On top of all the illness, financial troubles and pestilence we now have to contend with an..............
I am serious!!!
At 4:01 a.m. we were awoken when the house literally moved. My first thought was that something VERY BIG had hit the house. A plane? A truck?
What the heck? Did the furnace explode? Was there an explosion nearby? What could have possibly exploded? We're pretty much in the middle of nowhere, as things go. There's always the possibility that one of the grain elevators could explode and believe me, you don't want to be anywhere near that particular disaster.
It jarred us awake from a deep sleep. I heard our son in the next room ask, "Earthquake????", with the emphasis on the question marks.
"Oh yeah," I answered. "I'm pretty sure. I felt one during the 70's but this was much larger."
My tag line on this blog reads, "Living life 9 miles from anything" and indeed we discover that the quake was centered 9 miles from here in Sycamore, Illinois. Do you hear that Ang?? Sycamore had a stinking earthquake.
Yeah, I'm freaked.
I'll take tornadoes every day of the week over an earthquake. The Farmer and I unwittingly drove INSIDE the edge of a tornado once and for some reason we weren't frightened, we were in awe of the ferocity of the "thunderstorm" we were navigating. I guess as midwesterners we're accustomed to wind and rain of Biblical proportions, but an earthquake? NO!
Did you know that the worst earthquake in North America took place right here in Illinois? New Madrid, Illinois was the site of a tremendous earthquake that rang church bells as far away as Boston. In 1811-1812, southern Illinois experienced a group of earthquake that actually changed the flow of the Mississippi river. The fault under middle America is a very, very dangerous deep fault.
Wikipedia tells me that the great San Francisco quake was moderately felt over an area of 6,000 square miles. The New Madrid quake was moderately felt over an area of ONE MILLION SQUARE MILES.
In 1811 and 1812 the area experienced 2,000 tremors within five months and FIVE of those were magnitude 8.0 earthquakes. It was sparsely populated back then but the pioneers were so unnerved they experienced psychological symptoms and many fled the area. (For reference, the Haitian earthquake was a 7.0. Those pioneers experienced FIVE 8.0's)
NEW MADRID EARTHQUAKES
WHOLE LOT OF SHAKING GOING ON
Yeah, that big. Did I mention I'm freaked?
It's windy here this morning and every time the wind rattles the windows I get nervous.
The news media reports that our earthquake this morning was a magnitude 4.3.
Did I mentioned I'm freaked?
We had an.........
28 comments:
When I was 11, we had a small earthquake in Ohio. I was freaked out.
But now you have stories to tell to your grandchildren.
oh yeah ... over here, too ...SAME DIALOGUE FROM OUR BEDROOM ... out of a deep sleep at yes 4:01
Just this minute I heard on the news that an earthquake was near DeKalb and I knew it was near you. What is happening to this world? Take care and be safe.
OMW! Calling my sister now!
All is okay. She said they weren't sure what was going on either. It was centered 7 miles NE of DeKalb. We are guessing that is probably somewhere around Sycamore's park. Freaky deaky!
WOW!!!!!!!!!! Glad you're okay down there!
OH my goodness. I just saw that on the news. I thought maybe the next one would be near Nashville as they have a huge fault...Wonder what is up next? We are having our second HUGE snowstorm in just a few days.
Becky K.
Something strange is going on and everyone in the media seems to be ignoring the big pink elephant in the room. If you count the number of earthquakes since Haiti, you'll know what I mean, if you don't already.
I grew up with earthquakes. In California it's a running joke, but it's no joking matter. Especially when you get thrown out of bed in the middle of the night during a 7.0.
Stay safe and hide under a desk or a table if it happens again.
xo,
rue
Sounds like a pretty exciting morning to me!
New Madrid, Missouri -- it was a big one. South of the Illinois/Missouri line near the Kentucky/Tennessee/Missouri borders. In Ohio, I have earthquake insurance because of it.
We have had the same thing happen in our area and it really freaks you out!
Suzanne, there is nothing scarier than an earthquake because there is no where to hide. I remember back in 1985 one hit 100 miles north of NYC and my 27th floor apartment was a "rocking & rolling" and all I could think was ~ "at least I will be near the top of the pile." It was a 28 floor building.
take care and keep us informed of any more after shocks....
I was in one in 1968 in St. Louis. I was on the third floor and we thought there were some big trucks going by and rattling things, Then the desks start moving and then we knew it was a quake....kinda of scary......It is so flat in your area, isn't it? We southern Illinoians always wanted to shake up the northern Illinois, to say hey we are down here............haha....
I heard the news this morning and came straight here to check on you. That is very scary. Glad you guys are okay.
I've always taken comfort in the fact that while I might have to put up with long, cold winters here, at least we didn't have earthquakes and large yucky creepy crawlies. But apparently there have been some minor earthquakes around here before too. I just hope I never have to experience one.
well, you know calif is going to fall off into the ocean...funny but i think your storms are much scarier. i guess we are use to what we know. try to build anything new here. our hay storage had to have earthquake bracing and windows had to be shatter proof. thats the difference between calif and haiti so its a good thing.
bv who is rockn' and rolln' in rainy calif
lots of us were up at 4 am it seems. I kept telling my husband that it was an earthquake, But he had to go outside to check on the big trees. He was sure one had fallen on the house.
As a native Californian, I fear tornados and hurricanes much more. Having said that, earthquakes certainly are scary! I am glad you are okay.
Living in Calif. you just get used to them. We have a train that runs very near, so quite often I have mistaken an earthquake with thinking that it was a train. I agree that it's just what you are used to....my mom get's tornadoes and that scares me more.
Just stand in a doorway next time it happens or get under a very sturdy table.
Wow! glad that you are all OK,,,besides being freaked out.... I would be too.... interesting History you shared with us... hmmm makes you think...
Hugs;
Alaura
How freaked are you, Suzanne? hee hee... we felt one in Arizona that had it's epicenter in California. It woke us up during the night and we could hear all the water being sucked out of our toilets... weird feeling... makes a person kind of jittery when the house shakes.
Di
The Blue Ridge Gal
Felt one a few years ago and it's something you don't forget! I am glad you are all fine, never a dull moment!
Now I heard about that quake and never imagined that you'd be so near. Oh my! The only quakes I've experienced were as if a ghost train were rattling by. Yours sounds a little more intense. Hold onto your hats now!
Glad you're ok. I'm from CA and I still freak out when I feel one. You never know if it's going to be the "big" one!
You're not the only one who shot up in bed! Mom (SavvyCityFarmer) told me you had blogged about it too -
THought I was the only person on the planet who siad "Freaky Deaky" - my name is Ang too. Weird.
your story sounds scary i have never been in or felt a earthquake but i know i would have been very worried any way great blog and please take care...
how terrifying!
my in laws were vacationing in san francisco
during the last terrible earthquake, maine for
it's famous hurricane, and nyc with the last
black out!
Keep posting stuff like this i really like it
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