Sh-Sh-Sh-Sh-Sh-Shake It

We had an earthquake today. It was the first one I've ever experienced. It happened around 1:50pm. I had just gotten off a conference call for work and I was sitting on my bed, sending emails. The boys were napping. The bed started to shake and I honestly thought Gatsby was under the bed scratching. As the shaking got more violent, I thought he was having a seizure. I jumped off the bed to check, then I realized the entire room was shaking. Several items started falling off the shelves. I heard something heavy fall, but I didn't see what it was. Was I imagining this? What's happening? Perhaps there was an explosion in the building. Or maybe on the metro. Does it even pass under our building? What do I do? I wanted to run to check on the kids, but I was paralyzed. I didn't hear crying. They must be okay. But what if there are aftershocks? Then Gatsby came stumbling around the corner. I'd never seen him so unstable. After he saw me, he quickly dug his claws into the carpet and held a death grip until the worst of the shaking was over. The floor still felt unsteady, so I didn't move. Gatsby then bolted for the bed and quickly curled up in a corner. Once the earth was still, I went to check on the boys to make sure they were okay. Not surprisingly, my boys slept through it. They are so like my husband.

Once I gathered my senses, after what seemed like an hour later, I called our management office. The line was busy the first two times I called. When I finally got through, I was told it was, in fact, an earthquake. Thought I wasn't entirely surprised, I still thought 'WTH?' On the East Coast? No way. Immediately, I tried calling Jeff and my mom, but calls weren't going through. I texted my sister, who is in Williamsburg. She was fine. I then logged onto my computer. What do I update first? Twitter, Facebook? Do I send emails? The first person I IM'ed was Sujal. He actually provided a bunch of updates. Maybe living in San Francisco has made him an expert. Then Karen checked in. Finally, I got a message from Natasha, my former coworker, who lives outside of Boston and said she felt it, too.

I think my reaction was delayed. It wasn't until an hour later that it set in. The earthquake was scary. It's a very weird feeling to have everything around you shake. It felt like a train was rumbling directly below me.

It turns out, the DC Quake was a 5.8. Pretty big deal for the East Coast. It was enough to knock a heavy crystal vase off a side table as well as a few other lightweight items. It was also enough make me cancel our afternoon metro trip to Chevy Chase park. I was told that the metro delays were significant. I didn't want to risk being stuck in a station, waiting for a train. I also didn't want to be underground. Yeah, no thanks.

In other news, it was beautiful day. We spent the morning and afternoon at "our park." A total of four hours. I don't feel bad spending most of it outside since we're expecting a hurricane later this week. Seriously. A hurricane. What's next?