Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Shake, Rattle, and Roll

Yesterday afternoon, just before 2:00, I was upstairs in the sewing room minding my own business ... sitting on the floor cutting strips of fabric to make cording for the daybed I'm upholstering.  All of the sudden, the house began to shake.  This was violent shaking, unlike anything I have felt here (or anywhere else we have lived, including California).  It took a moment to realize that the shaking was an earthquake.

The Husbands paintings-in-progress fell behind the mantel.


We have earthquakes in Virginia from time to time, but they are usually the type that tickle your feet, sway the chandelier, and provide a moment of, "Was that an earthquake?"  The one we experienced yesterday was unmistakable, and historic.

Plaster chips on the floor ... a tell-tale sign that the crack between the old part of our house and the addition had moved a bit.


The folks on the news said that this is the strongest earthquake that we have had in Virginia since 1897, 114 years ago.  This means that our old manor (built in 1848) has been through this at least once before ... and she appears to have come through it again with minimal damage.

This crack is on the north wall of my sewing room.


We have a few new cracks in our walls.  My sewing room, on the upper northwest corner of the house, seems to have the worst ones ... and they aren't all that bad.  Some of our existing cracks (all old houses have cracks) are a bit longer than they were before the quake.  Cupboard doors rattled open, and some of the contents hit the floor ... nothing significant.  Our daughter was shopping at Marshall's when the quake hit, and she said that the contents of the shelves in their back room fell onto the floor.

Some mortar shook loose from the eaves of the back of our house ... the lower window is the sewing room, and the upper window is in the attic ... and the chunks landed on the deck below.


... along with what looks like ancient bat droppings.  Eewww!


All things considered, we came through a scary situation very successfully.  From what I saw on the news last night, there are people who aren't as lucky as we are.  No injuries that I know of, so that's a blessing.  School was supposed to start for our grandson today, but it's been delayed till tomorrow so officials can inspect the school buildings. 

Now we can all ask each other ... Where were YOU during the East Coast Earthquake of 2011?

17 comments:

  1. I thought about you. Knew you were about 60 miles closer to the epicenter than we are. Quite a surprise for we Virginians as well as others, wasn't it?

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  2. I was at lunch at a friends house and didn't notice it here in GA but many others did. So glad you and your home are OK!

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  3. I was at work in a meeting. Since they are building a massive building 50 feet from us, we thought it was typical construction rumbling at first or that there was an accident on the construction site. I was pretty calm until I heard a bunch of cracking - we have quite a few new cracks in our walls too....

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  4. Glad to hear your damage was minimal! I was out in my yard with my husband talking to our landscaper and his crew of about 10 guys. I felt it immediately. I said, do you feel that and they looked at me like I was crazy. It made me think it was me ~ maybe I was dizzy. A few minutes later they started to get calls and texts and said, we just had an earthquake. Thank goodness I'm not crazy or dizzy!

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  5. I was in Dallas and my husband in NY when my teenagers called frantically to report what happened. In a million years I never guessed this would have happened in the 24 hour window they were home by themselves (neighbor keeping an eye on them.) Glad all is well with you and your 2-time earthquake home.

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  6. Glad to know you're fine, and that the house took it fairly well. I am surprised we didn't hear of more injuries from items falling on people.

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  7. I thought about you and couldn't help wondering how it had effected you! Glad to know you did pretty well! Did you have to change your britches afterward? I would have!

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  8. Shake, rattle and roll. My little old house on the stacked stone foundation fared pretty well, just lightly swayed, pictures hopped across tables, but nothing in the cabinets moved or broke. Very happy, and the plaster walls, have some more character cracks. Newer buildings, Bob's workshops, had stuff fall off shelves, glass break. I was at work...scared the bageebers out of me!

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  9. Glad you made it with minimal damage! I was in Culpeper, driving right next to the hospital, on my way to volunteer with my pup - Therapy Dog work. It felt like I was driving over several very large speed bumps. I thought I'd either hit a dip in the road but there wasn't one, or that something was terribly wrong with the car!
    My poor hubby was home with the other pup. She was running for her life to hide and he grabbed her, and ran out of the house. We had a few things tip over, but this house stands strong and we were very lucky. The worse damage was that our water was full of silt and was almost muddy (well water). I guess there was a slight tsunami in the spring underground where our water comes from. Today, a $500 whole-house filter was put on and it is now clear water again.
    Martha

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  10. shake rattle and roll is right! Looks like you got hit worse than we did here in central PA. It was felt by many (not me--I missed it) but no real damage.

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  11. Crazy, no? Great reporting by the way.

    Well you know where we were, in Massachusetts getting 500 texts a minute.

    Now we're in line for a hurricane.

    Geez...

    xo Jane

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  12. Didn't feel it here, although we have felt minor ones in the past. You had quite a bit of damage! But, your 'ol gal has probably been through worse! Something else she can add to her history!!
    xo, misha

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  13. Glad you're ok. And if it will make you feel better, you won something at my place.

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  14. This is something else here. Have never experienced and earthquake before. Glad all is well with ya'll and the damage is minimum.

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  15. Glad there was no more damage! I still remember exactly where I was with the earthquake in Iowa back in 1968. This one I will also remember!

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  16. I was eating lunch in the break room at work and thought I was having a dizzy spell and felt all wonky. Though it was my first, I was quick to think it could be an earthquake. My co-worker was about to get mad at me thinking I was shaking the table while he was trying to eat lunch.

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