Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On

2 earthquakes and 3 palpable aftershocks in a matter of weeks. Crazy...just crazy.

All Shook Up

I'm used to rattling windows. Here in St. Louis, we are the regular recipients of thunderstorms, strong winds, and tornado warnings which can arise unexpectedly in the middle of the night. So, when the sound of rattling windows awakened me around 4:30 this morning, it took a few seconds for me to become fully awake and certain that my bed really was shaking, as was the whole house!

Are we having an earthquake, I wondered? No, no...this is St. Louis...it must be really strong winds....but that roar...and the shaking...it must be really close! I went upstairs to check on and awaken my boys to send them to the basement, but they were already awake. Whatever it was, it had startled them as well. Even as I sent them downstairs, I was uncertain about what was happening. I looked out the windows and saw no signs of significant winds...I ran to the basement to check the internet to see what might be happening...nothing. Could this actually be an earthquake? I know we are sitting on a huge fault, but what the heck am I supposed to do? I don't even know, but going to the basement would definitely be the wrong move! Where is that native Californian husband of mine when I need him? He'd know what to do!

The rattling of the windows finally ceased, but oddly, the dishes in my old wardrobe continued to vibrate noisily. Then I knew. This IS indeed an earthquake! It could be nothing else. From the time I awakened, the tremors lasted well over a minute and varied from moment to moment in intensity.

Long after the earthly tremors ceased, the physical effect of waking to an unknown, and the ensuing adrenaline rush, meant that my bodily tremors continued for quite some time. Go back to bed? Sleep? I don't think so.

As I sent the boys back to bed, I turned on KMOX. They were taking calls from person after person who had felt the same as we had. 5 minutes later, it was official. The earthquake's epicenter was 127 miles east of St. Louis in Illinois and registered 5.4 on the Richter scale and was felt as far away as Chicago, Milwaukee and Cincinnati!

Did you feel this morning's earthquake? Report it here.

Well, that's enough excitement for one day. Now that I know what happened and know it's over, I think I'll try to go back to sleep.