Wednesday, August 24, 2011

I Mean, the Earth Moved and Everything

Tuesday afternoon, from one end of the East Coast to the other, the earth made its displeasure known. This was my first earthquake - a 5.9 with its epicenter in Washington D.C. making it the most activity that area has known all summer.

At the time, I was at my desk at the day job, diligently surfing the Internet working on an editing job. My screen, my desk, my pictures, basically everything started shaking, putting my world slightly off tilt. All right, all right, more off tilt than usual.

Naturally, I remained calm and composed. Ahem. Actually, I thought I was having vertigo. When I realized it was an earthquake (the shaking floor was a big clue) I kinda enjoyed it. There may have even been a "wheeeeee!!!" (as opposed to a wee).

The quake didn't last long. Or too long, depending on where you were at the moment, I suppose. Honestly, I was more worried when the elevator in Flatiron Building bounced up and down at the 18th floor during RWA Nationals. Big honking drop trumps mildly shaking floor any day.

Because my office is nothing if not responsive to the needs of its employees, we evacuated the building - after the earthquake was over. Yes, there was a concern over aftershocks, but really. Great Adventure gives me more of an aftershock than the actual earthquake and that's without even getting on a ride. Though we definitely had it better than our sister company (as usual) where the leadership apparently went "there was an earthquake? Too much to do, go back to work". One would think the lessons of 9/11 would provide us a better sense of the dangers we face today, or at least inspire a smarter response. But the cocoon remains well padded; I grabbed my mobile, not the Emergency Kit.

Those on the west coast pshawed over the somewhat giddy reaction the east coast had to the earthquake - once we were sure nothing had blown up. For my part, I was pleased to evacuate into such divine weather, the literal calm before the storm as we wait for Hurricane Irene to whack us upside the head on Sunday. I sat on the back gate of my CR-V and guffawed my way through the earthquake tweets. They ran the gauntlet from the "phew we're safe" variety to "the Force is strong in that one" ilk. Below is sample of some that amused me enough to retweet.

The first is by far the best one. It's already gone viral from Twitter to the world. Click on the link. You won't regret it. Assume crash positions. Looks like we're in for a bumpy ride.

images of earthquake devastation in Washington, DC  

MSNBC says the Washington monument is leaning to left. Fox news says its to the right

13 comments:

  1. I love Voldemort's tweet about it!

    I'm about 120 miles southwest of the epicenter in Virginia, and I felt it. I didn't even know it was an earthquake until I got back to work. It's exciting, even though it's not big news to the Californians.

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  2. Cherie - that Lord Voldermort Twitter account is one of my favorite to follow. It is a bit exciting, mostly because it's so unusual and with such little damage impact (comparatively) we have the luxury of going "Whoa. Dude!"

    Thanks for the comment!

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  3. I felt partically nothing but the state evacuated the courthouse across the street. Pansies.

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  4. As a native Californian I'm snickering behind my hand. We don't even get out of bed for a 5.9. Although I'd probably wet my pants in a hurricane so I guess it's all relative.

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  5. @Beth - yeah, yeah. You Californians get 3 inches of rain and LA shuts down. I get that in the puddle next to my car from a summer drizzle. She said, flexing her umbrella.

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  6. OH MY GOD! I am holding my insides. My co-workers think I am loon! Sorry I didn't get here until now but it was worth the wait.

    I felt nothing. I was sitting in Rittenhouse Square park in downtown Philly with a friend eating lunch.

    I get back to my building which is the second tallest and someone tells me that we had an earthquake. So I said, "Gee, it makes a lot of sense to be standing next to the building." *PALMS FACE, PUTS HEAD DOWN*

    LOL @Beth Y. We all have to take it on the chin sometimes. You guys probably would be clueless if you had to deal with black ice too. ;-)

    *@pattonoswalt Not to panic anyone in NYC, but a screaming John Cusack just drove by in a limo that was missing a door

    *@71angelajames Me: earthquake was abt 90 miles south of DC & was felt from Canada to SC. Walmart cashier: they must have felt it in DC then? Me: speechless

    *@Lord_Voldemort7 An Earthquake just hit part of the US and Hurricane Irene is still a threat. I will direct you to Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 1...

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  7. Very funny blog, I enjoyed reading it!

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  8. I work on the 8th floor and when the floor started bouncing everyone stepped out into the hallway and looked at each other with these WTF expressions on their face. Followed by earthquake? Seriously?

    But, OMG Kiersten, Those tweets are too funny. I was also amused by the news coverage asking the Phillies players about their take on the earthquake and how they were holding up. Yeah, that adds to the discussion. :/

    Rayna

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  9. My favorite tweet (don't remember who said it)..."Governor Chris Christie just jumped into the presidential race." LOL!

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  10. I get Voldermorts tweets 2. It cracks me up. I love Twitter on just such occasions. People really have their priorities straight. Great post. I came here via Caridad

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  11. @Lizzie - thanks! It's so funny/interesting to see which parts of the country are prepared for what. With Irene bearing down, the whole East Coast knows what to do, but throw an earthquake at us and we're all "let me huddle protectively beneath this tall, sturdy building..."

    "I am holding my insides. My co-workers think I am loon!" Well, my work is done here ;-)

    @Anglea Rose - thanks so much! And thanks for leaving a comment. I hope you'll come back soon.

    @Rayna - I heard about the Phillies interviews. Holding up? What, is their game gonna suffer from a little shake, rattle and roll. That's basically a normal Saturday night on South Street.

    @Janet - that's a good one too!

    @Pimpin Reads - Caridad is great, isn't she? So glad you stop by here. That Lord Voldemort account is no end of the funny. That's one of my favorite things about Twitter - so many people on it are so very clever. Thanks for the comment!

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