Earthquake

The house started rumbling, and I thought it was a heavy truck going down the street. The rumbling got stronger, and stronger, and stronger. What the hell? Is a huge helicopter hovering over my house? The rumbling continued to get stronger and the shaking became violent. Suddenly I knew what it was. Earthquake.

The news people say it was a magnitude 5.8 quake centered 3.7 miles below the town of Mineral, Virginia. That puts the quake’s epicenter about 50 miles from my house. The motion was up-and-down, not side-to-side. It was not a swaying motion; it was a shaking motion. It was strong enough that I was really afraid my house would suffer damage if not collapse. Then, just as it had slowly built in strength, it slowly faded away. I walked out of my house and saw my neighbors on either side walking out their front doors. I tried to call someone on my cell phone but couldn’t get through. I guess too many people are calling people.

This wasn’t the first earthquake I’ve been through but it definitely was the strongest. I hope my water and sewer pipes are ok. Time will tell. And this Saturday, Virginia is predicted to be hit by hurricane Irene. That means Virginians will have an earthquake and a hurricane in the same week. What are the odds? Really.