5.9 on the Richter scale, epicenter in mid Virginia. It's no disaster movie scenario, I know this is a somewhat common thing for all you Left Coasters and that we've had earthquakes here in New York before, but this was my first one and let me tell you, it's completely disconcerting when you're not sure why the whole building is shaking, and continuing to shake, and when you get vertigo so badly when you stand up that you have to hold on to the wall to evacuate the building. It's been more than half an hour and I'm still dizzy!
Whenever some kind of natural phenomenon like that occurs though - earthquake, eclipse, or whatnot - it makes me wonder what our ancestors, maybe not a hundred or two hundred years ago, but maybe 300 or 400 or 1,000 years ago, what they thought was happening. If an earthquake is scary when you can explain it's cause as the shifting of tectonic plates against each other, how scary is it when you're not sure if it's witchcraft or the gods being angry or who knows what!
Anyway, hope everyone who felt it is safe and secure now!
Whenever some kind of natural phenomenon like that occurs though - earthquake, eclipse, or whatnot - it makes me wonder what our ancestors, maybe not a hundred or two hundred years ago, but maybe 300 or 400 or 1,000 years ago, what they thought was happening. If an earthquake is scary when you can explain it's cause as the shifting of tectonic plates against each other, how scary is it when you're not sure if it's witchcraft or the gods being angry or who knows what!
Anyway, hope everyone who felt it is safe and secure now!