Wednesday, October 13, 2010

I'm Feeling It...

I feel the earth move under my feet... actually under my whole body. I was still laying around in the bed this morning, a little after 9 a.m., and heard what at first I thought was a truck, like a dump truck that was overloaded, going down the street, a rumbling. Both dogs bailed off the bed barking like crazy and the bed started vibrating like some one had installed a heavy duty vibrator in it, the kind you could drop a quarter in the box on the nightstand at the motel in the olden days and the bed would start vibrating, not that I would know anything about that but I digress...

I was laying there jiggling and smiling that, once again in my life, I was feeling the earth move when it dawned on me that it was just that... the earth moving. I heard Carol tell whomever she was talking on the phone to that she would have to call them back, heard the recliner foot rest bang back in place and she was up like a shot heading to the door. I got up and she asked if I felt the trailer move. I suppressed a smile and said yeah... She thought at first that someone had driven into the trailer and then realized it must have been an earthquake. She got into her wheelchair and headed outside and I laid back down and turned on the t.v. Sure enough in a couple of minutes the local news broke in and said there had been an earthquake and would get back on air in about 12 minutes when, hopefully, they would have more information and would be checking with the earthquake center about the strength and where it originated. I felt that there was no alarm at all, more just letting folks know that, yes, there had been an earthquake.

There was still some disagreement on the 10 p.m. new about the strength of the trembler, 4.3 according to the national earthquake center and 5.1 at Oklahoma earthquake center. The epicenter was about 6 miles east of where we live and we figure that our California friends are saying 'big deal, snicker, snicker... it's no real earthquake unless it gets into the 6+ range' and I'd have to agree with them. I was not alarmed at all during this episode, more like curious about how strong it was that we would feel it at all. We have had reports for the last year of probably eight different quakes around central Oklahoma area and this was the first one that I've actually felt since 1952 when there was a 5.5 earthquake close to the Okla. City area. I remember that we must have had people over at the house because my sis and I were sitting together on the piano bench in the living room. I would have been seven and I remember us looking each other when the piano bench started dancing around with us on it. It was not scary to me then either. I remember being curious at the chandelier tinkling and dancing and the piano bench moving.

Anyhow... just so y'all know, in case you heard about an Oklahoma earthquake, that no one was injured or killed and only minor damage has been reported such as broken windows here and there and maybe some cracks in brick mortar in homes closer to the epicenter but all in all it was more just an unusual happening.

I'm working on my next post about my family but it will be another day or two because I will be driving a friend of ours back to Tulsa tomorrow so that will be about a six hour up, unload and drive back tomorrow evening, but I've got the post about half written... just looking for a few more photos so I hope to get it up by Friday.

All's well that ends well and all has ended well this day.

7 comments:

joanne said...

I heard this on the news earlier and told the hubs..this is where Helen lives! Glad everything in o.k., poor Carol!
get some rest now and I hope the pups have settled down...

GingerJar said...

"I felt the earth move, under my feet, the sky tumbling down"...at least that didn't happen! Glad all are safe, who knows...this world is just getting weirder and weirder.

Lonicera said...

Wow Helen.... isn't it interesting the way our brains seem to take forever to work out what's going on in these situations. Glad you're all OK.
Caroline

Debbie said...

I felt two earthquakes when I lived in CA. It is a weird feeling. Totally out of your control LOL

Glad all is well and be safe on your trip :)

Tatersmama said...

Coming from California, I don't think it would have even registered with me. Just so used to them, I guess.
I do remember a fairly big one sort of "rolling" underfoot, and I wondered how the cement floor could just "wave" like that and not crack or break.

I'm glad you're all okay, though.
I would have thought the pupsters would have picked up on it minutes - if not hours - beforehand though??

hetty said...

We had a small quake this summer. I only noticed it because my cats went sort of crazy. We normally don't have earthquakes here.

Reddirt Woman said...

Hi, JoJo... Yep thath's where I live...about 6 miles from the epicenter. Startled Carol pretty bad but like I said I was more curious. The pups have settled down good now.

Yes Ginger it seems like the world and the weather events are getting weirder and weirder...

I thought my reaction was very interesting. More curious than frightened, I was...Thank for checking on me.

Debbie This is only the second one that I've felt and both times I was more curious than frightened. Maybe I should have been a geologist...

Kate when the pupsters are in bed with me they are a little slow to react, but when the did you would've thought the Huns were invading... Yeah, they heard the rumble and practically flew off the bed.

Hey, Hetty, how you doing? We've had 6 or 8 quakes in the last 6 months around the central Oklahoma area but they have been so minor that I haven't felt them. There is a fault area that runs thru Oklahoma but this is only the second one I've felt in my life... like I said, the last one was in 1952. I guess our earth has to shift her girdle around every now and then.