My first earthquake

Illinois isn't supposed to feel like this!

[MatthewHSE]

Woke up this morning with the house shaking and the ground rumbling...it lasted a minute or so and faded away. Just now there must have been an aftershock. Took all the starch out of my backbone like a bad elevator ride. I always wanted to feel an earthquake, but this is quite enough for my liking - the ground can stop shaking anytime it likes! ;)

I guess I shouldn't be too surprised; this was all predicted [biblegateway.com] quite some time ago!

[King_Fisher]

Matt, come to California where "rock and roll" is not a musical term!...KF

[LifeinAsia]

I remember my first time...

But like KF, I'm in California, and I quickly became an earthquake #*$!. ;)

[Habtom]

I always wanted to feel an earthquake

...Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it ;)

[engine]

I remember sitting outside on the patio, in Greece, whilst enjoying a gin and tonic and watching the world go by. Then, literally, the earth shook.
I'd only had a sip of the gin, honest!
Small rocks were tumbling down the hillside behind.
It wasn't much, but was interesting.

[jimbeetle]

Experienced a few of them many years ago when I was stationed in Turkey. Pretty unnerving experiences except for the one I slept through. Woke up to heavy pounding on the door and shouting in the hall to find my bed had moved 4 or 5 feet.

Then it was time for a G&T.

[engine]

USA TODAY readers across the Midwest got a shocking wake-up call Friday when a 5.2 earthquake rattled through the region at dawn.
Although there were no reports of serious injury or damage, readers from Illinois to Ohio reported rocking couches, vibrating beds and dashed day-off hopes.

Quake rattles Midwest: Did you feel it? [usatoday.com]

[lorax]

The experts keep telling us here in the Northeastern US that we're in for a big one. Seems that the little ones California experiences help prevent a HUGE one from happening. We had one or two really small quakes but that's it. The BIG one is due any moment/day/year/decade/century/millennium now.

Glad you didn't get hurt!

[surrealillusions]

The BIG one is due any moment/day/year/decade/century/millennium now.

nothing like a good old fashioned pin point prediction ;)

[buckworks]

Advice worth reading from a seismic engineer: Peace of Mind in Earthquake Country -- by Peter Yanev

[limoshawn]

Made for an interesting morning, my wife and I both woke up mad at each other.... Why are you shaking the bed?... me?... why are YOU shaking the bed?