Friday, April 18, 2008

My Very First Earthquake. (or "Daddy make it stop")

Early this morning (4:36 AM CDT) I woke up to my head board banging on the wall. At first that lovely sound made me happy then I realized I was the only one in the bed.

The bed was moving several inches, the house was creaking and popping and I thought I must be dreaming. About the time I convinced myself I was really awake it was over.

Read a news story here if you are interested.

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake lasting 20 seconds in Springfield Illinois. Who'd a thunk it?!

Well I do remember a story of a HUGE earth quake in Saint Louis Missouri in the early 1800's. It was so wicked the Mississippi river ran backwards for several days. If memory serves that was from the same fault line that shifted this morning.

Pretty trippy.

EDIT: Five hours and forty minutes later we just had an aftershock. (10:17 AM CDT)

22 comments:

michelle said...

eep! that would completely freak me out. when my neighbour slams his balcony door, my couch shakes ... and that sends me into freak-out mode ... if the entire building was moving, i would be in tears in the bathtub.

L said...

I would have really panicked. I've never been in an earthquake before.

tammy said...

"At first that lovely sound made me happy then I realized I was the only one in the bed"...LOL!

Kind of freaky huh? I've been there. Not in your bed but in my own bed when we lived in Utah. I didn't realize what it was until it was over.

Dizzy Ms. Lizzy said...

Rob, my Dad heard on the news that a garage in Auburn (not too far from Springfield) had its ceiling fall in from the quake.

I posted a blog entry on the quake waking me up this morning also - - it was kinda freaky, wasn't it? It's not the first one I've experienced here in Central Illinois, but it's been many years since I have!

AutoSysGene said...

Cripes, I even missed the aftershock!

Anonymous said...

Lol! In California (where I lived before) there was a milk commercial where the cows were enjoying an earthquake as a "foot massage."
...so relax and enjoy the massage, Rob. :D

Anne

NerdyRedneck Rob said...

Michelle- Funny, sometimes I can not sleep at all and sometimes I can’t get up. Last night was a can’t get up night. I woke up, figured out what it was and I was back out like a light!

WomensDaily- There was no time to panic. It was over before I had convinced myself it not a dream! :)

Tammy- I figured I would go for one cheap laugh in an otherwise serious post. Glad you enjoyed it! Yes, freaky is a good word.

Mz. Lizzy- It was very different than what I thought it would be like. The back and forth motion was much slower than I had always imagined it to be.

Melissa- Your kidding!? I checked you and Jules blog’s before I posted about it. That news article I linked said it swayed skyscrapers in Chicago so I was sure you two felt it as well!

Anne- Well, it would have been great to have had uh, a “partner” at the time. Then I could ask her with a perfectly straight face, “So, did the earth move for you baby?” 8)

House of Jules said...

I actually woke up from a terrible dream around 4:15, so maybe I have a sixth sense about these things... you know, like farm animals who freak out before a tornado comes whipping through the fields. Not that I am comparing myself to farm animals, because I'm not, but still-- the only time I've EVER been awake at 4:15 a.m. is because I haven't gone to sleep yet...
Jules
House of Jules

NerdyRedneck Rob said...

So Jules did you feel it? Mellissa did not. Did the earth move for you baby? ;)

Angel said...

woohoo!!! bangin the headboard!!! What fun!!

House of Jules said...

Unfortunately I didn't feel it, which upsets me greatly! I would have totally enjoyed it, though I'm sure it would have been over too soon for me to use your title phrase, "Daddy, make it stop". (not to be confused with "who's your daddy, though both of those phrases make me gag a little bit, and not in the good way. Wait, is there a good way? Don't answer that.)
Jules
House of Jules

AutoSysGene said...

LOL! I feel better now. I'm not the only person in the state that missed the quake!!

Erika said...

I was just crawling into my call-room bed (trying not to wake up some innocent medical student in the next bed), and my first thought was... what the %&#(@? Who the heck does construction in a hospital at this time of night!?! Second thought: Oh... an earthquake... I'm sure there's something I'm supposed to do in case of earthquake. Third thought: zzzzzzz.

And just to top it off, as I crawled back into the same bed for another few zz's several hours later, there it goes again! Thought: is this some kind of omen about me an sleep?

-Erika

NerdyRedneck Rob said...

Jules- "Daddy make it stop" refers to roller coasters and such. Weather gagging is good or not depends on if you are on offence or defense (as it were)

Erika- So it's your fault then eh?

blog author said...

whoa! i didnt even think about you being there. you know, there was an earthquake about 70 miles south of San Antonio last week....so odd.

Sauntering Soul said...

Believe it or not, people all the way down here in Atlanta reported feeling the earthquake this morning. Other people said they didn't feel anything but their pets started freaking out at the time of the earthquake. I was sound asleep so I felt nothing. And I have no idea if Bailey freaked out.

Crazymamaof6 said...

i'm impressed you woke up for that . i always sleep through any earthquakes i am in. DAMN IT!

Erika said...

My "fault", eh? Was there a pun intended in that?
-Erika

tammy said...

Oh and my boys want you to check on Homer and Bart and make sure they're okay, you know since they're in Springfield.

NerdyRedneck Rob said...

Melek- Really? ‘Tone had an Earthquake? It the end times people! Head for the bunkers, buy all the Raman and Mac and cheese you can find!

Sauntering- Wow, that is amazing!

CrazyMomma- It was a near thing I was not *sure* I did not just dream the whole thing until got up and hit the internet.

Erika- You said every time you tried to lay down we would get a temblor so *clearly* you laying down was the problem! Basic logic here people! :)

Tammy- Oh yeah! Plus we have two smoke stacks at the power plant, this is “Capital City” and Shelbyville is just a few miles down the road. The icing on the cake? There is an Evergreen terrace in town.

NerdyRedneck Rob said...

Erika- OH! Now that you explained it I get it.Zooooom! That went over my head so fast my hair is standing up…

Tanya said...

Wasn't its fun?

Now I'm just curious if its the pre-tremors of aftershocks?

I missed the one last night :( I was too tired and sleepy.