I have felt only two earthquakes in my life, that I was aware of. The first was in Ohio in either my late teens or early 20s, and wasn't much of anything. The house was vibrating, but the ground itself didn't seem to be. The second one I felt was a major aftershock to the 1994 Northridge, California earthquake. This one was something like a 5.3, and it was a real rumbler. I was with my friend Dona at a Star Trek convention in Pasadena. It was a little disorienting, and possibly a little scary, though I don't remember fear being a primary emotion. Now, I realize that both of my experiences were before 9/11, and that the world has changed. But in neither previous event did I wonder what was going on. Earthquake, sure as shootin.' Earthquake. So I doing quite a bit of eye rolling at all the "scared" people pictures flooding the internets. Still, I hope there aren't any people with severely damaged property, or serious injuries. I'm sure it's possible that someone out there was in actual peril.
[Excerpt]
Rare earthquake shakes and shocks Eastern Seaboard
There were no major injuries reported nor severe damage, but the 45-second earthquake that hit the East Coast Tuesday afternoon gave millions of people a thorough and efficient education in what Westerners already know: earthquakes are frightening. . .
Read more at: USA Today
They were probably afraid that their old buildings, which were not built with earthquakes in mind, would collapse on them, or that a gas pipe would break and cause a devastating explosion. In cities where hundred-year-old water mains burst unexpectedly and cause sinkholes, it's not a completely unreasonable fear.
ReplyDeleteOh, I know, Jill. I'm talking more about pictures I saw of people outside evacuated buildings (meaning the quake was already over) standing around crying, hands to their face. I get being a little wigged right as it is happening. But the "aftermath" should have been a little more. . .tolerable?
ReplyDeleteI remember when the Northridge aftershock subsided, and I was standing with the Star Trek convention goers outside the Pasadena civic center. Somebody yelled "The Enterprise has landed!" And then somebody said, "No, a Klingon farted!" Nobody was clutching each other, or sobbing.