Wednesday 23 June 2010

I felt the earth move

Today I have been feeling like someone imprisoned by noise.  Huge earth moving machines have been clanking, rumbling and drilling since 7 a.m. across the lake and beside me.  After lunch I considered escaping somewhere in my car but then Kenya would have been here alone and miserable ... and besides, there was nowhere else I wanted to be.  I just wanted it to be quiet.

I went up to my bedroom, closed all the windows and lay on my bed reading.  Kenya was asleep on the floor.

Suddenly there was an explosive noise (I think) and the whole house shook.  Curtain rods leaning against the wall by my bureau rattled to the floor and Kenya disappeared downstairs to her crate.

I went immediately to the windows facing the lake but nothing looked any different outside. 

My plants, however were still trembling, and so was I.

I went to the phone to dial 911, certain that the drilling and blasting across the lake was responsible.  No phone.

I went next door and asked if they had felt the blast.  The four men working on their machines said it wasn't a blast; it was an earthquake; that they had heard about it on the radio.

Cripes ... my ears still felt blasted.  I was feeling shaken.  And my phone still wasn't working.

I went home, and tried the phone again.  It wasn't working as a phone, but the service is intact so I was able to go on-line.

Now I am going to check the whole house.

5 comments:

Barbara Carlson said...

Yep. My first 5.5. Being on the 22nd floor of a highrise, the quite violent shaking continued for maybe 20 seconds and even after THAT, the floor -- if jumped on (what WAS I thinking!) slid/shook as if it was not made of concrete but a sprung wooden dance floor. Most odd.
Very exciting.
Being from Calif. you'd think I would be an old pro re earthquakes but in my 21 years there never felt one even once.
My sister, who lives in Palm Springs, gets them "all the time" and says once you hear the "explosion" of noise, you have less than 2 seconds to drive for cover, ideally lying on the floor beside a couch -- so that if the roof falls, you have a triangle of air to breath.

It was on the USA news "feed" (TV) at 4 PM saying it was a 5.5 earthquake in "Canada South"! For Americans Canada is just one big pink blob of real estate, say my sister.

Oma said...

Just read the CBC report ... the centre was in Gracefield where they suffered severe damage ... that is too close for comfort!

Erin Kuhns said...

Today was scary. I was in Ottawa when it happened, and things were a little chaotic there. I just wanted to get home and make sure all was OK at home. And it was.

Glad you and Kenya are OK. xoxo

Oma said...

Kenya is still very anxious ... won't go down to the lake (she still thinks it was caused by the dynamite blasting) and slept downstairs on the lowest possible point in the house ... the utility room cement floor which is not covered by slate.

Glad we all had an easy go this time ... but I wonder if we can expect more and stronger quakes from now on ... certainly the media are doing their best to raise anxiety levels.

Barbara Carlson said...

How close to Gracefield are you??
Poor Kenya. Now is the time when you wish you could speak "dog" to explain things to her.

Only 5% chance, "they" say of an aftershock over the next week.

A friend who lives near Low (just below the top of the dam) said her nearby neighbour saw -- just BEFORE the quake -- all his cows all get in a tight circle with their calves in the middle. They stood that way until it was well over.