... okay, that was weird.

[eruthros]

I was just sitting here when I suddenly felt something that felt an awful lot like an earthquake. It wasn't a truck going by, it was an actual earthquake.

So, knowing how poorly made my house is, I went and stood in a doorframe for a while, looking quizically at the bookshelves that were rolling a little. Because it was long for an earthquake.

And it took a while for it to show up on the USGS page -- I guess that's what happens when you have an earthquake in New York -- but yes, it was indeed a 5.5 earthquake 60 km from Ontario.

So! My very first earthquake outside of California or Nevada! It's extremely weird to be standing in a doorframe in New York wondering if anything is going to fall off a shelf. (By the time it got here, it was a pretty mild rolling on the scale of earthquakes-I've-stood-in-a-doorframe-for, but I understand it had more side-to-sideness up in Ontario.)

Comments

[toft]

OMG! I totally felt it too! We experienced the same earthquake!

[eruthros]

Yes, but I understand that it was a lot more dramatic there!

[chagrined]

Whoa moving bookshelves! You didn't mention that before. O__O

[eruthros]

Well, the bookshelves didn't move in relation to the floor, they just wobbled a lot :)

[egret]

I thought maybe I was just *really* dizzy until I saw the water splashing around in the glass on the table.
In my limited experience, earthquakes always seem really long and creepy even when it is just a few seconds of tremor.

[eruthros]

Yes! It didn't seem quite earthquakey at first.

I don't know how long it was, but it felt longer than average to me, because I had time to go "huh, the house is shaking" "actually it's shaking a lot, probably not a truck" "maybe I should get up in case it's an earthquake" "yeah, I'll go stand in the door" (I am not actually very good at responding to earthquakes despite having felt a bunch of them) and then I had time to stand in the doorframe for a while watching the mirrors and furniture wobble :) The internet says 20-30 seconds, which seems long to me -- the 1989 Loma Prieta one was only 15 seconds long, and I barely made it to the door.

[sineala]

I felt it. Sadly, I have lost all my good Californian instincts and pretty much just sat here. Next to, you know, the windows. Not that the one interior door is very sturdy anyway. (Fail, loft apartment, fail.) It wasn't much from way over here and I don't think I'd have noticed if I didn't know what earthquakes feel like. (lysimache, standing next to me, totally missed it.)

(Is this where we go DUDE THAT WAS NOTHING COMPARED TO LOMA PRIETA?)

[eruthros]

Hahaha, yes, I think it's definitely where we go "why, when I was a young whippersnapper" and then compare experiences of Loma Prieta. :) Though actually Loma Prieta wasn't that bad from my pov: I was in, what, fourth grade or something, and thus much better at identifying and responding to earthquakes then. Plus my mom was very much like "everything will be fine, but let's play some board games under the garage roof, okay?" So my Loma Prieta memories are of my mom listening to the emergency radio while I played Candyland with my sister.

[thingswithwings]

I just read about that! There was an earthquake in my old hometown that was felt all the way down in my new hometown! WEIRDNESS. I am kind of sorry I missed it. Glad that nothing broke, though. :)

[eruthros]

Ha, yes, you missed the New York earthquake experience! Had you been here, I would've turned to you and been like "is it just me, or does this feel kinda like an earthquake?"

And nothing broke, but the door to your room swang back and forth a lot. :)

[fish_echo]

> but the door to your room swang back and forth a lot. :)

this is why you're only supposed to stand in a doorway if it doesn't have a door in it :p evidently there were too many cases of people getting injuries from the door after there was a big push to 'inform the public that doorways are awesome places to hang out in the case of an earthquake, yo'... so evidently they had to amend it to 'doorways are awesome places to hang out in the case of an earthquake ONLY if there's not a door there to smack you'

-icon in regards to wtf earthquake in ontarioish-

[livrelibre]

And I was at lunch and totally missed this!