let's call it a good earthquake? 

I mean, it was the largest earthquake in Virginia since 1897!