Wednesday, August 24, 2011

That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane

In case you live you under a rock and didn't know, there was an earthquake with an epicenter about 85 miles southwest of DC. And if you do live under a rock, I hope it didn't move too much today, because I imagine that might hurt a bit. Official details from the United States Geological Survey can be found here.

Much like the last earthquake I experienced, it was pretty awesome for a geology geek like me, once I got over the shock of it all and knew that everyone was okay, of course.

I was eating lunch at my desk when I felt a bit of shaking. With construction across the street and trucks rolling by, it took an extra second for me to realize just what was happening. The shaking was intensifying, so I recalled my training from drills as a kid in Utah and went directly to my office door and stood in the frame until everything stopped moving. Nothing fell, though my rolling compact shelves rolled a little bit.

Once the earth settled down, I checked on my building mates who were experiencing various degrees of astonishment or total freak out. Then Twitter exploded. So did Facebook. I posted my own first reactions and watched others roll in while I finished eating.

One friend, who currently lives in New York City, commented on my Facebook status and asked if I'd be willing to talk to a reporter in Utah about my experience. I said yes, then a chain of emails from this friend to her roommate to her brother, the reporter, and soon I was on a phone interview with the brother, an anchor for 570 KNRS in Salt Lake City.

Random.

During this afternoon's 2 PM MST top of the hour news update, I tuned in via the webs to hear my 10 seconds of fame. I've heard myself on the radio before, but it's weird every time. Weird and cool. I was able to get a copy of the broadcast to save forever and ever.

Nothing too crazy has happened the rest of the day. I did come home to find one casualty - my BYU football Pez dispenser took a dive off my bookshelf. The bottles of hair product on my bathroom floor may or may not have been there already.

Definitely one of the stranger days I've experienced.

4 comments:

Myrna said...

Thanks for posting your reaction, Amanda. You always seem to be able to keep your cool! :o)

LeAnn said...

I liked reading your reaction to the earthquake. I am happy that you are ok. My husband was over in Olympia Washington when they had an earthquate that was in that area. At the time I was in Spokane, Washington and was relaxing on my couch watching the TV when my couch started to move a bit. Wow, I was so freaked out; but my husband really felt it where he was and he was evacated from the building he was in.
Keep save and blessing to you!

Giggles said...

How is the Pez recovering?

AmandaStretch said...

Thanks Myrna and LeAnn!

Giggles - I think it will be okay. It was able to go home immediately and hasn't complained of any recurring nightmares or injuries.