I Just Felt My First Earthquake!
@StephanieAnnC (4274)
United States
August 23, 2011 1:27pm CST
I just felt my first earthquake! IT was scary at first, but it was awesome at the same time! I was on the phone with my mother and I was like "Mom, the whole house is shaking" And she responded with "It's probably a big truck going by." But it definitely was not a big truck. I told her to hold on and ran downstairs to see if the A/C blew or something! But then it stopped. And I picked up the phone agan and told my mom "That was weird. It stopped." Then it dawned on me that it could have been a tremor or something. So I IMed my friend onf acebook and she said she felt it too!
Did you feel the earthquake in the USA? The epicenter of the earthquake was supposedly in Virginia. And it was a 5.9. Have you ever felt an earthquake before?
3 people like this
22 responses
@bounce58 (17387)
• Canada
24 Aug 11
I saw the news about the earthquake yesterday, and heard about people bracing for aftershocks. I hope everyone is OK.
The funniest earthquake that I have experienced was when I was in university and living in a dorm. I think it was a magnitude 7 earthquake. A lot of people ran out of the dorm, even ones wrapped in towel and still had soap/shampoos on their hair!
1 person likes this
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
25 Aug 11
Wow! I didn't feel a thing but there were some people at work that claimed they could feel something...one said their glass of water shook.
I have never felt an earthquake before. I bet it was scary. My grandmother lived in California and felt them all the time. I think it would be very hard to get used to but she said that she could tell after a while if it was just a tremor.
It is very odd that we got one so far east. I wonder if it is the first of more?
1 person likes this
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
23 Aug 11
This was today? I'll have to check that out. You are in Virginia? I am in Ohio and I remember when I was a teenager my friends were all going to visit an amusement park and I didn't go because I didn't have enough money. So I stayed home and like you, it felt like a huge truck coming down the road except I lived in a quiet suburban neighborhood and when I looked outside my window, there wasn't even a car, let a lone a truck.. Found out later on the news it was an earthquake and found out my friend were on this big roller coaster at the time and didn't even know about it....
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
23 Aug 11
Really? My son and I didn't feel a thing..I can't even remember where we were an hour ago, maybe cleaning up from giving the dogs a bath??? Wow, I can't believe I missed it..Then again, I am closer to the Indiana border, maybe the eastern part felt it more..anyway, here is the site about it, it did happen an hour ago but I have no idea what I was doing...http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc0005ild.php
@StephanieAnnC (4274)
• United States
23 Aug 11
That must have been scary to be on a roller coaster during an earthquake! 
Yikes! The whole thing would shake!
Yeah. Actually, no, I'm in New Jersey. But apparently it was felt all the way up to you guys in Ohio and North Carolina too.
Yikes! The whole thing would shake!
Yeah. Actually, no, I'm in New Jersey. But apparently it was felt all the way up to you guys in Ohio and North Carolina too.1 person likes this
@StephanieAnnC (4274)
• United States
23 Aug 11
I guess it's good you guys didn't experience. I was home alone! I mean, it wasn't completely scary, but I was taken off guard. AFter I knew what it was, I was kind of enthralled by it! 
1 person likes this
@mentalward (14691)
• United States
23 Aug 11
Virginia? Hmmm, I must've been asleep. My husband just sent me a text message telling me he had just been through his first earthquake and I wrote back, "Huh?" because I didn't feel a thing.
Or, it COULD have happened while my dog was under the bed and going absolutely nuts. She was shaking the bed something fierce and I thought she was just scratching something. I got her to come out from under there but she went right back in. Maybe she felt it, too! (She actually woke me up.)
Well, I knew it was just a matter of time before we had an earthquake here in the Shenandoah Mountains. I mean, after all, mountains were formed from shifting plates and, if they shifted once, they'll shift again.
My dog is now barking at.... NOTHING. I mean, she's under the bed barking! Okay, I guess we did get an earthquake that I slept through. What a great time to be napping, huh? 
I'll keep you updated if I hear anything more about this earthquake. So far, your discussion is the second time I heard about it so I'm sure it really happened... I just thought it was my dog scratching.
I'll keep you updated if I hear anything more about this earthquake. So far, your discussion is the second time I heard about it so I'm sure it really happened... I just thought it was my dog scratching. @StephanieAnnC (4274)
• United States
23 Aug 11
At least that means nothing got knocked down or knocked over in your home. Nothing fell over here in my house either. I was just like 'What the... Why am I shaking?'
Dogs are quite smart, aren't they? 
Dogs are quite smart, aren't they? @mentalward (14691)
• United States
23 Aug 11
Yep, they're my little furry alert systems.
My husband just texted me again saying they were swaying pretty badly on the jobsite he's working at this week. Sent one guy flying about a foot. (He wasn't quick enough to grab something... dummy!)
Apparently, this thing was worse over near DC than it was here in what is called Northwest Virginia. We're in the tippy top part where a pointy part of Virginia pokes up into West Virginia. I would have thought we'd feel it more right here in the mountains than over by DC where there are no mountains.
Guess I'll be getting updates as the day progresses. Apparently, being in an earthquake has really impressed my husband. He doesn't normally text me. LOL (He can't call since he's working on the programs running the chillers of the HVAC systems in this HUGE gov't building where it's really loud and he couldn't hear me by phone.)
Oh, hey, I just saw they're talking about "our" earthquake here in Virginia on TV! I'm watching IN Session and they're talking with people who felt the quake. Apparently, it shook a lot! Hmmm, maybe I should go check out the rest of our house, just to be on the safe side.
My husband just texted me again saying they were swaying pretty badly on the jobsite he's working at this week. Sent one guy flying about a foot. (He wasn't quick enough to grab something... dummy!)
Apparently, this thing was worse over near DC than it was here in what is called Northwest Virginia. We're in the tippy top part where a pointy part of Virginia pokes up into West Virginia. I would have thought we'd feel it more right here in the mountains than over by DC where there are no mountains.
Guess I'll be getting updates as the day progresses. Apparently, being in an earthquake has really impressed my husband. He doesn't normally text me. LOL (He can't call since he's working on the programs running the chillers of the HVAC systems in this HUGE gov't building where it's really loud and he couldn't hear me by phone.)
Oh, hey, I just saw they're talking about "our" earthquake here in Virginia on TV! I'm watching IN Session and they're talking with people who felt the quake. Apparently, it shook a lot! Hmmm, maybe I should go check out the rest of our house, just to be on the safe side.@mentalward (14691)
• United States
23 Aug 11
I just read that the epicenter of this thing is due south of Winchester, were I am. I couldn't say how far that is from here but it's maybe 40 miles or so.
@RobtheRock (2433)
• United States
1 Sep 11
I was surprised that we didn't feel it where I live. Cleveland felt it. The only earthquake I ever experienced was the year the Challenger exploded. I was a student teacher and our class was in the basement. The students were at lunch and I was alone. I felt a quiver and thought it was me. Then a teacher told me that we'd just had an earthquake. Later I found out that it was in the Great Lakes.
@RobtheRock (2433)
• United States
1 Sep 11
My computer or something is going whacko and that's the reason for the two responses.
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
23 Aug 11
Not recently, except for the roaring snoring that my boyfriend does from time to time when he is really exhausted.
But a few years ago, I was sleeping and felt a tremor and I though it was odd, the next day a family member who lives way across town called me to ask me if I felt it too. I heard on the news it was, I think they said earth quake here but a very slight one. I can imagine how scary that must have felt and being home alone too. 
But a few years ago, I was sleeping and felt a tremor and I though it was odd, the next day a family member who lives way across town called me to ask me if I felt it too. I heard on the news it was, I think they said earth quake here but a very slight one. I can imagine how scary that must have felt and being home alone too. @mentalward (14691)
• United States
23 Aug 11
So you have a snoring he-beast, too, huh?
I'm in Virginia and slept through the danged thing! My dog woke me up, though, right before my husband texted me about the quake. It shook his jobsite pretty badly, he said things were flying. Weird since I'm closer to the supposed epicenter of the quake than he is and nothing is out of place here. My dog won't come out from under the bed, though, poor thing.
I'm in Virginia and slept through the danged thing! My dog woke me up, though, right before my husband texted me about the quake. It shook his jobsite pretty badly, he said things were flying. Weird since I'm closer to the supposed epicenter of the quake than he is and nothing is out of place here. My dog won't come out from under the bed, though, poor thing. @StephanieAnnC (4274)
• United States
23 Aug 11
His snoring is that bad?! Yikes!
Yeah, I didn't recognize it at first either. I was kind of confused!
Yeah, I didn't recognize it at first either. I was kind of confused! @hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
23 Aug 11
Yeah I have to shake him to be able to get him to flip over the other way and snore opposite from me. It takes several shakes to wake get his attention while he is in his sweet la la land.
@AmbiePam (85523)
• United States
26 Aug 11
They said people in California were laughing because to them a 5.9 is nothing. But it is an anomaly of course on the east coast. We had one in Oklahoma last May, and it was a 5.2 or a 5.7 if I remember right. We all felt it and I think it alarmed some people. Oklahoma's earthquakes are not usually felt. They are usually pee wee earthquakes. We are known for tornadoes. You want to hear something funny? I was reading a comedienne who was talking about how she was in her hotel room in NYC with her mother when the earthquake hit. She said mom, I think this is an earthquake. Her mom said, you're nuts. It's just the wind. Just the wind?! I thought that was hilarious.
@derek_a (10874)
•
24 Aug 11
Yes, I have felt and earthquake here in the UK, but it was nothing compared to what other places in the world experience. I was upstairs in my old house and suddenly I felt a movement undernteath me. I felt sort of dizzy and a little sick in my stomach, and then it stopped. Later it came on the radio that there had been a mild quake. I dread to think what a big one would be like. 
_Derek
_Derek @jdyrj777 (6530)
• United States
24 Aug 11
I live in colorado not far from the frontrange (mountian line). When i was cleaning a bowling alley closer to the mountians every now and then i would feel a tremor ever so lightly. So lightly that i could never figure out what it was till i heard others talking about it. Im really surprized i didnt feel a thing when this big one was going on. i do remember something waking me up at that hour. A noise?
@celticeagle (159058)
• Boise, Idaho
24 Aug 11
I live in the Northwest and have experienced several earthquakes. I haven't had one in years though. Not sure why and this fact makes alittle nervous. I would wonder why there was one in Virginia. That is interesting. I know there is one in Yellowstone and one in California. Not sure of others.
@starsailover (7829)
• Mexico
29 Aug 11
Hi Stephanie Ann C: Thanks God I haven't experienced something like this. At least not a bog earthquake. I think I'll probably feel more scared than anything and the first thing I'd do is go outside my house. You know that it takes just a few seconds to an earthquake to destroy a whole city.
ALVARO
@RobtheRock (2433)
• United States
1 Sep 11
I was surprised that we didn't feel it where I live. Cleveland felt it. The only earthquake I ever experienced was the year the Challenger exploded. I was a student teacher and our class was in the basement. The students were at lunch and I was alone. I felt a quiver and thought it was me. Then a teacher told me that we'd just had an earthquake. Later I found out that it was in the Great Lakes.
@stary1 (6612)
• United States
24 Aug 11
LOL that is one of the most interesting reactions to an earthquake I have heard..lol awesome??
I guess you are a pretty laid back person? Good for you. I am in California...I always tense up a bit when a quake starts since I don't know how large it will get. Then I wonder if it is the precursor to 'the big one' .
I must say over the years I have somewhat become more relaxed. I'm not as frightened as I was after the first one I felt. Of course there is always that lingering doubt and uneasy feeling of 'what is next'..but at least my hands don't shake and my heart doesn't pound the way it used
awesome??
I guess you are a pretty laid back person? Good for you. I am in California...I always tense up a bit when a quake starts since I don't know how large it will get. Then I wonder if it is the precursor to 'the big one' .
I must say over the years I have somewhat become more relaxed. I'm not as frightened as I was after the first one I felt. Of course there is always that lingering doubt and uneasy feeling of 'what is next'..but at least my hands don't shake and my heart doesn't pound the way it used
@anand00123 (28)
• United States
24 Aug 11
i felt it and i thought it was my dad moving the couch but later realized it was an earthquake. My ceiling fan was wobbling and freaked me out. I live in ny by the way
@walking2010 (1009)
• United States
24 Aug 11
Aww man I Know exactly what you mean I felt it for the first time as well it was crazy and we are here in Virginia.
@bluemoonpavilion (4658)
• Singapore
24 Aug 11
Hi Steph!
I experienced an earthquake once in my office. I was just sitting quietly at my desk when I felt shaking, I thought I was falling sick as I felt giddy. Then I saw the water in my cup shake (remember Jurassic Park?), that's when I realized something was wrong. All of us rushed out of the building but we resumed work in the afternoon. This earthquake was the 2006 Indian Ocean earthquake which resulted in a tsunami and serious consequences.
@acrossnation (773)
• Malaysia
23 Aug 11
Earthquake?When? I have read somewhere that somewhere in US is the centre of eathquake and it has not happen now after many years. 5.9 is like 6.0 recter, i must say that that was quite strong. No i have not experience earthquake and hope i dont have too.
@soapies1973 (931)
• United States
24 Aug 11
It was my first earthquake too. I was sitting on my couch and the whole thing started rumbling from the bottom. I seriously thought I was nuts. I have never felt anything like it before. I guess people on the west coast are so used to it but people on the east coast were so shocked because they have never felt one before. Me either I thought if this couch goes up in the air I am jumping off LOL.
