The earthquake that was, but wasn't, a big deal~

A major earthquake shook the East Coast on Tuesday, August 23rd! 

This should be short and sweet...because it wasn't really a big deal...but then again, it was :)


It wasn't a big deal because it only caused relatively minor damage and, thankfully, there were barely any injuries.  Maybe someone sprained their ankle running out of a building or something...because us East Coasters didn't know that you're not supposed to run outside and look up :)

But it was a big deal because it was a 5.8 M...the biggest earthquake in these parts in 67 years.  It was a big deal because people felt it hundreds of miles away.  The epicenter was near Mineral Springs, VA, but it was felt from Georgia to Maine.  I felt it here in PA and my Dad felt it in NC!  It struck at 1:51 pm.  

I was in the office when I felt the house shake...it felt like the house was on a raft.  It only lasted a few seconds.  I actually thought that it may have been an explosion or problem with the water/sewer lines b/c workers have been working on them a few houses down from us.  So then I wondered if I needed to get out of the house...was the possible sewer line problem going to cause the house to explode?  Then I wondered if the shaking had even really happened b/c I was sick and thought maybe I had just felt lightheaded.  I vaguely wondered if it was an earthquake, but this was not my first thought.  Within a few seconds Steve called me to see if I had felt it...so I wasn't imagining things after all...and now I knew it wasn't the water lines...it was an earthquake!  Steve had felt it at school in Philly.  He was on the 4th floor working on his thesis when his building began to shake...his chair swayed back and forth and his chemicals swirled in their containers.  WOW!

I was quickly on Facebook and earthquake statuses began popping up from all over the place...it was fascinating and exciting!  

Unfortunately, the girls were outside playing and did not feel it...that is a bummer b/c it may be the only earthquake they ever experience. 

It was a big deal, but then again, it wasn't.  There was some building damage closer to the epicenter, but it was minimal by earthquake standards.  The Washington Monument has a crack near the top and the National Cathedral lost the tip tops of some of its spires.  The media made a HUGE deal out of it...and the West Coast enjoyed a good laugh :)  

A picture that circled through social media pretty much sums it up and had me laughing.  It is a picture of a plastic set of lawn furniture.  One of the chairs is tipped over, lying on the ground.  The caption underneath says, "We Will Rebuild"...bwahahaha!

Now, we're preparing for a hurricane...this could be bad~
Rach